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Square Enix announces new cloud gaming service Shinra Technologies, led by Wada

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Looks a little bit like Black Materia to me...

Conspiracy theory aside, I don't see cloud gaming right now as a very competitive option for most gamers although I do admit I don't know much about it. Personally I like having physical copies of games so moving to Steam and digital gaming was a very strange move. I feel like cloud gaming would only dissuade gamers like me.

Here's also the official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yd83iCvLKY&feature=youtu.be
 

DJIzana

Member
I'm personally curious about this. Obviously streaming gaming news to advance BIG TIME for this to work out how they want but I'm still curious none the less.
 

OryoN

Member
Not to be all negative, as i think these are necessary steps in what seems like an inevitable direction. But...

I don't know man, I'm really skeptical about what these cloud services claim to make possible. Not that the technology isn't getting there, but no one talks about how they intend to service potentially millions of users if this these alternatives actually gain traction.

It's great that they can boast about having "unlimited processing power" and having "thousands of CPUs and GPUs" to handle processing. It's nice that Timmy's game is being processed remotely by multiple CPUs/GPUs, but what happens when a million customers need access to the service for various demanding games? Suddenly, those "thousands" of processors don't sound like much at all, and the notion of not being "shackled by technology" is slapped by the cold reality that such a service will either be very limited(in terms of how demanding the games can be, and/or number of users they can service), or cost a ton of money to maintain.
 

Indiedevs

Banned
I really don`t like where this is heading. Why did I buy a gaming console if I really don`t need the hardware inside it? I also like to own the stuff I buy, without having to worrie about servers being shut down in the future.
 

SOLDIER

Member
Looking through their site I am convinced that this is the start of a viral marketing ARG for a FF7 remake.

A FFVII Remake with multiplayer/streaming elements to justify the cost of their new cloud-based experiment.

I mean....it's not the craziest theory in the world. They've said forever how expensive remaking FFVII would be. Make it a part of this thing and they can call it a business experiment (that they will likely profit the hell out of).
 

Indiedevs

Banned
Can someone please explain me what this is? Is it Square Enix version of Gaikai streaming service, or some excuse for always online?
 

Indiedevs

Banned
Project FLARE is a system out of Eidos Montreal (sort of in conjunction with Ubisoft) for handling cloud physics for games that are otherwise run on a console or PC on the user's end.

It's like what Microsoft talks about when they mean the cloud, as opposed to a streaming service like this.

That is also part of Yoichi Wada's group. He's in charge of all emerging markets, which at Square Enix are defined primarily as Cloud, Asia, and Mobile.

Edit: Oh, I guess this really is FLARE.

It`s funny how angry everyone become when Microsoft talked about cloud handling physics and stuff. Not that I like idea, but wouldn`t this only make sense for multiplayer games?
 

Azabu

Neo Member
No offense to square or whoever else that tries this but I hope the publisher initiatives fail. I don't like a future where you have to subscribe to publisher specific services to stream their games rather than one per platform or one across many platforms.

The goal is to offer games from many developers, including Square Enix.

http://venturebeat.com/2014/09/18/f...evelop-revolutionary-cloud-gaming-technology/

"By setting up a separate entity, Square Enix will make it easier for Shinra to develop its technology and partner with external game companies. Eventually, it could also evaluate at a later time whether to spin the subsidiary off as a separate company with its own external funding."
 

Indiedevs

Banned
"Shinra wants to make more efficient use of server hardware to support multiple players on each graphics processing unit (GPU) in the cloud"


Didn`t Mark Cerny say that the cloud couldn`t handle such very well?
 

Videoneon

Member
Until American internet connections get out of the gutter this isn't gonna be too good out here.

Yeah, America ain't Korea. I'm reminded of that one Microsoft guy who got fired for the "why would I live there comment" or whatever it was.

And just think, with net neutrality campaigning starting again!

T_T
 
D

Deleted member 20920

Unconfirmed Member
"Shinra wants to make more efficient use of server hardware to support multiple players on each graphics processing unit (GPU) in the cloud"


Didn`t Mark Cerny say that the cloud couldn`t handle such very well?

The cloud is more like a catchall term describing computing that's done on servers. I'm not an expert but I supposed one cloud is not like another. It all depends on the company's tech?

I think companies are doing this to prepare for the inevitable shift towards a console-less future. At best we could change the way we game in a huge way, at worse companies can gain more customers who choose to stream games to whatever devices they have in lieu of purchasing existing consoles. It sounds like a way to expand your customer base without relying on them havibg to purchase additional devices while still catering to your more hardcore crowd.
 

Indiedevs

Banned
The cloud is more like a catchall term describing computing that's done on servers. I'm not an expert but I supposed one cloud is not like another. It all depends on the company's tech?

I think companies are doing this to prepare for the inevitable shift towards a console-less future. At best we could change the way we game in a huge way, at worse companies can gain more customers who choose to stream games to whatever devices they have in lieu of purchasing existing consoles. It sounds like a way to expand your customer base without relying on them havibg to purchase additional devices while still catering to your more hardcore crowd.

Maybe, but I still think it`s to early. Xbox One and Playstation 4 are both selling really well, so im really hoping for atleast one more console generation along with physical discs.
 

Pandacon

Member
I wasn't sold on this tech when MS was talking about it, and I'm still not sold on it.

Make a game that truly benefits from this tech, then I won't believe this whole thing is a waste of money and time.
 
D

Deleted member 20920

Unconfirmed Member
Maybe, but I still think it`s to early. Xbox One and Playstation 4 are both selling really well, so im really hoping for atleast one more console generation along with physical discs.

It's goos to start early. Sony is with Playstation Now. Starting early helped Netflix become what it is and being late made the rest of the companies go out of business.

I wasn't sold on this tech when MS was talking about it, and I'm still not sold on it.

Make a game that truly benefits from this tech, then I won't believe this whole thing is a waste of money and time.
This sounds more like Playstation Now than MS's cloud though. They're already using similar tech for Dragon Quest X in Japan on smartphones and the 3DS. To varying degrees of success.
 

Pandacon

Member
This sounds more like Playstation Now than MS's cloud though. They're already using similar tech for Dragon Quest X in Japan on smartphones and the 3DS. To varying degrees of success.

From the video it sounded like they wanted to offload operations to servers. Either way, I'm not looking forward to PSNow either. I'm just not a believer in cloud gaming and I think it's gonna be a big fail for the companies trying to make this succeed. But we'll see I guess.
 

duckroll

Member
This sounds more like Playstation Now than MS's cloud though. They're already using similar tech for Dragon Quest X in Japan on smartphones and the 3DS. To varying degrees of success.

No this (Shinra) is nothing like PS Now. S-E is also launching something like PS Now, and it's called DiveIn. DQX is also a good example. Shinra is much more R&D driven and not something that is anything close to an actual consumer service or product anytime soon. They're basically trying to create a cloud based platform which developers will develop for exclusively, which can then be offered onto any other hardware device.

They really try to make it sound ~exciting~ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yd83iCvLKY

:p
 

Indiedevs

Banned
It's goos to start early. Sony is with Playstation Now. Starting early helped Netflix become what it is and being late made the rest of the companies go out of business.


This sounds more like Playstation Now than MS's cloud though. They're already using similar tech for Dragon Quest X in Japan on smartphones and the 3DS. To varying degrees of success.

I still don`t believe that services like PS Now can overtake local rendering. I also don`t believe that physical media will die anytime soon. The best way to sell the biggest amount of games will always be to combine physical and digital.

But that is just my opinion.
 
D

Deleted member 20920

Unconfirmed Member
No this (Shinra) is nothing like PS Now. S-E is also launching something like PS Now, and it's called DiveIn. DQX is also a good example. Shinra is much more R&D driven and not something that is anything close to an actual consumer service or product anytime soon. They're basically trying to create a cloud based platform which developers will develop for exclusively, which can then be offered onto any other hardware device.

They really try to make it sound ~exciting~ here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yd83iCvLKY

:p

Ah. I see. Didn't get the part where they want people to use them exclusively as a separate platform. That's actually even more interesting and perhaps an even more farsighted plan than just offering a service like DiveIn.
 

Tetranet

Member
It won't be long before their datacenter tales over the world and Earth becomes property of Shinra Inc. and everyone on it an employee.



Seriously though, what the hell are they thinking at Square Enix? I heard about a similar project of theirs in Japan, but I can understand that: one country, infrastructure in place, tons of mobile devices, but outside of it as well? With PSNow in the game, I don't understand why they didn't just use that instead of investing into their own service. This won't go well.


Wait does this mean that FF7, FFX and real life are all part of the same universe?


FFXIII-2 as well. We live in a closed loop spacetime where the events of FF7 and FFX will happen, be forgotten, turned into games, happen again, be forgotten, turned into games, so on and so forth, for ever and ever.
 

Chocolate & Vanilla

Fuck Strawberry
This has got to be some kind of elaborate viral marketing thing right?

Cloud, Avalanche, Shinra... I mean, it's just too suspect. Unless ofc, Squeenix make developer choices based purely on how well as company's name fits a theme. Actually that wouldn't really surprised me
 
Reading Shinra Technologies made me instantly distrust and dislike this company because of FFVII.

That said I'm curious to see where SE goes with this. Interesting that they've based in it the States instead of Japan.
 
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