INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
It was revealed at E3 last month that Microsoft was building a cloud gaming system
A report today calls that system Scarlett Cloud and it only part of Microsoft next-gen Xbox strategy
And it makes a lot of sense, too.
According to Thurrott.com, noted site for all things Microsoft, the next Xbox will come in two flavors
One will be a traditional gaming console where games are processed locally
You know, like how it works on game systems right now
The other system will be a lower-powered system that will stream games from the cloud — most likely, Microsoft Azure cloud.
This streaming
system will still have some processing power, which is in part to counter latency traditionally associated with streaming games
Apparently part of the game will run locally while the rest is streamed to the system.
The streaming Xbox will likely be available at a much
lower cost than the traditional Xbox
Microsoft has sold Xbox systems with a slim profit margin, relying on sales of games and online services to make up the difference
A streaming service that talked about on Thurrott would further take advantage of this model while tapping into Microsoft deep understanding
of cloud computing.
A few companies have tried streaming full video games
Onlive was one of the first; while successful for a time, it eventually went through adramaticround of layoffsbefore asurprise sale for $4.8
Sony offers an extensive library of PS2, PS3 and PS4 games for streaming through its PlayStation Now service
Nvidia got into the streaming game this year and offers a small selection of streaming through GeForce Now
But these are all side projects for the companies.
Sony and Nintendo do not have the global cloud computing platform of Microsoft, and
ifMicrosoft streaming service hits, it could change the landscape and force competitors to reevaluate everything.
