Well the web has been speculating for a while that Sony would try to acquire itself out of the Kutaragi/Harai rut it found itself in.
Once the Apple of the tech world, Sony is now considered more as an ageing Ninja Turtle ,and one the competition has effortlessly managed to tip over onto it's half shell. This is largely due to Sony's blindness to the evolving tech world around it, an insistence on 10 year hardware upgrade cycles , a reliance on now finally retiring or soon to be retired first party franchises and out of touch CEOs..
Und so Sony's acquisition of Dave Perry's GAIKAI cloud game demoing service bares closer examination than that afforded it by current gaming journos screaming about the Fourth coming of the PlayStation being heralded by Mr Perry's most excellent Java fuelled GAIKAI cloud game demo service...
This acquisition is the latest desperate act by Sony to stay relevant in a environment where they are no more relevant than any other hardware manufacturer and far less relevant than new Platform holders as the industry likes to label them.
For in today's industry, a hardware manufacturers rise and fall depends on content providers .The old model of drip fed pre announced platform exclusives is consigned to history. The content providers dictate the way their games are delivered , across platforms and in increasing numbers digitally.
Success is also dependent on content delivery , which on the PC thanks to Steam , Desura, Get Games , and GOG makes for a thriving gaming retail industry. And over on mobile platforms iOS and Android stores deliver content to millions of new gamers , success which Sony and Nintendo are largely just coming out of denial of... The PSN , Xbox live and Nintendo Wiiware stores are amateur in their execution by comparison.
So you can see how Sony are desperate to not miss the next wave.
One possible future wave is supposed to be cloud based streaming , and currently there is only one effective existing working full retail game cloud gaming service , and it happens to be the one that Sony DID NOT PURCHASE ...or failed to ... I talk of course about onlive...
But credit where credit is due and congrats to our Dave , it is not every company who can get $380 million for a game demoing service.
The service GAIKAI delivers is really no different to all those old pre Web 2.0 game download sites ,but it comes with the kudos of streaming games instantly .GAIKAI would like to argue that the technology is hardware agnostic , but the truth is you will need a mid end laptop with the fastest dual band wifi n card and or Ethernet connected to a decent broadband speed way above average , I still get blips in service with 100 meg ! And however fast your hardware ,you will still have to stand behind everyone else in the server queue and constantly keep that annoying Java applet updated .
I am a great fan of GAIKAI ,from the very first few game demos listed on the site.I have been using it for months on different hardware. All the possibilities seem very enticing ..at first , with people considering Sony streaming PlayStation games from all 3 generations and possibly even the PS4 .This not going to happen.
GAIKAI for all it's benefits running in a java enabled browser , running with far crisper visuals than rival onlive has major shortfalls.
Onlive was designed to provide a full gaming and retail experience , and carries this off quite competently, it feels especially awesome to demo a AAA game AND buy it AND play it instantly, film it , share it and call your friends virtually over to join in...
GAIKAI of course can only let you demo a game .Other GAIKAI failings include the inevitable server queue , that annoying java game loading bar that often completes and then sends you back to the homepage asking you to try again.
Onlive at present clearly have the server issue sorted. GAIKAI needs more server storage and it needs to offer a store with full games not just 16 minute demos with infrequent but very frustrating when they happen dropouts .
All the great demos you see of me playing GAIKAI are over a 100 to 120 meg connection 5ghz wifi N .Playing GAIKAI demos is not possible over the old PS3 Wifi G or through the browser as of yet. Nor is it possible on the PS Vitas browser ,your iOS or Android device.
The java code it uses will not run on a PS3s Opera based browser. And if Sony allows it will open the floodgates to every Java app and game , just as Apple or Microsoft cannot afford to do so on their walled garden hardware and consoles...
Onlive already has an Android App and stands as much chance of making it to IOS as Sony does with GAIKAI. So I wonder with all the pre E3 hype being about Sony buying Onlive and now going for GAIKAI whether this is a post E3 shotgun Vegas wedding ala Rachel and what was Schwimmers character called again .. oh yes Ross ... don't click here if you value your street cred...
GAIKAI clearly have never had the hardware funding or aim to run full games ,in fact it is highly unlikely that outside a decent modern Windows 7 or 8 pc ,laptop or surface that you can run a GAIKAI demo. Even then you will want to be wired to your broadband and use the service when every one else is sleeping or get ready to queue .In reality you can download games in completion by the time you get your java updated , your browser settings correct , wait for a time when every one in Germany is sleeping , and manage to launch and play a game demo on Gaikai , for it then to cut out telling you your 120meg wired connection is not good enough ... as you can tell this has happened to me a few times .
Even though I love the idea of Gaikai , the sheer audacity of it , I am totally objectively aware I can download a full AAA game from Steam in less than 10 minutes a demo in 2 minutes using a 120 meg connection and you know this speed is going to increase with time , so the thrill of instant demos or gaming via the cloud is negated by the harsh facts that you need to maintain a steady connection between you and their server,always be connected and you are just waiting for that server quality to fluctuate enough to be kicked to the back of the queue.
The strangest thing I find about this acquisition is the fact the Gaikai comes with no community ,no established user base ,no social media functions even though it can be played via Facebook , there is no core gaming community as on Steam , or rival cloud service onlive.
The more I look at it from the point of view of a company looking to get a foot hold in the cloud gaming business the more I see onlive as the company to acquire. Full retail games , instant purchases and gaming , a community of gamers that you can watch or join or invite into your gaming sessions , Android apps , iOS apps on hold , a stand alone console , and dare I say it again full games to play with near 0 queueing.
This is because onlive spent time building those servers , and this is where GAIKAI needs to improve ,if it remains a game demoing service alone , then frankly this is 380 million Dollars totally wasted.
Cloud gaming relies on the idea that you get a kick out of instant gaming because you would spend hours downloading or walking ( or being driven by mom) to your game store and then spend hours downloading the game once you get home and note you have no dvd drive on your nice new Retina displayed Win 8 Surface book pro ..
But using cloud based gaming you are always conscious of the major flaws of streaming that you constantly need to maintain a steady fast Internet connection above a minimum level or your game just stops and you get kicked off and sent to the back of the server queue .
Anything and everything can cause such fluctuations in Interweb quality...
When you download on Steam a dip in yours or their broadband efficacy may slow the download down a bit , but with streaming similar fluctuations end your game.
Not acceptable , and so I demo onlive and Gaikai gaming a lot , I own quite a few onlive games , but mad gamer that I am I always end up purchasing the Steam or Desura versions too , because short of my pod of pcs all melting down nothing is going to stop me gaming .
As a collector you also have to think of the lifespan of a cloud based gaming service . The games are only playable as long as GAIKAI and onlive maintain servers , how long will that be for ? No one can say . And what if you are into some obscure game that no one else but some nice Tokyo otariiman play at early hours of the morning. Is Gaikai or onlive going to maintain servers just for the two of you?
There is another hope though:
This time next year there will be peer to peer cloud gaming in the same way people stream video and music today , so frankly I consider Sony have thrown 380 million away.
GAIKAI is excellent but a year after beta still has no retail store ,no full game playing functionality and no gaming community, the ability to stream is in no way unique or tied to one company , the ability to stream content games and video is going to be available through thousands of avenues , just like radio stations today.
This is where Sony miscalculated .What happens when EA and other softcos decide they want to stream from their own clouds. EAs Origin already shook the Valve Steam tree by denying content and holding it exclusively for launch on their own digital delivery system.
A company the size of EA could just as easily set up its own cloud streaming service just as easily as it has set up Origin to rival Steam.
What happens when EA deny GAIKAI the option of streaming their games , no more instant Crysis 2 ?
And what happens when someone at Valve has the cajones to wake up Gabe and get Steam streaming our Steam collections?
Then consider the power of our devices is increasing every day , you can stream your PC to your iOS or Android device with Splashtop , how much longer until we get the equivalent of a utorrent but for streaming games , any and all games from our own dedicated servers , whether they are our macs , pcs , or iOS and Android devices.
So congrats Mr Perry now known as the 380 million dollar man, hats off to you sir . As they say in the US of A you build it and they will come ! And please invest some of that 380 million into bringing us an updated Wally Week or Pyjamarama game. Download of course ..
Meanwhile Sony , need to get GAIKAI delivering full games ASAP ,for as all the cool cats know Microsoft or P Diddy will be throwing down 500 million for onlive very soon...
Gaikai have upped the number of games to demo check them out here , and rival onlive are ready and able to sell you full games instantly here
It is going to be very interesting to see if Sony evolves GAIKAI'S true potential or puts it on ice to avoid perceived damage to the upcoming disc based PS4.
Who knows in the topsy turvey world of gaming maybe GAIKAI will pull a PIXAR and end up buying it's parent company ... and the PS4 launches as the GAISTATION ... and peoples it's pronounced GUY-STATION fyi....
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