Maybe the arguments for cloud gaming is right. 10-30 years from now everything will be digitally distributed and/or sent via video stream. Maybe ISP's will cater for this in the future, and probably the digital networks of the world will be 100,000,000x better than they are today. And maybe I will accept it when it all happens. Probably by then I will have grown out of computer gaming and would not need to complain about "the good old days" LOL. Who knows. I was mainly disgruntled by the way BBC Click reported "this could be the end of consoles as we know it". Cloud gaming has a long way to go until then.

What also sparked me starting this thread is the fact that a few months back my Xbox 360 console was destroyed and my insurance wouldn't cover it. I decided I wasn't going to buy another one and save up for a PS3 instead. So I sold my Xbox games and figured; what about the hundreds of pounds I spent on DLC and full games over the years.... I can't resell it, I don't even own it. I just feel its a waste that I don't have the physical media, free to do almost whatever I want to do with it.

I wonder when the next console generation will start..... seeing that we had a global economic recession over the last 4 years.... generally next gen consoles are out every 5 years. 2012 maybe? or later. I wonder.... will microsoft do get another head start or will it be sony's turn again?

I saw this as well. It all looks really interesting, especially since all the local device has to do is stream a "video" of the game being played on the remote server. However, I can't really see this taking off yet as the infrastructure just isn't ready to cope with this sort of thing. I'm lucky, and I've got a 20 meg connection, and assuming that the server I connect to can serve it up fast enough I can actually get full speed out of it most of the time. But I'm with Virgin and so suffer from their infamous bandwidth caps. I'm not sure what the cap actually is on my service, but once I hit it my speed is cranked right back to almost a crawl in comparison to what I should get. The same is true of all of their services. And that's the main problem here. It's not really about latency and speed, but the amount of data transfer you will get through playing the games, and no ISP is going to stand for that. Also, on a different note, and sort of related to what Krillar said, what happens in a few years time when I fancy replaying some old game? Will that still be available, or will I be limited to only the most popular games of the day. Again, what about niche games? Will a service such as this cater for games only purchased by a small percentage of the market? I can't see this taking off in any big way at all.Woodgar

I like what you say, Woodgar. The ISP's will be a problem. I am with Virgin too, I can't get BT unless I pay them £150 for a connection to be installed, I say BT because they do not (well so far as I know) have a bandwith cap on thier "unlimited" package, the only traffic shaping they do though is throttling torrent and P2P speeds at peak times, other downloads (such as xbox 360 downloads and general direct link downloads) are not affected.

What if the cloud gaming companies servers go down? your buggared. There will be general maintenance also, unless they have a spare server site you won't be able to play. What if you can't get a connection to the internet at all? you will be buggared then also.

I am just hoping any of it does not take off. I want to keep buying consoles!

Not really, in cloud computing, the "computing" just happens somewhere else... it still has to happen.

If I was a betting man, I'd bet on almost complete cloud happening in our lifetimes.

Frankly, I can't wait. I buy everything using digital distribution when possible, cloud is going to be the future and I can't wait!

So what if the company that holds the cloud hardware and software goes bankrupt/liquidation? What will you have?

Not only that certain industries would mostly be killed off; graphics cards, pc upgrades, newer setups being bought. Things like that will happen if it was to take off.

sorry for double posting site won't let me edit for some reason.

Was watching BBC Click earlier and they talked about cloud gaming and how "it could be the end of console hardware" and "gamers do not want hardware anymore". What a bunch of nonsense.

Cloud gaming is where instead of you having the physical hardware to play a game, a company with a powerful server runs the software (such as an Xbox 360 emulator or a PS3 emulator), it then sends a video stream, of what is currently running, to a gamers laptop, desktop PC or even netbook. The gamer can then control the game from their PC. I love the idea that you can play any game on any PC that has an broadband connection and the capability to run high quality video.

So... this is mostly like Steam except you have nosoftware installed on to your laptop other than the program that feeds the video stream to you.

All this is great except there are a few issues that I feel will not let this take off the ground fully.

Firstly I love having actual hardware software in my hands, it is mine, I am not "renting" it off the company that sells it. It is mine to keep and use whenever I like. The company that stores the digital copy can go bankrupt, therefore I have nothing. The company can be taken over by another company and subsequently the cloud gaming part of the company can be closed down, I have nothing. I can re-sell my games console hardware and discs, I will most likely not be able to resell my cloud games.

The company has a every right to revoke your account for any reason as long as it is in the T's&C's, I will have nothing.

Unless these issues are addressed then I do not see consoles being killed off at all.

Well my "highly unlikely" compensation has just come through :-). I was given the choice of either £30 of vouchers for a retail store of my choice or 4200 MS points.... They are not going to fix the problem but have admitted that thier advertisement was incorrect and could only give me "compensation". I have now 4200 MS points to enjoy on my account. See you around.

uh. yes they can, due to the fact that they advertise the game as an xbox 360 backwards compatible game would they rather me be happy with some MS points or for me to go to trading standards. Do you even know what you are talking about? go troll your own threads fgs.

What I didnt say was that the guy did tell me that during thier research they found the posts involving the whines and groans on the internet. If they are not going to release a patch then I will make sure I get compensation :-D Plenty of points.

from my perspective (i was part of the preview program) its just a little gimmick. Im just glad its free. Nothing special.

I bought my xbox elite about 2 years ago, so far no problems although I do have some old CD cases underneath my horizontally placed 360 just so it gets enough air running round it. I was also scared about buying a 360 only to find it will RROD me within a year. But so far so good :-D.