Cloud gaming – an application for the future?

Cloud gaming – the concept of taking the computational load of today’s high end shoot ’em up games off of the user’s PC, and instead putting the action onto remote servers comes a little closer this month as one company introduces a beta test program designed to put the technology through its paces, supported by some of the world’s biggest games producers like Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Epic Games, Atari, Codemasters, THQ, Warner Bros., 2D Boy and Eidos Interactive.
Using this approach, games are synchronised, rendered, and stored remotely and delivered via broadband Internet…and online gambling companies may be looking at its potential as the test gathers momentum, because the service allows users to play games on low-end systems running operating systems such as Windows XP and Vista as well as any Intel-based Mac with OS X. It is not known if it will embrace Windows 7, but that seems a likely course as the next major OS from Microsoft.
Reporting on the upcoming beta program, the publication Techspot advised that OnLIve – the gaming company behind the tests – is looking for beta testers at onlive.com/beta_program.html
Applicants will have to provide general information about ISP, computer specs and location, which OnLive uses to organise beta testers into groups. If the applicant fits into a particular test group, OnLive will email him or her and request that he/she run a detailed performance test on his/her network connection and system configuration. They will review that information and may choose the applicant’s setup to install the OnLive browser plug-in.

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