Microsoft Spotted Streaming Halo 4 to PC, Windows Phone

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Stimpack

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I really don't have much interest in an Xbox One, but I will say that I'm happy to see companies begin to lean towards progressing local streaming technology and advocating low-latency solutions. I have an interest in whatever, or whoever, aids my dream of living in a perfect Oculus world.
 

lpedraja2002

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Bah knowing Microsoft's history I don't expect this to become a reality. Anyone remember all the gaming features they talked about that would supposedly be included in Windows Longhorn (AKA Vista)? The ability to play PC games by just inserting the disc without needing to install (like the consoles) or play them while being installed, some magical cpu emulation that supposedly will allow anyone to play games like Crysis without needing a beefy gpu (article was published here at toms), Multiplayer between console and PC (only one game did this). Hell with the Windows Phones 7 they never even bothered to improve or fix many of the issues stated on their pathetic recommendations website. Hell just the other day I got a reply from a Microsoft employee saying that my suggested feature which I posted like 2 years ago was now being taken into consideration! Also, back when the Nokia Lumias where being shown they showed HDMI mirroring and its an option built into the phone's OS but can't be used officially! Also, the Xbox illumi room which looked great but never made it into the Xbox One.

Microsoft's R&D department make prototypes of some really amazing stuff but they never reach the consumers! Microsoft's own demise will be from its own stupidity, hopefully after Ballmer is out the next CEO will be someone competent in the technological needs of people.
 

back_by_demand

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"Microsoft's R&D department make prototypes of some really amazing stuff"

As do the R&D depts of a lot of tech firms, they patent and sit on it, then a competitor releases a similar idea and so they unlock it from R&D to piss all over the competitor. Why release it early when you can save it as a weapon against the competition?
 

cmi86

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Why do I care about investing $500+ in to a machine to stream 720i/medium setting when my PC I already own can push far beyond that ?? and can stream to other units if I install steam OS for free ???
 

smfrazz

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This does work...no matter what your limited understanding of the technology behind this may be...and it works with sub 50ms latency. If you all remember this was talked about when the XBOX One was announced...they stated they would use a Cloud based gaming system using the Cloud servers as a render farm of sorts with the ability to "stream" a game. Most didn't believe it would be possible because most of us have tried to play games over the net with little success. Hell I remember how trying to use XWindows across the net from a Unix server was painful. Technology has changed significantly since then.
 

smfrazz

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And you know this how? Have you seen it... did you play a game this way? Do you realize how little time that really is...even for FPS games this isn't noticeable.
 

jhansonxi

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Good ideas are not always feasible or marketable. In order to be successful a product has to appeal to enough people that sales cover the development costs + minimum profit target. With mobile platforms the size and power consumption are the major limits. With desktop and laptops the limits are the average capabilities that most consumers already have or what they are willing to purchase. With streaming the limits are latency, bandwidth, and cell network or ISP data caps. Cell networks still have major limitations and costs but public WiFi helps a bit. With residential fiber becoming more common, streaming to home systems may become more marketable. But people in rural areas are still on dial-up (low bandwidth) or satellite (high latency, 500mS+) so streaming isn't practical for them.
 

smfrazz

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Yes...you are correct...in that the REAL issue isn't that this isn't feasible but still dependent on the "last mile" of connectivity a user may have. It will likely require WiFi and not rely on cellular connectivity. This is all leaked information and not based on any statement from MSFT. Let's see what requirements MSFT states is needed for this functionality. Still even if it's only feasible for ~50% of the users it doesn't negate it's value to the other 50%.
 

smfrazz

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It's about the ability to play on OTHER devices...not the XBOX One. Look at the gaming market in the mobile space...and tell me why it's doing so well vs PC games. On the XBOX One the game/s will most likely play at the full capability of the game/XBOX One. Unless this is for backwards compatibility use also...then it's probably dependent on the game quality itself. I bet the sales numbers from Candy Crush alone are in the 10's of millions...all this from a "Free" game. In-game purchases have gone through the roof as people are sucked into playing these games.
 

shikamaru31789

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I frequently play first person shooter multiplayer at as high as 150ms, and I consider it playable, the few times that my connection works well enough for 45ms I do very well.
 

JakeX

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"Unlike Nintendo" he says, when the Wii U goes a step farther than just streaming last generation games and has support to play Wii games built-in! Heck, you can even play Gamecube games with Nintendont or Devolution, or buy console games spanning all the way back to the NES in the virtual console. Just sayin'.
 

stevejnb

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Really? I spent years playing online games with latency worse than that, and millions of people still do happily. We all WANT a ping that's in the single digit millisecond range all the time, but pretending like double digits is unplayable is just *ridiculous*. I wouldn't want to play in a competitive tournament with that kind of latency, but for casual play, I'd gladly stream from other rooms in my house with that kind of a delay.

That being said, we'll see if it actually performs half decently. Something like this screams pie-in-the-sky.
 
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