Steffen_Shook July 15, 2009 Industry, Tech 6 views Comments Print This Post  Email This Post

As game consoles age, speculation on the next generation come into discussion. “What will it be named?” “What will the graphics look like?” “Which company will make the first one?”

Well, one veteran developer has thrown in his 2 cents and claims that the future of console gaming lies in cloud computing. Matt Spall of Gimme5Games claims that “…the Xbox 720, PS4 will be browser-based systems,” and that ‘traditional’ console gaming is no more. A browser-based would use a high-bandwidth connection to stream games instead of using a physical disc. You might have seen Spall in the news recently when he re-purchased Gimme5Games from former owner Eidos.

One disc-less service, OnLive, the gaming service announced earlier this spring, uses cloud computing. For the uninitiated, cloud computing is a decentralized network infrastructure (just wait, the boring stuff is almost over) where users access information from various computers. Theoretically, OnLive users will be able to stream games like Crysis without having to have a system to back it up. All that consumers would have to buy is a box to process the incoming data, and then a monthly service fee.

Spall’s prediction doesn’t seem too far off as more and more expensive gadgets clutter the electronics marketplace. Many gamers have complained of having to purchase systems for several hundred dollars to get features that they did not want in the first place, such as the PS3’s Blu-Ray capabilities. Console systems that do not rely on discs seem like the logical next step to simplify consumers’ entertainment needs.