Geek Oasis - Issue 01 Unit 28 Afes D.-Task 2-Interactive PDF | Page 4

FEATURED
Why The Future Of Gaming Will
See The Death Of Traditional
Consoles
Is Streaming the Future of
Video Games?
W
ith Xbox, Google, and more
trying to move into streaming,
the future of video game could
mean the death of traditional consoles.
It’s been said so many times before
that consumers are right to be wary
of a claim as broad and bold as “video
game consoles are dying.” Streaming is
currently being touted as a realizable
option for gamers, with official plans
from Xbox to roll out its Project xCloud
service as soon as this year.
Another tech industry giant isn’t lag-
ging behind on acting on that premise
with a platform of its own, as Google
has unveiled its major gaming push
known as Stadia - a streaming service
available through a number of different
tech formats. While consoles will re-
main a major part of the gaming land-
scape for the time being, it’s clear that
the best platform for every company to
be pursing isn’t limited by hardware.
Instead, it’s a digital storefront with an
emphasis on streaming that’s available
across platforms and is readily present
across as many pieces of tech as pos-
sible
So, how does this work? Why would a
company as large as Microsoft with
such heavy investments in gaming
hardware abandon the current mod-
1
el and inspire others to do the same?
Well, it won’t be an immediate jump.
Launching a streaming service with
video games at the forefront isn’t like
turning on a light switch - just look at
the now defunct OnLive console. No,
shifting Xbox to an online platform will
be done over a period of time, and it’s
best accomplished through making
current software widely accessible
to ease consumers across platforms
into the fandom surrounding various
first-party IP
A prime example in terms of how this
can be done with Xbox brands stems
from bringing a handful of games (and
streaming software) to other rival hard-
ware. This would appear to be the a
clear strategy with reports of Ori and
the Blind Forest being ported to Nin-
tendo Switch. Now, the gut reaction to
this may be to point out that the game
is still on gaming hardware, and that
claim isn’t incorrect. As previously
stated, it’s a process and one that in-
volves a lot of lead up. That is why
going directly to gamers is a given for
a new service focused on games, but
the goal is ultimately to gain access to
the widest possible audience – which
is why Microsoft’s Project xCloud and
Google’s Stadia are coming to mobile
devices as well.
Consumers are now looking at a fu-
ture within the industry where leaders
from across current gaming console
mainstays like Nintendo, Xbox, and
PlayStation are making claims about
the possibility of a console-less future.
For example, current president of Nin-
tendo, Shuntaro Furukawa, stated in an
interview with Nikkei (via Forbes) that
“In the long-term, perhaps our focus as
a business could shift away from home
consoles - flexibility is just as import-
ant as ingenuity.” Then there’s Xbox
head Phil Spencer actively pushing
xCloud as a viable streaming service
for gamers.
Finally, PlayStation’s Shawn Layden
offered his own insight into the future
of the gaming industry during an inter-
view with Game Informer, and his take
on the future of gaming is rather tell-
ing. “I don’t want to put too fine a point
on this because it might upset some
of the people I work with, but I think
effectively, we’re looking at kind of a
post-console world where you can have
quality gaming experiences across a
variety of technologies,” stated Layden.
As these companies prepare for that
eventual shift, Google is jumping in
with both feet; Stadia is releasing in
2019, and that’s quite ambitious. While
streaming may be the future, it’s a bet-
ter strategy at this point to wait for
technology to catch up with the con-
cept – which is presumably why Xbox
isn’t abandoning its hardware for the
next generation of gaming. Microsoft
knows that all of the power and reso-
lution being flaunted by Google won’t
mean anything if accessibility is
limited by internet capabilities
of the general populace, and even
gamers will reject the Stadia service if
input lag makes it unviable as a com-