50w ago -
Update: It's now
confirmed that Sony has acquired Gaikai for $380 million with the official press release below.
Press Release: Sony Computer Entertainment to Acquire Gaikai Inc., a Leading Interactive Cloud Gaming Company
SCE to Build a Cloud Service Bringing Gaikai's Cloud Based-Streaming Technologies into Its Network Business
TOKYO, July 2, 2012 PRNewswire - Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) today announced that it entered into a definitive agreement on June 30, 2012 (Japan Time) to acquire Gaikai Inc., the world's leading interactive cloud-based gaming company, for approximately USD 380 million.
Through the acquisition, SCE will establish a new cloud service, ensuring that it continues to provide users with truly innovative and immersive interactive entertainment experiences.
"By combining Gaikai's resources including its technological strength and engineering talent with SCE's extensive game platform knowledge and experience, SCE will provide users with unparalleled cloud entertainment experiences," said
Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
"SCE will deliver a world-class cloud-streaming service that allows users to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of internet-connected devices."
"SCE has built an incredible brand with PlayStation and has earned the respect of countless millions of gamers worldwide," said David Perry, CEO of Gaikai Inc.
"We're honored to be able to help SCE rapidly harness the power of the interactive cloud and to continue to grow their ecosystem, to empower developers with new capabilities, to dramatically improve the reach of exciting content and to bring breathtaking new experiences to users worldwide."
Established in 2008 and headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, Gaikai has developed the highest quality, fastest interactive cloud-streaming platform in the world that enables the streaming of quality games to a wide variety of devices via the Internet.
With this acquisition, SCE will establish a cloud service and expand its network business by taking full advantage of Gaikai's revolutionary technology and infrastructure including data centers servicing dozens of countries and key partners around the world.
The transaction is subject to certain regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
SCE will continue to aggressively expand a new world of entertainment through the introduction of innovative technologies and the delivery of amazing experiences.
Following up on our
previous article, today a new rumor from GamesIndustry.biz (linked above) speculates that Sony may be bringing backwards compatibility of PS2 and PSOne titles to modern-day PlayStation (PS3, PS Vita, etc) devices with the supposed Gaikai cloud gaming deal set to be unveiled at E3 2012.
To quote: "Sony's rumoured cloud gaming deal with Gaikai is to allow current-generation hardware to play PlayStation 2 and PSOne games via a streaming solution, GamesIndustry International understands.
According to sources, the service will offer first-party games and be open to third-party publishers to sell back catalogue to players. The partnership is likely to be announced at E3 next week as part of Sony's conference on Monday.
Gaikai already has an extensive portfolio of video game partners that have been on board with CEO
David Perry's vision since the service first went live, including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and Capcom, but all titles so far have been for the PC format.
The appetite for PlayStation 2 games has been proven with collected HD releases of titles including Silent Hill, God of War, Devil May Cry and Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.
The streaming games company has also signed up retailers like GAME and Best Buy, services such as YouTube, TV manufacturer LG and social network Facebook, and is expected to announce further partnerships next week.
It's not yet clear which Sony devices beyond the PlayStation 3 would get a Gaikai-supported game streaming service, but it could extend to Sony branded TVs and tablets.
A backwards compatibility offering at this stage in the PS3's lifecycle would also allow Sony to test streaming games before it goes fully next-gen with the release of the PlayStation 4."
Hello. New user here. Find this website very resourceful. Hope I can contribute. Cheers....
Perhaps if they start selling them at rental prices ($5), then I would consider them. But there is no way I would pay full price for a game that I don't own.
This may work for some types of games, but realistically this isn't going to work for games like 3rd person shooters. I worry about 3-4 ms latency between my computer & monitor, forget network latency.
Plus the need to keep buying new consoles every few years to enjoy higher performing games would be moot, as you could literally use the same system for a lifetime. And perhaps cloud gaming would allow cross-platform play of games and online services regardless of what brand you own. So for example, a PS3 user wants to play Mass Effect 1 on their PS3, no problem. Halo games, GeOW etc etc.
Although cloud gaming has a TON of drawbacks, things like lag, being 100% reliant on the net to play games, net speed limitations, server issues, potential data loss etc etc etc. As of now, I don't believe our infrastructure can handle it, maybe in 15 or 20 years when the slowest net connection somebody has is 50 Mbps up/down on fiber optic.
We can't deny this kind of thing is going to be the future, and it's already amazing how much the internet is being used now as it's exponential growth is staggering. I can't even imagine what things are going to be like in 20 years... I can just picture everything will be net-based and streamed.
P.S: I've never tried cloud gaming but i can see the problems that would arise with my internet connection, or almost any other connection in my country...