David Perry demos Gaikai game streaming

New browser-based application to let Web surfers play games remotely; tech shown running everything from World of Warcraft to Adobe Photoshop.

Earlier this year, OnLive made a splash at the Game Developers Conference, promising to let gamers play cutting-edge PC games like Crysis on any hardware with a decent Internet connection. The system would have the games running on high-end servers as users essentially streamed a video feed to their computers and sent their own command inputs back.

Apparently, Gaikai is like a winding tunnel with lots of games on the walls.

As much as OnLive could be a game-changing threat to some current players in the gaming industry, the service will have to face threats of its own. For instance, industry veteran David Perry today took the wraps off Gaikai, a browser-based application similarly capable of streaming a wide variety of processor-pushing games to users with underpowered hardware. The only stated requirements for Gaikai are a broadband Internet connection, a Web browser, and the latest Adobe Flash player.

Perry posted a video demo of Gaikai on his blog that shows him playing a variety of games in a browser, including Spore, Mario Kart 64, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, and Lego Star Wars. He even fires up Adobe Photoshop, saying companies like Adobe could use Gaikai to "zero out piracy" since it would just be streaming video of a program instead of sending code to the end user.

Gaikai is currently in need of testers in California for a closed beta test. To register for the program, sign up at the official Gaikai site.

33 Comments

  • xunhallowed

    Posted Jul 8, 2009 10:24 am PT

    @charrr1234

    This would save me the money of buying a $1500 PC, so I'm all for it. I have 2 consoles that cost a lot less and have exclusive games. That's where my money goes, so I can't really afford to upgrade my PC.

  • blackace

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 5:20 pm PT

    lancebalog Posted Jul 2, 2009 5:32 am PT any1 played a pc game with mouse and keyboard lag (dead space with vsync on)?

    thats what its gonna feel like when playing streaming games remotely online.
    ******************************************************
    It's going to depend on the game or application. If it's something simple and doesn't use up a lot of processor power, there won't be much slowdown. It's also going to depend on people's ISP and broadband speed as well.

  • Hvac0120

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 8:48 am PT

    The cool thing I read in this is the idea of desktop applications being used through web browsers. I am concerned about privacy issues and such, but this would certainly derail a lot of piracy in the software industry. It would also be nice not to have to install GB's of application code to the local machine.

    For both app and game spaces I am still curious about the cost of this technological move. I will remain skeptical until Onlive or Gaikai reveal more about pricing a performance.

  • lancebalog

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 5:32 am PT

    any1 played a pc game with mouse and keyboard lag (dead space with vsync on)?

    thats what its gonna feel like when playing streaming games remotely online.

  • biggest_loser

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 4:20 am PT

    Could he have thought up a worse name than that? In reference to Broadband he should have called it "Dave Perry's Band".

  • JangoWuzHere

    Posted Jul 2, 2009 3:20 am PT

    This is a dumb idea because not everyone out their has the internet connection to run this. And what about the people with no internet connection? This kinda stuff should wait.

  • hectadectagon

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 11:37 pm PT

    Saying it doesn't have a chance is the same as when people said digital distribution wouldn't work because they want the CD/DVD or the size for downloads was too big. Yet there are plenty of digital game distributors and its even on the current gen consoles plus more and more things are going digital... tv/movies on your 360 anyone (I'm ignoring price for content here obviously)?

    The technical issues raised are valid but the correct content for the medium reduces these technical barriers to market entry and buys time to improve the service.

    The biggest problem they all face is the waiting game gamers will play to see who survives so they don't waste money on a service that fails. Being Australian I sleep easy knowing that the dust will settle well before we even get a look in, if we get a look in at all that is.

  • charrr1234

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 7:56 pm PT

    Why yes, I would love to pay the same price for a product PLUS a subscription fee for sub-SD video that would have lag in it.

  • JGoWild

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 6:38 pm PT

    "It's not gonna work!", "What about the latencies?", "How are they going to render all those games on a broader range?", "What if I don't have a broadband connection?", these are, but, the few questions and phrases that people have been chanting about Onlive and Gakai. But didn't we qustion youtube at one point, too? But one thing is for sure, free gaming, is, inevitably going to be the way of the future, because I don't think people will pay $60 bucks for 5-10 hrs gameplay, just to try it out. Hence, these type of ideas will make those games reach out to broader audiences, than they could've, specially Indies.....Flame me if you want, I....Don't....Give....a....F***.

  • brian_13un

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 5:26 pm PT

    can it really support ultra low-end pc's and how could crysis be run on just streaming I am sure it will be a mess

  • somberfox

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:48 pm PT

    I don't trust Gaikai, the flash player can be pretty buggy at times and I would think twice about paying for a service that uses it as a content platform.

  • ldonyo

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:46 pm PT

    The programs run in a windows in a browser, which is hardly the "full resolution" claimed. Also, I doubt that much, if any, effects beyond DX7 level are enabled. Plus, if they go away, so do your games.

  • Timeaisis

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 4:02 pm PT

    TheBionicRock, you hit the nail on the head, man.

  • TheBionicRock

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 3:29 pm PT

    Streaming games over the internet is like a E-Book. It sounds good on (digital =p) paper but there is a reason why it hasn't caught on yet and won't ever replace the traditional distribution method. In this case the requirement of a internet connect 24/7 and difficulties with modding a game that you don't even have on your computer will prevent it from taking over.

  • Xcite79

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 2:00 pm PT

    I can't see anything dealing with streaming being mainstream. Anything that needs a internet connection to play even if it is single player can't take over the standard we have now. What am I to do when I go on deployment? Say screw games because out at sea I can't get a connection?

  • Megamanx266

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 1:54 pm PT

    Hmmm... I forsee 2 problems with streaming MMO's and non-game apps (one for each).

    1) Alot of MMO's use interface addons, with this users will have no way to customize their UI with addons, they'll still be able to monkey around the settings though... I think

    2) Ummm... how are you supposed to save what you made onto your computer? If the program is running on the servers its just gonna default to the hard drive on the server and save it on there making it so you can only access it through Gaikai

  • chrisrob5

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 1:45 pm PT

    @cronus233

    The only reason there is a difference between the two is because OnLive demoed Crysis, but Gaikai demoed Spore, World of Warcraft, Eve Online, etc. They all have bad to ok graphics. They aren't Crysis.

  • JGoWild

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 1:35 pm PT

    The only thing I am concerned about is the lag and quality of the games. But this is a great idea nevertheless. And besides, if its competing against another product, then there is a less chance of monopoly, which is always good for the customer...

  • cronus233

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 1:30 pm PT

    This is cool, but Onlive's graphics blows Gaikai's out of the water.

  • bigethan GameSpot staff member

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 1:18 pm PT

    --
    Thirdrail1: And the people who really care about brand new games typically have the hardware to play them.
    --
    Think of the publishers? If they can sell Cryss to more than just the people with hardcore PCs, wouldn't that be a great opportunity? And what about the guy (me) who just bought a mac instead of a pc, but still wants to play PC games?

  • alexLmx6

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 1:17 pm PT

    its going to end up costing more then just getting the games, they'll find a way to make it so

    and well i spend alot of time not on the internet (im on dialup 4 months of the year), if a company made me be on the internet to use a program ive paid for i would get a refund and use something else

  • Thirdrail1

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 1:06 pm PT

    The problem I see is that it would be only really be useful for games that are very new. I mean the games that "pushed" pcs a couple years ago will run on average laptops now. And the people who really care about brand new games typically have the hardware to play them. This seems like an idea that targets a very limited niche of gamers. It is a cool idea though, just from a technical standpoint. I guess it would also be great for places like China or Mexico, where the vast majority of gamers pirate their software.

  • k0r3aN_pR1d3

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 1:00 pm PT

    I don't really like these "streaming" things. It still has that uncomfortable feeling of not being in direct control of your character, leading to some superficiality.

  • Dragdar

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 12:55 pm PT

    All eyes are on OnLive, to see if this thing works in the real world with demanding games.

  • Pete5506

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 12:52 pm PT

    Thats neat, now its going to be easier to be a PC gamer

  • NearlyPrescient

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 12:47 pm PT

    @ ColdfireTrilogy
    it seems obvious to me that they wouldn't be shelling out the same kind of money, as they'd be able to rent out the program if they wanted to, or maybe even simply paying less because of the lack of offline functionality.
    and realistically, it is something sitting on an HDD, that particular HDD is just accessed via the internet.

  • ColdfireTrilogy

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 12:38 pm PT

    lol at "He even fires up Adobe Photoshop, saying companies like Adobe could use Gaikai to "zero out piracy" since it would just be streaming video of a program instead of sending code to the end user. " ... it requires a internet connection and isnt as easily modified as something sitting on a HDD ... no new brushes scripts etc .... Also what dev is going to want to shell out money for something they never get to actually own ... fail

  • Sergsky

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 12:36 pm PT

    Wow!

  • SirSpoon84

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 12:17 pm PT

    cool beans

  • xaos

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 11:36 am PT

    Cloud computing just seems like a dicey proposition to me; rollout and penetration of the high speed connections that this will absolutely require seems to have plateaued. I'm also dubious about the experience. Personally, I think I'd go insane if in the middle of my game, my connection dropped and I was suddenly separated from my game. It seems like a solution in search of a problem to me

  • Barighm

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 11:35 am PT

    Wow. That's impressive...if it works.

  • halosniper52

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 11:32 am PT

    All those games tho they say it plays are already so damn easy to run on any computer. need to put something like crysis up on it and see. Does look pretty nice tho I love what onlive looks like so have to see about this to now.

  • Viper596

    Posted Jul 1, 2009 11:22 am PT

    Looks quite good. This will help cut the price of being a PC gamer

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