The Xbone

[Pooky]

@Freelancer:
Well me neither, but still.

@Skyline:
Because your local hardware can't necessarily do high-resolution geometry AND high resolution textures AND high fidelity lighting, that's why. The numbers can be more or less densely packed, and you'd have an algorithm that smooths out the final image. The whole point is that you transmit only the bare minimum information needed to draw that 2D image; but you first need to calculate the detailed image before you can decide where to put your info points. This is why I said voxels (which I still maintain are an illusion) might become a thing again. I've seen voxel animation, and the only reason it looked bad was because the game came out in the mid-90s and PCs simply didn't have the horsepower. We now have the horsepower.

But will it be more fun than Super Mario Brothers?

[Warsaw]

That's not hard to do...

[Donut]

I think his question is whether or not all this new technology will actually improve the core game play of a game, or if it's all just eye candy. In between my Bad Company and Chivalry sessions the past couple of days, I've played Chulip for the PS2, replayed Pikmin on the gamecube, and am now replaying Pikmin 2. Before that I was playing Banjo Tooie. So how far are these graphics going to go in making me want to replay these new games like that? Because as neat as graphical advancement is, it's not HD textures and lighting that keep me playing a game.

[Warsaw]

I think the primary use for their new cloud outside of the core features will be to store content that doesn't need to go on the disk, allowing you to have a bigger world without taking up more space on the drive.

[Limited]

Cloud computing for graphical simulations (like rendering lighting, LOD etc) doesnt make any sense to me. Microsoft is only in it for the money. How much would these cloud computing servers cost them? How much are they to run/maintain/cost of engineers? There becomes are point where the cost effectiveness dips, making it pointless business wise to them.

I envisage them using cloud computing for data simulation purposes. For example you have a persistent MMO, the player might log off but the cloud can continue to run the simulations. They could be used to hammer out really intensive algorithms and spit the output to everyone connected and store the data for people who are offline, when they log back in they can resync their game data and they won't have lost any progress. This method allows a users console to basically only focus on their local environment, and would give more availability of the computing power to graphical calculations.

tl;dr Cloud computing to run non-graphical calculations and simulations, freeing the console up to work on graphics.

[Warsaw]

That's actually what I just said above you, only in a more succinct fashion. The world gets stored remotely, including those algorithms, and so your console just does graphics work while the dynamics are streamed to you. MMOs are a great example. Heck, even the level data could be piped to you for rendering in pieces if the world is large enough; you have half the continent on the disc/HDD, and then you stream another quarter when you get there while it deletes the locations less-visited by you. Like programs that get pre-loaded into RAM when they are used often but get removed when they are no longer accessed with frequency.

If you look at it from a "computing as a service" viewpoint, it all makes sense. Microsoft wants to get everybody paying for Xbox Live and, if they can get away with it, for the extra services that aren't included in that $60/year fee. If the computing service they provide is cheaper to execute than the price people are willing to pay for it, they'll do it. Since this new network of theirs is supposedly flexible enough to do basically anything you want, we'll just have to see how the logistics and economics play out.

[Btcc22]

For example you have a persistent MMO, the player might log off but the cloud can continue to run the simulations. They could be used to hammer out really intensive algorithms and spit the output to everyone connected and store the data for people who are offline

What's new here? MMOs have always worked this way. The only difference is that a cluster of servers is now called a 'cloud'. I can't view many MMO developers being keen to use third party cloud services anyway. A loss of control coupled with a good chance of increased costs doesn't seem very attractive.

As for streaming level data, there's no point when disk space is cheaper and easier to upgrade than bandwidth. I'd be pretty surprised if that changed any time soon.

[Warsaw]

Except disk space isn't unlimited and, as far as I know, the Xbone has a fixed hard drive. Besides, the world may get bigger after the initial launch of the game.

Disk space is cheap but this isn't about expenses, it's about convenience. It's not convenient to have to manually go through and uninstall games to make room for another game expanding. A live system removes that need, and people who subscribe to Gold would probably appreciate the feature. At the very least, it would give some legitimacy to Xbox Live.

[Zeph]

Yeah, this is what happens when your press conference tells people things and your hidden agenda doesn't.

[CabooseJr]

So what game(s) are we getting for July?