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Sony gearing up for new cloud gaming push (Verge)

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
So from a tech point of view, how would PS stream PS5 titles?
We see MS sending millions of XSX APUs to put in server racks for Xcloud, so.wouldnt Sony need to do something similar? As far.as.we.know, they haven't been doing this?
They were the first console maker to do this with PS3 server blades for PS Now, then PS4 blades when they added PS4 games, so naturally they will make custom PS5 blades.


 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Explain it then. What does a cloud push from Sony have to do with the Steam Deck or the price of tea in China?
What would the competition be for Sony's Cloud Handheld?
Are Nintendo & Steam off the cards because it's a cloud device?
What makes you say the Steam Deck isn't a viable competitor?
I can't think of reason...
So instead of asking why another Handheld is relevant, which the simple answer would be... because it's a handheld.
Tell me why it's not
 

tmlDan

Member
What would the competition be for Sony's Cloud Handheld?
Are Nintendo & Steam off the cards because it's a cloud device?
What makes you say the Steam Deck isn't a viable competitor?
I can't think of reason...
So instead of asking why another Handheld is relevant, which the simple answer would be... because it's a handheld.
Tell me why it's not
a cloud handheld could potentially be $300 cheaper, steam doesn't have the brand power to push that thing past 3 million units in 3 years (those new estimates are BS).

But id start with the cost, if its $150 or less the steam deck has no chance
 
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BennyBlanco

aka IMurRIVAL69
What would the competition be for Sony's Cloud Handheld?
Are Nintendo & Steam off the cards because it's a cloud device?
What makes you say the Steam Deck isn't a viable competitor?
I can't think of reason...
So instead of asking why another Handheld is relevant, which the simple answer would be... because it's a handheld.
Tell me why it's not

G cloud. Smartphones with controller accessories. You know, streaming products. I know you’re mad that sony is porting games to PC but this has nothing to do with that and wont make them stop. Steam Deck hasn’t even sold 2 million units, it’s competition are things like the GDP Win and Aya Neo.
 

Ev1L AuRoN

Member
An 8-inch OLED Screen with 1080p120hz VRR support streaming directly from the PS5 via AD-HOC connection using Wifi 6 for ultra quality and low latency... Still don't entice me a bit...

Make a proper handheld, or just give up already.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
a cloud handheld could potentially be $300 cheaper, steam doesn't have the brand power to push that thing past 3 million units in 3 years (those new estimates are BS).

But id start with the cost, if its $150 or less the steam deck has no chance
Thank you.
Seems logical, but a cheap device doesn't always equal success.
And of course we are expecting it to be cheap, although that's not a guarantee either.
 

kruis

Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
Yeah it’s not like Sony hasn’t run a highly successful gaming business for the last 25 years. They should come to Neogaf to figure out what they should and shouldn’t be doing.

Sony also had a long string of relative and outright failures, and each time the executives got off scot-free because their successful core gaming business saved their asses.

It's as if people don't remember PSP Vita, PS Move, PS VR, PS Now ... All of these were with hindsight a waste of money and resources. Sony management is absolutely consumed by FOMO.
 

Chukhopops

Member
a cloud handheld could potentially be $300 cheaper, steam doesn't have the brand power to push that thing past 3 million units in 3 years (those new estimates are BS).

But id start with the cost, if its $150 or less the steam deck has no chance
Steam Deck is barely a year old (Feb 22) and comparing it to a Cloud handheld is just ridiculous.

I also really doubt it’s going to be under 200 when it’s supposed to include all the Dual Sense bullshit, a decent screen and really good Wifi to reduce latency.
 

BootsLoader

Banned
I hope this is not connected to their "Handheld Console Rumors". If it is cloud oriented it will die as soon as it is released. Very bad idea Sony. Lets see how this unfolds.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
let them try what they want. Maybe this will go the way of PS5, or maybe it will go the way pf PSVR 2.

Is there any talk of their games for this year? PSVR 2 is out now, all this talk of hardware, slim models, ps5 pro's......we are in Mid April and theres been nothing for how long?
 
Yeah this makes a lot of sense.

PS+ premium is only really valuable if you like streaming.

They’ve got a weird thing going on with Netflix - Ghost of Tshusima icons were found in Netflix code.

The portable we’ve heard about.

I really think something big has been cooking under the hood for a long time, and I think it could be bigger than anyone reasonably thought.

I wouldn’t be surprised if there’ll be a stick/dongle for Dualsense compatible with TVs coming, or there being a way of paring the portable with a TV.

That way you can make use of remote play from your PS5, or access PS+ premium from wherever.
 
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tmlDan

Member
Thank you.
Seems logical, but a cheap device doesn't always equal success.
And of course we are expecting it to be cheap, although that's not a guarantee either.
Of course, it's never one factor - it'll need a lot more than price to succeed
 
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TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I know you’re mad that sony is porting games to PC
I ain't mad they porting games to PC, they've done it before with the PSX.
didn't care then, don't care now.
Am just tired of watching their little announcements for the past 3 years and seeing no new PS5 titles at the point that we should be be seeing the most
And yes as PC port's are all they seem to be announcing then it may appear that is what people are annoyed about.
Shit if you have a PC & PS5 then those muthafuckas have been trying to sell you the same product twice in 3 years..... multiple times.
Don't care if they announce they porting anything to PC as long as it new and is coming to PS5.
 

OuterLimits

Member
Steam Deck is barely a year old (Feb 22) and comparing it to a Cloud handheld is just ridiculous.

I also really doubt it’s going to be under 200 when it’s supposed to include all the Dual Sense bullshit, a decent screen and really good Wifi to reduce latency.

This is a good point. I'm not sure why some expect this to be fairly cheap. Sony hasn't exactly been releasing inexpensive products lately.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
let them try what they want. Maybe this will go the way of PS5, or maybe it will go the way of PSVR 2.

Is there any talk of their games for this year? PSVR 2 is out now, all this talk of hardware, slim models, ps5 pro's......we are in Mid April and theres been nothing for how long?
587 days or 1 year, 7 months
 
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Koppelthorn

Banned
I don't think this is a bad thing, and I have a feeling that SONY is going to do some interesting stuff with cloud based gaming that isn't just "The game is running on compute resources somewhere and streamed to your console", buttttttttt

There are still a plethora of people, myself included, (In the USA) that just don't have the broadband to really utilize a lot of this stuff. It's not even a money thing most of the time, rural WISPs all over the US at least are content with running legacy PtP equipment that are almost end of life and only support up to 5mbps down, and that's not even to comment on most of these local WISPs towers have just enough backhauls/infrastructure to support THOSE 5mb PtP customers, so you would have to do a whole thing tower and CPE side to even get customers the speed required to utilize these sorts of services. It makes me sad since the government, both state and federal have given these corporations large and small huge sums of money for "Broadband Infrastructure Revitalization" or whatever and they end up just doing...stupid things with the money and not improving pre-existing infrastructure so they can get their numbers up on something stupid and get bought out by a larger WISP. It sucks

I would imagine in the more densly populated areas of Europe and places like Japan with lots of broadband infrastructure its a completely different story, and there may be a large enough market from people in those areas to make these sort of services profitable (and therefore, expansion of them making financial sense) but here I read about these cloud gaming things and just get sad that I probably won't be able to do anything with them.
 

Loomy

Thinks Microaggressions are Real
“Are you a ground-breaking innovator in the cloud streaming product space? Then you likely agree that Cloud Gaming is on its way to becoming a major part of the gaming industry,”
Phil Harrison going home. He's job is done, he gets to come in now lol
 
mfWbHbX.jpg
 

Patrick S.

Banned
I'm skeptical. Played Mortal Kombat 11 on the PS5 via streaming yesterday, and the graphics quality was very bad, with lots of pixelation or compression artifacts.

Today, I tied playing Ion Storm over Steam's Steam Link feature, from a PC to an Amazon Cube, which has a more than decent performance, both connected via LAN, and the lag was horrible. I left the PC's monitor on to compare to what was going on on the TV, and there was was felt like a second of input delay, and everything was extremely jerky.

Nah, I'm not buying anything streaming related.
 

Midn1ght

Member
I ain't mad they porting games to PC, they've done it before with the PSX.
didn't care then, don't care now.
Am just tired of watching their little announcements for the past 3 years and seeing no new PS5 titles at the point that we should be be seeing the most
And yes as PC port's are all they seem to be announcing then it may appear that is what people are annoyed about.
Shit if you have a PC & PS5 then those muthafuckas have been trying to sell you the same product twice in 3 years..... multiple times.
Don't care if they announce they porting anything to PC as long as it new and is coming to PS5.
The entire industry is taking forever to release big games these day, that's just how it is and Sony just had a busy year releasing 3 big exclusive titles. I know 2023 seems a little more quiet on the game release side and I understand your frustration with the lack of news but they have FFXVI, FFVIIR and Spiderman 2 coming up this year, they also just released PSVR2 and will probably release a new console (Slim/Pro?) this year. They're staying busy and will probably announce tons of stuff in June. The few PC releases they've had is not slowing them down, it's not like 3 or 4 extra exclusives would be releasing this year if they ignored PC.

About them selling the same product over and over, I mean look at RE4, they'll probably remake it again in 10 years and people will still buy it on mass. Welcome to 2023, everything sucks.
 

Tsaki

Member
"Despite a recent round of layoffs"
That's over a year ago and they had nothing to do with the cloud gaming side of Sony.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
About them selling the same product over and over, I mean look at RE4, they'll probably remake it again in 10 years and people will still buy it on mass. Welcome to 2023, everything sucks.
When I said that, I meant they released them on PS5 & then ported them same titles to PC within that time span without announcing anything new or releasing anything other then TLOUPT1 which they have now ported too.
I hear people say they own a PS5 & PC and if I was them I would be in the same boat of asking where is the new shit.
Spider Man 2 & Wolverine was announced in 2021, none of them are out yet and theres nothing else, make you wonder when they do announced another two games is that gonna be another 3 years of silence from them?

But Third Party developers are doing fine though, they are literally carrying the PS5 while Sony dawdles around.
Capcom, Especially the RE Team are literally embarrassing the industry with how they announced and released consistently with high quality titles.
 

yurinka

Member
Shortly before releasing PS5 Sony said that part of their plans for their next gen PS Now plans were to bring it to smartphones and tablets, and to stream PS5 titles. We already saw several related patents, like 5G specific optimizations.

In addition to this they also mentioned in that documents other things they already did, such as to tweak the pricing, its content or to open it to more countries.

There was also something that wasn't very clear but seemed to be something like Stadia: in addition to have your rented games in PS Plus Extra for streaming, to play via streamed acquired games. But it wasn't clear if they meant the same PSN games you already own or if you'd need to buy a separate license for cloud gaming. That would open the door to maybe allow mobile gaming users and PC users to acquire (potentially any?) PS5 game to play it via streaming possibly even if it isn't included in PS Plus Extra.

So from a tech point of view, how would PS stream PS5 titles?
We see MS sending millions of XSX APUs to put in server racks for Xcloud, so.wouldnt Sony need to do something similar? As far.as.we.know, they haven't been doing this?
Yes, they would use the same method that Sony patented and is used for Series X, PS3 and PS4: to put several PS5 console hardware in a server rack.
 
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Talk about stupidity. Focus on emulating your older titles and making the library of must have titles available for download/buy on your service. Push that. Subscription is where gaming will go. Haven’t we learn from Stadia that cloud is failed idea?
Cloud isn’t a failed idea lol it hasn’t even seen its final form. Stadia was a bad product. If Stadia allowed you to play the games you already owned via cloud it would have been a smash hit.
 

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
Have you guys ever done a share play (ps4) or game share (ps5) session?

Since last gen ps consoles are game streaming capable. This is the logical next step, pay 200-300 for a screen with a small arm apu and a yuge battery, bam you get streaming from your own ps5.

I don't know wether they actually will do that or build a cloud, but... doing it from your own ps5 means likely no fees other than being in ps extra or whatever.
 

Knightime_X

Member
DOA if that's the main and only draw for the handheld.
I don't want a ps5 on the go (cloud streaming), I want games made specifically for the portable hardware on the go.
Just release PSP2 and have lesser versions of games on that.

PSP was awesome.
 
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yurinka

Member
An interesting bit from the article:
The job postings also suggest Sony is working on new hybrid cloud infrastructure with Kubernetes and Amazon’s AWS — not necessarily Microsoft Azure.

The fact that the job postings mention Amazon’s cloud and not Microsoft’s cloud is intriguing all on its own: didn't Sony publicly announce it would use Microsoft’s tech in 2019? But as of 2021, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan told Nikkei (via VGC) the two companies had yet to get past the “exchanging ideas” stage.
 
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yurinka

Member
DOA if that's the main and only draw for the handheld.
I don't want a ps5 on the go (cloud streaming), I want games made specifically for the portable hardware on the go.
Just release PSP2 and have lesser versions of games on that.

PSP was awesome.
The supposed concept of the portable is to be only for remote play. Think the WiiU pad but without touchscreen and with DualSense features.

Sony hiring people for cloud gaming is like hiring people for any other division. Don't need to be related for the remote play only handheld. Pretty likely the cloud gaming hirings are for cloud gaming in PS4, PS5, PC (and something they are working on since many years ago and was mentioned in 2013 then they announced their long term PS Now plans) smartphones, tablets and smart tvs.

Yes, PSP was awesome but I don't see them creating a handheld that requires specific games for it. The resource from the publishers are already too busy with the other platforms, there isn't market and developers for it.
 
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Yes, they would use the same method that Sony patented and is used for Series X, PS3 and PS4: to put several PS5 console hardware in a server racrack
As we have seen with Xcloud the process of setting up the amount of PS5s in the sky needed to supply the needs of streamers is long. MS is still diverting wafers for Xcloud and this is making supply issues for the XSX.
We are talking years before Sony would have a working system.
 

Knightime_X

Member
The supposed concept of the portable is to be only for remote play. Think the WiiU pad but without touchscreen and with DualSense features.

Sony hiring people for cloud gaming is like hiring people for any other division. Don't need to be related for the remote play only handheld. Pretty likely the cloud gaming hirings are for cloud gaming in PS4, PS5, PC (and something they are working on since many years ago and was mentioned in 2013 then they announced their long term PS Now plans) smartphones, tablets and smart tvs.

Yes, PSP was awesome but I don't see them creating a handheld that requires specific games for it. The resource from the publishers are already too busy with the other platforms, there isn't market and developers for it.
That's cool I guess.
Money remains firmly in my wallet until further notice.
 

Lasha

Member
Sigh, with all the PC, subscription, GaaS focus, this is just another layer of stupidity that didnt pan out for MS. I dont know why they think they can succeed where MS failed.

Everyone thought mobile was the next frontier. Look at how that turned out.

Focus on making games for the few users who are willing to pay $500 for your console. Not the people who wont even buy one.

Mobile was the future. Core gamers are the ones living in the past.
 
They were the first console maker to do this with PS3 server blades for PS Now, then PS4 blades when they added PS4 games, so naturally they will make custom PS5 blades.

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I understand they already did this is, my point is that even if they announce that they are going to do this today, it's going to be years down the track before it can even turn on.
I don't see Sony diverting millions of PS5 wafers to put in server blades when they have only just managed to get ahead of their own supply issues.
MS still has supply issues because of it and they have been doing Xcloud for years.
 
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John Wick

Member
Out of touch, as is every company focusing on cloud and cloud related hardware. VR and this handheld combined won’t sell as much as the Vita did.
It's sheer stupidity. We are in a cost of living crisis and this clown called Jim thinks people can afford to buy the PS5 and the VR2 then also a streaming handheld. Sony should just focus on getting current gen games on PS5. PSVR2 should have launched next year. This is going to stretch Sony and dilute some of the games.
 
So this article adds to the Sony cloud timeline -
  1. 2012 - Sony buys Gaikai, we see nothing of it.
  2. 2019 - Sony does expression of interest with MS/Azure, we see nothing of it.
  3. 2023 - This article mentions Sony posting jobs with regards to AWS (Amazon cloud), we see nothing of it.
The handheld portion aside it seems Sony are looking to gain knowledge, experience, talent, perhaps infrastructure and generally trying to get their strategy "right" for cloud gaming. Lots of poking around and little action. I does not appear to be very far along either, as key lead roles are part of the 22 cloud hires on offer mentioned in this article. Major leads have come and gone multiple times over a few console generations now.

I was never expecting Sony to compete at the cloud provider level of AWS, MS/Azure, Google or Apple but by now I would have expected a lot more for their PS strategy in this regard. I do expect Sony to have a competent and well performing cloud solution. By comparison to Nintendo, Sony are moving faster and with purpose now. By comparison to Xbox/Azure, well there is no comparison. I do leave room for some unique features or performance gains from PS/Sony but overall the holistic approach is no where on the roadmap or gamers mindshare. Game Pass crosses so many devices, platforms, infrastructure, ecosystem, regions, privacy, security, technology compatibilities, cloud saves, cross play etc and has games bundled right in to play all sorts of genres and qualities right away. I'm really only seeing Sony rumours of a handheld tied to their cloud/remote play so far. xCloud has had a pretty great reception in terms of performance and actual customer experiences using it. It has been a smart play by Xbox bundling Game Pass and xCloud together with their Xbox platform and ecosystem expansion across console, PC and mobile.

Of course based on current day internetworking the service is going to vary wildly based on your region or cell/mobile services etc. It's going to improve and only get bigger as things move along.

I guess we're waiting still and it appears there are many areas unanswered from Sony's cloud strategy, especially globally. This could prove to be a major turning point outside of the usual UK/US markets for Xbox. There's a shrinking window for Sony IMO.
 
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krumble

Member
They better fix remote play then as other half hates the ps5 controller so had always used an Xbox controller paired with phone using remote play and it worked brilliant.
Hadn't used it for a while and come back to it now and it's a nightmare on iOS at least

Connect to the ps5, ok.. Xbox controller hasn't connected to phone so go in and connect/pair it

Ps5 shows the ps remote app disconnected on the tv, yet go back into the app and click connect and can't connect as it says someone else is still remote playing it..

10-15 minutes later the lock clears

Hopefully it's just an app issue and they will sort it out, but having had it working perfectly and other half completed LOADS of games that way Inc GoW Ragnarok before it fell to pieces it's very annoying

Especially as I bought RE4 on ps5 this time - personally I prefer the ps5 controller but if they are going to push remote play and colloid more then they need to get their act together

As a side note I found the PlayStation cloud gaming to be MILES ahead of Xbox in terms of quality, responsiveness and generally enjoyment during my year of top tier psn membership that I got for my £50 access subscription. The tech they bought for that is vastly underrated and they should capitalise on it given they bought that company back in ps3 days I think?

but now that sun has lapsed and I've tried all that it had to offer I'm very over PSN membership again as I don't get much from it due to a solid library and backlog
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
Doesn't really make sense if Sony was releasing a cloud handheld right away that the push for more engineers would be now.
Hopefully it's just a push for that as a feature of a proper handheld.
 

dotnotbot

Member
Fake it till you make it, getting consumers fully dependent on cloud service so they own absolutely nothing and need to pay monthly fees looks so lucrative for these greedy companies that they won't stop trying
 
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RCU005

Member
I don’t like that Sony is being reactive to GamePass.

I know people love GP because of “free” games, but I still believe it won’t succeed in the long run.

Hopefully Sony do something clever and innovating in a way that benefits everyone.
 
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bender

What time is it?
Explain it then. What does a cloud push from Sony have to do with the Steam Deck or the price of tea in China?

If Sony could push clouds, they'd control the weather. Imagine if they diverted all of the rain in China to Gabe's house. Rain everyday would put Gabe in a bad mood and eventually lead to a state of depression. People make bad decisions when they are depressed. Gabe suddenly decides to take Valve's fortunes and invest it in F2P mobile version of Ricochet that offers Gaben and The Cake Is A Lie NFTs. China's agriculture and Valve are decimated in one clever move by Sony.

gabesad.jpg
 
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