pocketmego

They better get interested soon (Just like film studios are), especially with a streaming model where players are playing software remotely with their control inputs being sent to a remote server with gameplay video streamed back to them. They will be the only ones that will have the opportunity to preserve such content. Actually ONLIVE just released all 3 original Fallout games from Interplay, Abe's Odyssey just got released, and there are several classic PC games already on the service. Sounds like preservation to me. They have already said that they have the ability to build virtual environments around just what remains of a classic game exe and can add virtually any old school game to the platform as needed or acquired. So if the classic games ARE being preserved on the cloud, why do they need to be on disc to be preserved? Saying that games will only be preserved if they are available to be bought on physical media is a load of horse shit. Because, that isn't preservation. That is one person hoarding that game and having it available for themselves to play. But having it in the cloud or downloaded to a hard drive means it can be legitimately preserved for both new users and historical preservation.

I'm not trying to address the points that you raised. I'm just stating how it is, how it's going to be, and why it's going to be that way. We got to buy and sell media for years and years, and the party is almost over. Chris And that scares the hell out of a lot of people who are simply terrified of change. It really is evolution and mindset should be adapt or perish.

Great post. I agree 100%!

Good point. Fighting things like SOPA and whatever hellish nonsense follows it, must always be our REAL priority.

Yeah, that was cute when I was a kid. But, I don't have room or desire to have walls and walls of game stuff just accumulating like some out of control BEAST. I have a decnt vintage collection and all of it had to go into storage when I got married. Some people just don't have that kind of room. A lot of adults (and not all of course) are starting to like the digital download or cloud model because it save so much extra space.

Oh yeah, and how many brick and mortar stores can you walk into these days and buy Towering Inferno for the 2600? How many compilation discs of physical media can you find it on? Sure you can buy it for the 2600 itself, but how is that any different in the future if you still have a working 2600? If your a classic game collector, you'll still have classic games machines. Because, I gotta tell ya...if not on emulation, I'm only playing something like Demolition Man on the Genesis if I hook up a Genesis.

Quoted for truth. Except, I'd replace the idea of channels, with Apps. I think a more "Media you want when you want it" is likely to replace the current network style scheduling for a more YOUTUBE like model. Beyond that...excellent post!

You really should look into ONLIVE, Starscream. It sounds like a really good fit for you. Yea I know. I was able to beta it but never did. I was kinda being a smartass but at the same time, I really would prefer that type of service. Do what I did. Download the free PC client and trial a game for 30 minutes (also free) and see if your internet gets along with the service. The bandwidth needs have gone down a LOT since it launched a lot more people can use it and use it well these days.

HUGE DEMAND for this thing. Mine is not shipping until before Christmas and the orders just keep piling up...

My post was a response to this... Emehr, on Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:35 AM, said: The download-only business model has huge implications for the historical preservation of gaming. Whether or not anybody wants to play these games twenty years from now is completely beside the point. Developers don't get ideas for games by only looking at what's been out in the past five years. Also, I thought I'd be a lone defender of change here. But, I see other stepped up right behind me. This is the "MODERN GAMING" section of a retro-forum and thus falls under a whole different set of discussion factors than other areas on the forum. That being said, I'm not twisting anything. It is what it is. Change is coming and that is just LIFE. To say I'm twisting the idea that gaming's future lies with digital distribution and the cloud is just silly. Worse, it's hate speak created out of FEAR of change. All, I've said from the beginning, there is EVERY indication that the future of the hobby lies in this direction. Maybe not the next generation, but almost CERTAINLY the generation to follow. And we can try to fight it in complete futility or accept it and adapt as necessary. I choose to adapt. That you see me trying to "sell" ONLIVE vs just discussing my favorite gaming platform the others might speak about their PS3s, Wiis, or Xbox 360s once more shows a certain amount of fear and insecurity in dealing with change. Of course, I'm going to suggest ONLIVE to someone that out and out said they were looking for a platform that offered similar characteristics, exactly like I'd suggest a Wii to someone who loves retro-gaming, because the Wii is the finest modern machine for any retrogamer there is. It's all a Zen philosophy, brother, and I am not out to upset anyone. I'm just saying the industry is going where its going, it is what it is, and that (along with other reasons) is why I have thrown my modern gaming lot in with the cloud.

You really should look into ONLIVE, Starscream. It sounds like a really good fit for you.

Good. Because the industry is a bit stale and needs some FRESH ideas ASAP. And where do you think ideas came from in the first and second generation? That's right, the industry used to be powered by creativity and imagination. So if loosing losing physical media means stemming the tide of copy paste/ Retro theft that makes up 80% of the market right now...I'm actually OK with it. So we should sacrifice being able to play the previous generation's games because the industry is stuck in a rut? This option is unacceptable. I like playing old games. This website that we are posting on now celebrates old games. If Atari games were only distributed over phone lines back in the day they would all very likely be lost today. If this future of gaming is okay with you then there's really not much more to discuss. Thanks for the spelling correction. And no, I'm not 100% OK with it, I said as much previously. But...At what point does playing the games of the past generations and playing countless retreads of the games of past generations...become just playing the same games over and over again? I'm not about giving up the past (and I see emulation alive and well in an all digital future. And emulation has done more to keep gaming of the past alive than just about anything else), but I am also about moving forward. I cannot and WILL NOT join in the mindset that if things change, I'm just giving up on my hobby. That just seems incredibly short sighted to me.

Good. Because the industry is a bit stale and needs some FRESH ideas ASAP. And where do you think ideas came from in the first and second generation? That's right, the industry used to be powered by creativity and imagination. So if loosing physical media means stemming the tide of copy paste/ Retro theft that makes up 80% of the market right now...I'm actually OK with it.

Here is where I stand on this... It's coming! There is NO stopping it. Be it 5, 10, or 20 years, the end of physical game media is upon us and WILL Happen. It sucks and I don't agree with it 100% and like most people, I never really will. But, trying to fight it seems incredibly pointless to me. This has been something the game companies have been wanting for the last 10 years. They now have plans to offer up Gamestop and the growing used game market as the sacrificial lamb to slaughter that will make this happen. Gamestop is HELPING all this along by being such a horrifically awful company that is hated by so many consumers. This is one of the reasons why I got behind ONLIVE as strongly as I have. It's going to happen anyway (the world is going to hell in a hand basket), I have seen the future and decided to hedge my bets early. I've chosen a company I really like that offers really good deals and has a great selection of games and an easy way to play them virtually anywhere and on damn near any device I own.(I'm holding the handle).

http://kotaku.com/5866154/play-batman-arkham-city-la-noire-and-other-aaa-games-on-your-ipad Starting tomorrow, you'll be able to playBatman: Arkham City on your iPad. No, notArkham City Lockdown. The real one, the big-boy PC version. It's happening courtesy of OnLive and it's impressive enough to make you consider trading in your Xbox 360 or PS3 for Apple's lightweight tablet. You know OnLive. They're the company that lets you play AAA and indie games in the cloud, meaning you don't need an actual disc or high-end PC to run heavyweights like the original Crysis. Last year, they launched their MicroConsole, an iPhone-sized device that brought the same cloud-gaming functionality to garden-variety HDTVs. A nifty trick, even if it requires a wired Ethernet connection to pull it off. But OnLive's latest feat may be its most impressive, as it turns iPhones, iPads, Kindle Fires and a slew of other smartphones into places where you can play the latest blockbuster games. The video above shows off OnLive's app and new Universal OnLive Controller in action as I play Trine and Batman: Arkham City over the wifi connection at Kotaku Tower. What I can't show yet is L.A. Noire. OnLive's integrating touch controls for many of the games they offer, including Rockstar's hit detective release. The tweaking's still happening to make L.A. Noire playable via fingertips, but it will work with a controller when it hits the OnLive marketplace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aJ8GGdwauQ Why does Zynga treat its employees like crap to the point of costing them a whole lot of money? Why does Microsoft insist on following the WORST of Sony's leads? Why is Nintendo so afraid of loosing just 1 employee? Why does Ubisoft HATE PC gamers? I have no answers to any of these questions. But, I do talk about all of these things. Justice is served on this episode of GAME WRONG!

Because Trip Hawkins is one of the GREATEST prophets of business this industry has ever known. He has always been able to detect trends and see where they were going. His problem is how REALLY FAR a head of his time he so often is.

Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony are gearing up to battle one another with a new generation of gaming gear. Turns out, a few other companies may already be beating them to it. Full article here... http://tech.fortune....lready-be-here/ Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony are gearing up to battle one another with a new generation of gaming gear. Turns out, a few other companies may already be beating them to it. By John Patrick Pullen, contributor FORTUNE -- What the future of console video gaming will actually look like is anybody's guess. Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony have made a ritual out of releasing new game systems every few years and battling it out for customers. Now, before technical barbs have been traded or glitzy launch plans drawn up, three companies with little experience in traditional gaming may be beating them to the punch. Little is know about the next Microsoft (MSFT) Xbox or Sony (SNE) Playstation, despite an uptick in speculation about the consoles expected around 2013. Of the three major game makers, only Nintendo has revealed anything, showing its upcoming Wii U this summer. Launching next year, Nintendo's Wii successor comes with a tablet-like 6.5-inch touchscreen controller that doubles as a handheld gaming device and web browser. Players could use the controller, for example, to shoot ninja stars at enemies displayed on a television. Trouble is, that sounds a lot like a product already in stores: Apple's (AAPL) iPad can be used as a controller for games beamed to an Apple TV. Indeed, products from Apple, Google (GOOG) and startup OnLive are poised to make the most of the biggest trends in gaming and -- possibly -- put a serious dent in the ambitions of gaming's traditional players. And the stakes are high: the global console hardware and software market is expected to grow to $39.7 billion by 2015, according to International Data Corporation. In short order, Apple has become an important force in gaming. Though the company long seemed indifferent to the market, the advent of the iPod and iPhone changed that. Developers flocked to Apple's App Store and, over the last few years, its iOS platform helped launch a new generation of Marios, including Angry Birds. "iOS is easy to develop for," says Rob Murray, founder of Firemint, a game developer owned by Electronic Arts (ERTS). He says one of his firm's most popular titles was prototyped within a week, a time-frame unheard of for even the simplest console games. In June, Apple introduced Airplay, which allows apps to stream from a handheld device to a nearby Apple TV -- a setup similar to Nintendo's upcoming Wii U. Murray says that enables titles like Real Racing 2 to turn an iPad into a steering wheel and a TV into a windshield, for instance. The secret? Apple's processing prowess. "The A5 is the most powerful chipset that we've encountered so far," he says. "That's why we were able to do this TV out. We've now got two screens and we're able to drive them with that power." Google TV, meanwhile, has been stunted by slow sales and delayed software. But the Mountain View, California company's approach makes many of the same features possible. Casual game developer GameHouse president Matt Hulett is bullish, noting the growth of the Android mobile platform which also powers Google's television products. The developer of titles including the bestselling DoodleJump, Hulett says better software could lead to a surge in gaming on Google TV. "This is real," he says. "If you look out three or four years, console gaming is flattening down and micro transactions are going to be as big as console." OnLive takes a different tact. It is a streaming gaming service available on PCs, Macs, tablets, smartphones or a $99 adaptor that connects to televisions. For the first year, publishers were either bringing their games to the service months after launch, or posting popular titles that had already seen their day. This past summer, however, several high-profile games became available with OnLive on their release date. Part of OnLive's lure is the promise that gamers won't have to stand in line on launch day. Instead, they can have their game served to their living room as soon as it's available. "It is an interesting, emerging technology, and it's a new way to deliver online interactive entertainment to people," says Randy Pitchford, president and CEO of Gearbox Software, developer of the most recent Duke Nukem title. While OnLive may not grow into a competitor to Microsoft or Sony, it could signal an emerging trend of cloud gaming. Developers don't need to do much to support the platform, says Pitchford. Typically, since Xbox and Playstation are completely different, programmers have to write the unique software for each platform. OnLive's central computers, however, can stream from the Xbox, Playstation, or PC version.

That's the key isn't it? More and more of us are going to start appearing as the gaming landscape changes going forward. But, YO REAPER...Represent! I think we, along with my wife, might be sum totality of ONLIVE users from the Gulf South! Definitely from the 504.

Not gonna happen.

You and "Old School Retro Gamer" are correct. Fair is Fair PC should be first then ONLIVE/Cloud gaming. Because right now as an ONLIVE gamer I am, by default, also a PC gamer. So I can live with that. But an update to this Modern area of discussion is definitely NEEDED. It looks like it did back when I was posting regularly here, which was 6 years ago.

This video discusses it... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqzuZ5xyPgo&feature=feedu What do you guys think?

I got my first Commodore 64 around 82-83. Other were using the Tandy line of computers, Apple 2, and the first generation of Atari 8 bit computers were big at the time as well. I stuck with Commodore until 89 or so and in the early 90's got my first 386-486...I can't remember. But, there you go.

Hey, I had seen it mentioned earlier. But with a few of us here who are using ONLIVE and a desire to discuss it more in depth. I was hoping it would be added to the sub folders for the other Platforms. I think it qualifies and deserves some space of its own. It also helps to eliminate topics about the service from those who simply aren't interested in it. Just my 2 cents.

It's lost its appeal for me. But, I'ma bad example, because I have decided to strictly use ONLIVE as my main source of gaming.