Regarding this brief discussion series, the small aircraft carrier pursues width rather than depth. I hope to be like old friends who have known each other for many years, sitting at the barbecue stall, skewers and drinking beer, and chatting about interesting game culture.

Regarding this brief discussion series, the small aircraft carrier pursues width rather than depth. I hope to be like old friends who have known each other for many years, sitting at the barbecue stall, skewers and drinking beer, and chatting about interesting game culture together.

Writing this article is inspired by the experience of a small aircraft carrier eating KFC once. I saw three primary school students playing " Dark Souls 3" on a tablet computer, and it seems that they are playing with one person and one life. Then a little boy told the little boy next to him that few people will play computer games in the future, and they can play masterpieces on computers on their mobile phones.

So I suddenly wanted to write an article about cloud game . If there is anything that cannot be written well, I hope everyone will discuss it in the comment area.

The first topic of course is what is cloud gaming?

In fact, cloud games have always had two definitions in the player circle. The first one means that you have not really played the game, but have learned about the content of some games through certain channels. The most common mode is to watch videos and reviews, and then understand theory in a certain sense for the game. Of course, the cloud gaming in this article does not refer to this. We are talking about the second definition, or more specifically, a derivative technology of 5G communication technology.

Cloud Game is a game based on cloud computing. In the running mode of cloud games, all games are run on the server side, and the rendered game screen is compressed and transmitted to users through the network. On the client side, the user's gaming device does not require any high-end processor or graphics card, it only requires basic video decompression capabilities. cloud computing (cloud computing) is an Internet-based computing method. Through this method, shared software and hardware resources and information can be provided to computers and other devices on demand. The network that provides resources is called the "cloud". (This paragraph is excerpted from Baidu Encyclopedia)

As a game player (actually, my major in electronic information science and technology in college), I don’t think the above rigid definition is possible, so I’ll “translate” it for you. A device that can play games can be broken down into three modules. They are the chassis that computes the game (including CPU and GPU), the display device that displays the game screen, and the device that feedbacks players' operations (keyboard, mouse, or controller).

In the early days when mobile communication technology was not very developed, the host, display device, and operating device were connected through circuits and powered wires, forming a complete device for players to play games. This combination can be a computer console + display screen + keys and mouse; it can also be a game console + TV + game controller; now it may even be just a mobile phone, but the performance is a little worse.

With the development of communication Internet technology, if the channel capacity of WIFI is large enough and stable enough, some technologies can run games on their own host at home, but the game screen is cast on mobile devices such as mobile phones or tablets, or even on the display panel of refrigerators. This technology has gradually been promoted by many European and American game companies. This technology is called streaming (Link). The most well-known product is Steam Link. Simply put, at this point, players still have to use their own hardware to run the game, and the areas that can be streamed are also limited to the local area network that WIFI can cover.

With the advent of the G revolution led by Huawei , the mobile mobile network also has a larger information throughput capacity and is more stable. So manufacturers began to promote cloud games. Players only need a display device and a device that can feedback operations, connect to the 5G network, and leave the rest to the cloud game service provider. Game computing is all carried out on the hardware of cloud gaming service providers. Simply put, cloud gaming is a streaming technology supported by 5G communication technology. In theory, players can be in any area covered by 5G network, even in subways, scenic spots, or even on high-speed rail.You only need a small mobile phone to play various 3A masterpieces, which is the beautiful vision that cloud gaming technology has already achieved.

The problem is that all players need cloud games?

Many people say that cloud games are the future, and cloud games do feel full of technology, or full of gimmicks.

• Players do not need to purchase expensive graphics cards and devices. They only need a mobile phone to play 3A masterpieces
• Players do not need to sit in front of the computer. They only need a mobile phone. They can enjoy the game at all corners of the world
• Players do not need a long download and installation time. They only need a mobile phone. Open the cloud game and play 3A masterpieces immediately.

above three are the most popular propaganda about cloud games that small aircraft carriers have heard.

But as a player, I couldn't help but start thinking about several questions. Do most gamers really need cloud games? Cloud gaming has many gimmicks, such as no matter where you are, you can enjoy the game as long as you have a 5G network. But as a game player, I am very curious, why do I have to play games in parks, subways, and scenic spots? Why can't I sit at home and play games in front of my game console or computer? I'm out, why am I still thinking about playing games in some strange, uncomfortable, and disturbing environments?

Just like when I was in college, I was always puzzled, why do people like to study in dormitories or canteens, but play with their mobile phones in the library and study rooms? Why play games when you shouldn't play games?

Many cloud gaming platforms promote, and play 3A masterpieces with one mobile phone. I have many gamers around me, including some typical 3A party. When they are playing a game, not only pursues only being able to play, but also mainly pursues game experience . What kind of game uses what equipment and how many frames are there at what resolution have become something that everyone cares about in this kind of player circle. Cloud gaming platforms always like to promote the use of mobile phones and tablets to play 3A. But can the target users of 3A games really accept playing games on a small and pitiful screen like a mobile phone (compared to a computer screen)? It’s okay to have an external handle, but it’s so awkward for players who are used to the keyboard and mouse handles without an external handle.

At this time, someone will definitely say that you can use a smart TV or computer to play cloud games, and then use a gamepad and keyboard. So, if the problem comes, why don’t I sit at home and play games? The console party knows that buying a PS5 is far less expensive than buying a matching gaming TV.

graphics cards are not cheap now, and cloud gaming platforms always say that players can play without purchasing expensive equipment. But have you ever thought about this problem: traditional game business, platform manufacturers only provide game software to players, and players have to purchase hardware equipment themselves. Cloud games are equivalent to manufacturers providing players with game software and hardware for computing games.

Although the manufacturer says that when you don’t use it, the computing power of the server will be distributed to other players, and there is a “mechanism for reusing shared resources”. But no matter how much the shared manufacturers are, they still have more hardware costs than traditional manufacturers. Any game manufacturer starts a company and wants to make a profit, and no one is here to do charity. The wool comes from the sheep. If you are a player who plays a lot of games every year, is the cloud gaming platform really lower than your own traditional platform?

There are many cloud gaming platforms that do not allow players to purchase a game separately, but rather a monthly service similar to member subscriptions. So how do traditional buyout game developers calculate their returns on such platforms? How many traditional buyout game developers are willing to join this model with their latest game works? Players always play the game, not the platform itself.Especially for buying out games, how should cloud gaming platforms calculate sales?

cloud games are really useless?

If you just read the above paragraph, you will definitely think that cloud gaming is useless, but is that true? This article is not an awkward cloud game, but an objective chat. Cloud games also have advantages that traditional game platforms do not have.

First of all, cloud games have unparalleled technical advantages in game exhibition trial activities. If you often visit game exhibitions, such as exhibitions like ChinaJoy. You will find that many manufacturers will have some trial plays. There are long queues in front of the booth of well-known manufacturers. Even if you are in line, you can only play for a while, because there are still many players waiting behind you. But it is different with cloud gaming. The organizer can assume a cloud gaming platform; exhibitors only need to provide games or demos, and a large number of players can try and play at the same time with the help of the cloud gaming platform.

small aircraft carrier, for example, a game has opened a demo trial at the E3 exhibition, and the E3 exhibition venue is in Los Angeles or Seattle. However, with the cloud gaming platform, a player in Shanghai, China can also use his own devices to try it out simultaneously. At the end of the exhibition, manufacturers only need to close the cloud game platform to end the trial. Compared with traditional trial cloud game trials, they can protect the privacy and resources of manufacturers' game. The game creation competition held by Bilibili in 2022 has opened a trial channel for cloud game platform. In the future, important games such as Tokyo Video Games Exhibition, ChinaJoy, and Cologne Games Exhibition will be less restricted by their residence with the support of cloud games. In a sense, this is also the embodiment of long-distance transmission of information by Internet communication technology.

And now there are many game platforms, and many platforms have their own exclusive exclusive games. Some players just want to play a certain game, but are not interested in other games on this platform. The small aircraft carrier makes an assumption, for example, Zhang San really wants to play "Zelda: Breath of the Wild", but he has no interest in other games on Switch. According to the traditional method, Zhang San can only buy or rent a Switch for this, but with cloud gaming services, Zhang San can now bypass the Switch to play "Zelda: Breath of the Wild" (premise that Nintendo allows this~)

Similarly, some players do not play a large number of 3A games every year, but occasionally a 3A game will attract these players very much. If you want to get a set of equipment separately for this game, the cost is really too high. However, with the cloud gaming platform, the problem is solved. With the help of the cloud gaming platform, these players can play a coveted game at a low cost in a short period of time. Even though the experience is a little worse than using your own equipment, at least it is better to play it because it has a high cost performance. Everyone has different consumption concepts, and cloud gaming just happens to be suitable for this part of the market. Another advantage of the cloud gaming platform is that it can provide a better gaming experience on the mobile or low-end for multi-platform games. Take the famous " Genshin Impact " in this field as an example. The texture of "Genshin Impact" on the mobile, host and PC side is definitely different. Playing "Genshin Impact" with the help of a cloud gaming platform can give mobile game players a better gaming experience. Moreover, compared to playing games directly using mobile phones, cloud games consume less power, which is similar to watching videos.

In fact, cloud games are also suitable for some people, because some people are busy with work, even if they can afford the device, they don’t have time to sit in front of the computer for a long time to play. In big cities, many office workers actually spend a lot of time on the commute every day, and these office workers actually have a lot of fragmented time every day. Cloud games can allow these players to better use fragmented time to entertain, while also experiencing the same content in the PC game.

Overall chat about cloud games

Currently, the most well-known cloud gaming industry are Google 's Stadia platform, GameClub platform, Amazon 's Luna platform, etc.Technology or Internet companies such as Nvidia, Netflix, Microsoft , facebook , Tencent , Xiaomi , NetEase, ByteDance, Mihayou and other technology or Internet companies are also developing their own cloud gaming business.

personal opinion, I actually think Apple is quite suitable for cloud gaming. As we all know, Apple computers are not good at performance, but they are not suitable for gaming. In some ways, Apple computers are very powerful, such as rendering videos. Apple itself has a large number of users and a complete ecosystem. Apple can join hands with , Sony, and to launch cloud gaming business. After all, they both have the same enemy, Microsoft. Isn’t the enemy of the enemy a friend? Only on PlayStation makes some players feel nobility. Only on PlayStation&Apple, that isn’t it double the nobility! Of course this is just my personal opinion. If you say something wrong, just use it as a joke.

Of course, cloud gaming is currently a relatively novel concept, and there are actually many imperfections in the industry. There are various large and small cloud gaming platforms, a large part of which are not separated from the constraints of traditional gaming platforms and have not formed a complete independent ecosystem. Many cloud game platforms provide players with games based on the vulnerability of steam family group or similar rental accounts. The cloud game market is not yet mature, but with the expansion of the influence of cloud games, it is impossible to obtain permission from steam or game distribution manufacturers for profit. This behavior is actually no different from pirated games in a certain sense. Of course, this problem mainly occurs on some small platforms. Large manufacturers such as Google will not make such mistakes.

There are even many cloud gaming platforms of major manufacturers that are incomplete and need to rely on other gaming platforms. Small aircraft carriers give a recent example. Tencent is a top company in China's Internet, and Logitech is a top hardware supplier in the gaming and remote office industries. These two big-name companies have to rely on Google's Stadia, Nvidia's GeForce Now, and Microsoft's Xbox cloud platform to run 3A games. I feel like I spend money on the stage to sing for others, right?

In China, due to the particularity of Chinese game market consumption, it is impossible for most parents to buy a home game console like PS5 for their children. China's living room culture is mainly dominated by TVs. With the popularity of smart TVs, some cloud game manufacturers currently choose to cooperate with smart TVs to implant cloud game services in smart TVs. The well-known TV manufacturer TCL has launched a cloud gaming platform with Tencent's Start cloud gaming service, which can only launch

. There are also many cloud gaming platforms that choose to cooperate with car companies. In today's era, the number and proportion of screens in the interior are increasing, and these screens not only serve drivers, but also passengers can enjoy them. Car manufacturers are becoming more and more Internet-oriented. Even car companies like Mercedes-Benz, which are nearly a century-old, have not released the EQS 450+ Pioneer version of the rear wheel steering annual fee subscription service? I have a friend who knows cars. He once complained about this incident, "Handler Mercedes-Benz recruited some game company to eliminate operations to be a product manager?"

In fact, adults often encounter traffic jams, pick up their girlfriends on dates, or pick up their children after school, and they will spend a lot of time in the car. Isn’t it a very pleasant thing to cooperate with cloud game manufacturers and play two games while waiting for someone? Compared to running games directly using in-car computers, cloud games don’t have to worry about the in-car computer being divided into too much computing power by entertainment needs, which will affect the driving experience.

Japan's ACCESS Technology Company has cooperated with N-Dream Game Company to produce the AirConsole car cloud gaming system. In China, the 2021 ChinaJoy exhibited the cloud game DiLink system produced by BYD and Migu.In the United States, some technical homes have shown cases of using Rainway cloud gaming software on the Tesla central control screen.

cloud games are currently a relatively novel model, and there is a lot of room for development from a business perspective. In addition to the private car-mounted systems mentioned above in the small aircraft carrier, the small aircraft carrier personally believes that cloud games can be promoted in air passenger transport and high-speed rail passenger transport. Think about the kind of flight from China to North America or Australia, which takes a few hours to fly, and if you spend dozens of US dollars to play a 3A game on the plane, I think this is very attractive to young consumers. After all, air tickets worth thousands to tens of thousands of dollars are paid, and adding dozens of dollars can make the journey very interesting. I think many people are willing to spend this money.

cloud games currently have platforms of all sizes, which can give players uneven gaming experiences, and the charging mode is also varied. Some platforms actually provide game properties a bit like pirated versions. In the entire cloud gaming market, many Internet and information technology companies have more or less seized a place in terms of platform. Among the player group, cloud games have not received the attention of most players at present (September 2022). There are many players who have experienced cloud gaming or heard of cloud gaming platforms, but there are very few players who regard cloud gaming platforms as the core players. In the eyes of game software developers, cloud games are not the core platform, and can at most be considered an alternative platform.

As a player chooses to play and what game platform to choose, there is no distinction between high and low. Whether you choose cloud gaming is my personal opinion or not depends on your own habits and needs. However, it is worth noting that cloud games are currently in the early stage of development. After they reach the next stage, many platforms will be eliminated by the market, which is inevitable. This involves the question of whether the player's game records can be retained (such as achievements, virtual items, game archives). So if you are a player who cares a lot about game records, when choosing a cloud gaming platform, it is best to choose a platform that doesn't seem so easy to GG.

At this time, there must be a little clever person to ask, what platform is not easy for aircraft carriers to GG! In the early morning of September 30, 2022, Beijing time, Google's Stadia platform announced that it would be closed in January 2023, and has begun refunding users.

You should know that this platform is backed by Google's big data server, has a large number of users, its own iconic hardware controller, and a platform that was strongly supported by the French game giant Ubisoft in its early days, but it did GG. So if you ask me which cloud gaming platform is not easy for GG, the small aircraft carrier is really not to deceive everyone. To be honest, I don’t know this! Of course, I can also say with high emotional intelligence that only time can prove everything.

I am a small aircraft carrier, an amateur game blogger, your attention is my biggest motivation for updating.