Arm version of windows 8 and gaming industry?

Glaucus · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:35

A sort of random thought that could be a good debate but will probably end up in a face palm.
Was thinking how little I use my PC these days and that it's only real function is gaming.
Was also thinking how much sheer space it takes up, combined with the fact tablets have massively taken of and replaced laptops/pc for the casual browsing and social aspect of pcs. Soon we will have pcs on a stick using arm chips, like cotton candy http://www.fxitech.com/products/ which would be great as a HTPC. Small hidden and relatively cheap.
With windows 8 the usefulness of such a PC on a stick should massively increase if Microsoft licensed it.
Browser gaming is also taking off. Things like https://www.f1onlinethegame.com/ and http://www.onlive.co.uk/ are browser based.

For me getting rid of the main PC and replacing with a PC on a stick would be brilliant.
Do you think more and more developers are going to be looking at browser based and or lower powered devices to run games in, but games much more in depth than the current crop of angry bird like games.

Or am I, like usual, a few years ahead of the industry and this is still a long way off.

That's quite a ramble, but hey ho, what do you guys think.

Edit - I like to point out I don't think PC gaming is dead. And this thread isn't about that.

TheCenturion · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:39

I would hate for PCs to die out. I love playing games on my pc. I will never play farmville, mafia wars, or any of these other 'games'. The only two browser games I play are QuakeLive and Stick Cricket.

For me, gaming on the PC is main reason I want it to stay alive. you can't get the same experience from new devices like tablets.

Glaucus · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:44

TheCenturion said:
I would hate for PCs to die out. I love playing games on my pc. I will never play farmville, mafia wars, or any of these other 'games'. The only two browser games I play are QuakeLive and Stick Cricket.

For me, gaming on the PC is main reason I want it to stay alive. you can't get the same experience from new devices like tablets.

That wasn't the point, I don't think pc gaming is dead or going to die. More of a new market and in the further future a move to online. Also not mobile devices, but utilising "mobile components" A pc on a stick can be plugged into a monitor or HD tv and connected up to traditional mouse&KB controlls.

PC gaming will survive as it is the most powerful and so graphics and physics can be better.
But arm doesn't mean games have to be FarmVille, angry birds or mafia wars. That's more down to touchscreen controlls.
And as Internet connections get faster, then you can do full fledged pc games online like onlive are doing.

C.# · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:44

Thanks for posting this.

I agree with you completely, I've been having the exact same thoughts, at the moment, with the development of mobile devices progressing so fast and the fact that most developers aren't focused on developing games with cutting edge graphics like they used to and rather are appealing to the mass (casuals) then the need to have a "Gaming rig" is no more. I personally don't blame the developers, they are the working force of large corporations with they're shareholders interests in mind, gaming has just become extremely more popular then it was in the 90s, you only have to look at the customer demographic of GAME/Gamestation now and what it used to be 10-15 years ago.

For me getting rid of the main PC would be a brilliant idea but I would probably only replace it with a powerful laptop in the meantime.

Computer technology has far surpassed the needs of the general population and if it keeps going this way, there will be no need for £1000+ rigs for a very very long time. Which is good for the consumer I guess but not good for the enthusiastic.

Which category you want to fall in is your choice.

FrenchTart · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:46

I use my PC for pretty much everything - gaming is one use, but it's also used as a media centre and for work, reading, research, etc. Not to mention social media such as forums

Gaming is really the only reason that "one" would want a PC in a big tower form. I could happily live on a laptop or even tablet (as long as it had an attachable full size keyboard, monitor, some kind of NAS, etc) if I didn't ever play modern games. The Raspberry Pi is very interesting for this reason, even ignoring all the awesome development potential it has.

C.# said:
Thanks for posting this.

I agree with you completely, I've been having the exact same thoughts, at the moment, with the development of mobile devices progressing so fast and the fact that most developers aren't focused on developing games with cutting edge graphics like they used to and rather are appealing to the mass (casuals) then the need to have a "Gaming rig" is no more. I personally don't blame the developers, they are the working force of large corporations with they're shareholders interests in mind, gaming has just become extremely more popular then it was in the 90s, you only have to look at the customer demographic of GAME/Gamestation now and what it used to be 10-15 years ago.

For me getting rid of the main PC would be a brilliant idea but I would probably only replace it with a powerful laptop in the meantime.

Computer technology has far surpassed the needs of the general population and if it keeps going this way, there will be no need for £1000+ rigs for a very very long time. Which is good for the consumer I guess but not good for the enthusiastic.

Which category you want to fall in is your choice.

One thing to keep in mind with the current graphics quality stagnation is that the current generation of consoles have been around for a long time. Once the new ones are out graphics will advance again (and then stagnate again of course) so at that point we'll see a bit of a push in that direction. I agree with your point in general but I wanted to just point out this one caveat.

Antar Bolaeisk · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:48

I think, much like consoles, it just offers people a different way to play games.

EdwardTeach · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:49

You have got to consider how the developers will make their money. I don't think you can make your money back making big budget browser games. I also think we are a long way from onlive being an adequate replacement for a pc or console. Personally i think onlive jumped the gun and wouldn't be surprised to see them going bust.

FrenchTart · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:51

EdwardTeach said:
You have got to consider how the developers will make their money. I don't think you can make your money back making big budget browser games. I also think we are a long way from onlive being an adequate replacement for a pc or console. Personally i think onlive jumped the gun and wouldn't be surprised to see them going bust.

The point in browser games is that compared to (e.g.) a modern FPS game they do not need to be big budget. They are a low-risk investment in this regard. Their mass-market appeal and potential to exploit previously untapped markets makes them an extremely attractive prospect to a development/publishing house.

Onlive is a separate issue. I think their idea just doesn't work and I agree with you that they will likely go bust. They're trying to be a half-way house between casual gamer, families and vaguely serious gamers and they suck at all of those things.

Judgeneo · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:52

A service like OnLive is the future. The only thing really holding it back is the internet infrastructure.

In a few years time when truly fast internet connections are ubiquitous, cloud based services will thrive.
Onlive jumped the gun yes, but when the gun is fired they will be in the lead (if they are still around)

Destination · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:53

I have recently been wondering just how powerful hand held tablet PCs will be in the next year when windows 8 launches.

FrenchTart · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:54

Judgeneo said:
A service like OnLive is the future. The only thing really holding it back is the internet infrastructure.

In a few years time when truly fast internet connections are ubiquitous, cloud based services will thrive.
Onlive jumped the gun yes, but when the gun is fired they will be in the lead (if they are still around)

A service like Onlive *may* be on the cards in the future but I can assure you that it sucks even with the equivalent of LAN connection to the servers.

Glaucus · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:54

Antar Bolaeisk said:
I think, much like consoles, it just offers people a different way to play games.

This is what I think, it's just whether developers think the same, or whether they only react a few years down the line.

Ideally I would like a PC on a stick plugged into my two HD tvs and a central NAS for storage files, media etc.
But I don't want to give gaming up. FPS is the hardest ones to forsee being suitable. But most other games I think would be suitable for such a system. From football/f1 management games to things like x-series, even civilisation/settlers and similar games I couldn't see any issues with on such a platform.

FrenchTart · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:56

I think virtualised desktops at home are an awesome thing potentially. Being able to seamlessly move your session from your tablet to a main pc or to the TV (though you'd probably want a different session for that) would be nice. Slightly off-topic but it does kind of fit in with what you're saying about how you would like things to go.

Glaucus · 2 Jan 2012 at 15:58

FrenchTart said:
I think virtualised desktops at home are an awesome thing potentially. Being able to seamlessly move your session from your tablet to a main pc or to the TV (though you'd probably want a different session for that) would be nice. Slightly off-topic but it does kind of fit in with what you're saying about how you would like things to go.

Windows8 allows a lot of that depending what synchronisation settings you select. All your files, apps and desktops can be synced across all your devices.

TheCenturion · 2 Jan 2012 at 16:00

Glaucus said:
That wasn't the point, I don't think pc gaming is dead or going to die. More of a new market and in the further future a move to online. Also not mobile devices, but utilising "mobile components" A pc on a stick can be plugged into a monitor or HD tv and connected up to traditional mouse&KB controlls.

PC gaming will survive as it is the most powerful and so graphics and physics can be better.
But arm doesn't mean games have to be FarmVille, angry birds or mafia wars. That's more down to touchscreen controlls.
And as Internet connections get faster, then you can do full fledged pc games online like onlive are doing.

Oh sorry, that's what I thought you meant when you said developers looking towards lower end devices and browsers

vintage-x · 2 Jan 2012 at 19:20

I agree with the OP I think that once ARM devices come with windows 8 then you will see a lot more full type browser based gaming. There will still be top end games but the needs of the casual market must be considered if games companies want to keep making money.

Look at IOS so many simple games yet there are some which rival consoles as well.

This is why I think windows 8 will take the tablet market by storm. Developers will have 10x the amount of people using windows 8 (heck probably a lot more) then anything else and since they can create small games (or apps as they are called on tablets) which will run on both flavours of processors then kaboom more money for the developers and more choice for the consumer.

Hardcore pc gaming will always be there which is why Nivida and Amd spend billions each year developing the latest and greatest graphics cards

hairyfeet · 2 Jan 2012 at 22:36

Glaucus said:
Or am I, like usual, a few years ahead of the industry and this is still a long way off.

Both really. On concept grounds you are heading in the right direction but definatly a few years off.

Bigname developers are still making billions out of the pc platform, they are more likely to work on technology in mobile media forms that can work in synergy with that platform rather than create a whole new tech to actually compete with it, it'd be counter productive otherwise

Browser gamings definatly on the up.. not my cup of tea personally but I can see the obvious "perks" of smaller developers going that route to carve out a niche for themselves