Online gaming takes it to the next level

If online gaming is successful, games consoles could become obsolete By Dan Simmons  BBC Click In a market dominated by expensive console games, new online services are allowing gamers to play the big titles without paying big bucks. When players no longer need to own the latest console game to enjoy playing it, is it game over for the games console? Launching later this year, Gaikai offers console gaming straight to laptops without the need for the associated hardware. When you use Gaikai to run high quality games on a standard laptop, it is actually running on powerful servers. Your netbook just sends over your moves and receives a video feed back. No consoles, game discs or downloads are needed. The game is wherever you are - if you are online. Online gaming already exists for more simple games like Playfish and World of Warcraft. But this promises high-end action to low-end laptops. Gaikai CEO David Perry explains the appeal of online gaming to developers. "If you look at a game like Farmville on Facebook, it has over 80 million players. It shows what can be done when you open the doors wide. David Perry believes Farmville has opened up the games industry. "You make it incredibly accessible, you allow friends to share and we can do that with any game now. We could put any game online like Facebook, just as easily as Farmville." But for now, Gaikai's offering is somewhat more basic. Go to a site like Amazon or IGN and if your connection is fast enough, you simply get an invitation to instantly play the game, regardless of what device you are using. In the coming weeks, those who sign up in the US, UK, and France will test a trial version, with the service going public later this year. Initially, just the first few levels of a game will be offered - a kind of try before you buy. Digital future Gaikai's main competitor, OnLive, seems to be one step ahead. This is a multiplayer, cross-platform, streaming service offering complete titles. OnLive's vice-president John Spinale says online gaming means never having a physical disc that can get lost or scratched. "I see this as absolutely the way of the future - not just with OnLive but digital distribution overall. People do not really want to buy hardware. They want to have access to software and they want to play the games."  People do not want to buy hardware. They want to access the software and play the games.  John Spinale, OnLive The OnLive system, launched in the US in June, allows PC or Mac gamers to challenge each other. Ultimately, any connected mobile device could be used to take on someone else. Unreal Tournament 3 - a PC game - can be played on an Apple iPad even though its processing and graphics capabilities would struggle to support this content. Again, all the processing is done miles away on a server. As long as your device can stream video and you have a fat and fast enough connection, you can play. No discs and no specialist games consoles. Game delays But not everyone thinks it is a good idea to shed the hardware before going into battle. Shane Satterfield, editor of Gametrailers.com, experiences problems himself trying to play games online. "You could have bottlenecks at any time, night or day. Even at weekends here in Los Angeles, I get lag trying to play games online. "But one thing I can always count on, is that when I put a disc into my Xbox 360 or my PS3, that game is going to look and sound the same every single time. OnLive offers multiplayer and cross platform games online. "It is the plug and play accountability of a video game console that people really rely on and I think that is what is being overlooked in cloud gaming." And therein lies the catch. To play these games in 720p HD you need a 5MB connection - that is more than the average in the US and about the average speed in the UK. Full 1080p HD needs a pipe twice the size. The time it takes between moving your controller, your moves being sent to a server, then translated into the gameplay, rendered and sent back to your device as a video stream is critical. That delay - or "latency" - depends largely on how close an OnLive server is to where you are and will be most acutely felt in fast moving games by more experienced players. Mr Satterfield believes gamers' preference for hardwiring could also dissuade many from using services like OnLive and Gaikai. "Machines now have wireless adapters, but nobody wants to use them. They want to hardwire their machines, because you lose a little bit of connection speed through the wireless process. "If people were not even willing to use a wireless adaptor on their consoles, there is no way they are going to sacrifice half their bandwidth to have this stuff piped in to play."  We see the gaming experience being delivered in very much the same fashion as our TV service  Jon Hurry, BT Compatibility questions Despite the sceptics, initial reports have been largely positive, with many surprised by the playability. But OnLive has temporarily stopped supporting devices using wifi connections, saying they don't have the experience to troubleshoot wireless networks in the home. Realistically, the idea of using a phone or iPad to play anywhere will rely on the next generation, faster 4G mobile networks which, for most countries, are a good few years away. Other concerns persist. Will gamers want to effectively rent a game when they could own it? Many of OnLive's target audience already own a console and the price of them is tumbling, so savings for those who choose the OnLive route will be limited. And surely we want to play on big televisions not laptops? To make that happen a MicroConsole TV adapter will be sold, containing the bare essentials to stream a HD service. The MicroConsole will cost a fraction of the price of the PS3 or Xbox, but there will be no media player or storage onboard. There are also questions over how the new crop of motion sensitive controllers, such as Sony's Move or Microsoft's Kinect, will work in a more basic home set up. BT has begun beta testing OnLive gaming for launch in the home Mr Spinale says OnLive supports motion-based platforms. "We support USB. So any device that you can hook up to your computer or your existing consoles will effectively work in our world as well. "As long as software developers are supporting motion-based platforms, whether using gestures or motion controllers, so will OnLive." In the UK, telecoms giant BT is running OnLive beta tests. Jon Hurry, commercial director of BT Consumer, will not say when the launch will be, but insists connection speeds will not be a problem. "We do not see that as an issue because at the moment with our TV service, BT Vision, we deliver entertainment content at peak time to consumers via our network and we prioritise the traffic in order to be able to do this. "We see the gaming experience being delivered in very much the same fashion." Whether this ends up as an elaborate experiment or not will depend on new business deals being struck and broadband becoming more reliable. Only then might the console be killed off.

oogle’s Chrome Web Store likely coming in October, focusing on games

Earlier today at GDC Europe, which takes place before Gamescom this week in Germany, Google's new game developer advocate Mark DeLoura and Chrome developer advocate Michael Mahemoff talked about Google's major entry into the browser game space with its app store for Chrome. Set to launch this October, the store aims to make a proper marketplace for browser games -- one that solves a lot of the issues of games on the web today, from discovery to monetization.

First, Mark discussed the benefits of Chrome for browser gaming (mainly its speed) and why developers should be excited about its app store, which you can watch in the video highlight below. After that, we'll walk you through the rest of their presentation.

Social Networking Websites, Social gaming and Google

Google's plans to take over the social networking world

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Search giant Google has many varied interests, from maps to mobile phone operating systems. And now it has set its sights on muscling in on the social networking scene. Click's Marc Cieslak reports on the social life of the world's biggest search engine

Online gaming takes it to the next level

If online gaming is successful, games consoles could become obsolete

By Dan Simmons BBC Click

In a market dominated by expensive console games, new online services are allowing gamers to play the big titles without paying big bucks. When players no longer need to own the latest console game to enjoy playing it, is it game over for the games console?

Launching later this year, Gaikai offers console gaming straight to laptops without the need for the associated hardware. When you use Gaikai to run an Xbox 360 game on a standard laptop, it is actually running on powerful servers.

Your netbook just sends over your moves and receives a video feed back. No consoles, game discs or downloads are needed. The game is wherever you are - if you are online.

Online gaming already exists for more simple games like Playfish and World of Warcraft. But this promises high-end action to low-end laptops.

Gaikai CEO David Perry explains the appeal of online gaming to developers.

"If you look at a game like Farmville on Facebook, it has over 80 million players. It shows what can be done when you open the doors wide.

David Perry believes Farmville has opened up the games industry.

"You make it incredibly accessible, you allow friends to share and we can do that with any game now. We could put any game online like Facebook, just as easily as Farmville."

But for now, Gaikai's offering is somewhat more basic. Go to a site like Amazon or IGN and if your connection is fast enough, you simply get an invitation to instantly play the game, regardless of what device you are using.

In the coming weeks, those who sign up in the US, UK, and France will test a trial version, with the service going public later this year. Initially, just the first few levels of a game will be offered - a kind of try before you buy.

Digital future

Gaikai's main competitor, OnLive, seems to be one step ahead. This is a multiplayer, cross-platform, streaming service offering complete titles.

OnLive's vice-president John Spinale says online gaming means never having a physical disc that can get lost or scratched.

"I see this as absolutely the way of the future - not just with OnLive but digital distribution overall. People do not really want to buy hardware. They want to have access to software and they want to play the games."

People do not want to buy hardware. They want to access the software and play the games. John Spinale, OnLive

The OnLive system, launched in the US in June, allows PC or Mac gamers to challenge each other. Ultimately, any connected mobile device could be used to take on someone else.

Unreal Tournament 3 - a PC game - can be played on an Apple iPad even though its processing and graphics capabilities would struggle to support this content.

Again, all the processing is done miles away on a server. As long as your device can stream video and you have a fat and fast enough connection, you can play. No discs and no specialist games consoles.

Game delays

But not everyone thinks it is a good idea to shed the hardware before going into battle.

Shane Satterfield, editor of Gametrailers.com, experiences problems himself trying to play games online.

"You could have bottlenecks at any time, night or day. Even at weekends here in Los Angeles, I get lag trying to play games online.

"But one thing I can always count on, is that when I put a disc into my Xbox 360 or my PS3, that game is going to look and sound the same every single time.

OnLive offers multiplayer and cross platform games online.

"It is the plug and play accountability of a video game console that people really rely on and I think that is what is being overlooked in cloud gaming."

And therein lies the catch. To play these games in 720p HD you need a 5MB connection - that is more than the average in the US and about the average speed in the UK. Full 1080p HD needs a pipe twice the size.

The time it takes between moving your controller, your moves being sent to a server, then translated into the gameplay, rendered and sent back to your device as a video stream is critical.

That delay - or "latency" - depends largely on how close an OnLive server is to where you are and will be most acutely felt in fast moving games by more experienced players.

Mr Satterfield believes gamers' preference for hardwiring could also dissuade many from using services like OnLive and Gaikai.

"Machines now have wireless adapters, but nobody wants to use them. They want to hardwire their machines, because you lose a little bit of connection speed through the wireless process.

"If people were not even willing to use a wireless adaptor on their consoles, there is no way they are going to sacrifice half their bandwidth to have this stuff piped in to play."

We see the gaming experience being delivered in very much the same fashion as our TV service Jon Hurry, BT

Compatibility questions

Despite the sceptics, initial reports have been largely positive, with many surprised by the playability.

But OnLive has temporarily stopped supporting devices using wifi connections, saying they don't have the experience to troubleshoot wireless networks in the home.

Realistically, the idea of using a phone or iPad to play anywhere will rely on the next generation, faster 4G mobile networks which, for most countries, are a good few years away.

Other concerns persist. Will gamers want to effectively rent a game when they could own it?

Many of OnLive's target audience already own a console and the price of them is tumbling, so savings for those who choose the OnLive route will be limited.

And surely we want to play on big televisions not laptops? To make that happen a MicroConsole TV adapter will be sold, containing the bare essentials to stream a HD service.

The MicroConsole will cost a fraction of the price of the PS3 or Xbox, but there will be no media player or storage onboard.

There are also questions over how the new crop of motion sensitive controllers, such as Sony's Move or Microsoft's Kinect, will work in a more basic home set up.

BT has begun beta testing OnLive gaming for launch in the home

Mr Spinale says OnLive supports motion-based platforms.

"We support USB. So any device that you can hook up to your computer or your existing consoles will effectively work in our world as well.

"As long as software developers are supporting motion-based platforms, whether using gestures or motion controllers, so will OnLive."

In the UK, telecoms giant BT is running OnLive beta tests.

Jon Hurry, commercial director of BT Consumer, will not say when the launch will be, but insists connection speeds will not be a problem.

"We do not see that as an issue because at the moment with our TV service, BT Vision, we deliver entertainment content at peak time to consumers via our network and we prioritise the traffic in order to be able to do this.

"We see the gaming experience being delivered in very much the same fashion."

Whether this ends up as an elaborate experiment or not will depend on new business deals being struck and broadband becoming more reliable. Only then might the console be killed off.

Girl gamers still being left out

By Dave Lee BBC World Service

The portrayal of women in video games still needs to move beyond Lara Croft. More involvement from women in games will help, experts say

When you think about women in video games, you would be forgiven for imagining the helpless girly-girl persona of Mario's beloved Princess Peach, or for getting distracted by the improbably-chested, often-running Lara Croft.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Many female gamers register under male identities to avoid stalking, harassment, and the general annoyance of guys”

End Quote Dee-ann LeBlanc Blogger

Or as Sheri Graner-Ray, studio design director for Schell Games, bluntly puts it: "We tend to make our females look like they're ready for sex right now."

Despite the number of women working in the games industry increasing, many argue that higher representation in gaming - both as players and creators - has done little to change portrayal of women within games.

"Sometimes women don't get the option of being male or female," Ngan Nguyen, editor of Women in Games Jobs, told BBC World Service's Colin Grant.

"You have to play with whatever character you're given. Some of the games I've played, like God of War, you are given just male characters."

'She's a girl!'

Ms Nguyen is a self-confessed hardcore gamer who has been playing since the age of 13.

She is one of the millions of people playing World of Warcraft, the "massively multiplayer online role-playing game" - or MMORPG - which boasts over 10 million users.

Online role-playing games have huge female audiences

Estimates put the proportion of female World of Warcraft players at approximately 25% - yet players like Ms Nguyen are not keen to be openly female online.

"What you've got with online multiple player games is that you have systems like Skype and Vent where you talk to each other whilst you're on missions together. You discover who it is you're actually playing with.

"I'd already been playing with my guild for a very long time before Vent was introduced and I made sure when I was invited to Vent I wouldn't accept it - because I wanted to establish myself as a really decent character regardless of my sex or my race.

"Eventually, when Vent was brought on, everybody went 'she's a girl!'"

Annoying guys

Recently Blizzard, creators of World of Warcraft, suggested it may begin attaching users' real names to posts made on the game's various forums.

The announcement prompted a massive backlash, with one blogger, Dee-ann LeBlanc, writing that "as a female gamer, I don't want everyone seeing my obviously female name".

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

I don't think we just want games where you dress up Barbies”

End Quote Ana Kronschnabl CEO, Fluffy Logic

"An unfortunate truth is that many female gamers register under male (or gender-neutral) identities to avoid stalking, harassment, and the general annoyance of guys who experience neuron failure around characters with breasts."

Following pressure from the Warcraft community, Blizzard decided not to go ahead with the plans.

The uproar raised important questions about the stigma still attached to female video-gamers, a stigma which begins, according to one expert, at a very early age.

"The widespread media representation of [gaming] is as a violent pastime - that games are something for boys and not for girls, and that they lead to anti-social behaviour," said Helen Kennedy, a cultural theorist at the University of the West of England.

"Parents aren't going to encourage their girls to play, they're not going to be as keen to buy them their first DS or buy them a console in the way you see families and mums buying lots of that stuff for boys at a very young age."

Growing influence

Her worries are shared by Ana Kronschnabl, CEO and co-founder of Bristol-based games company Fluffy Logic.

"It's of great concern to me. I have an eight-year-old daughter.

"I don't think we just want games where you dress up Barbies. I think [my daughter would] love to go around picking up gems, cutting the heads off donkeys or whatever it is that the game involves."

Digital Planet

Continue reading the main story

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Like Ms Nguyen, Ms Kronschnabl believes it is not a case of making games for girls, rather including female characters in existing series and genres, thus hopefully making them more appealing.

"I just like to see an ordinary female character I want to play. I don't want to play anything different."

If the growth of women working in the games industry continues, this change could happen naturally as women get greater say in development.

"We're seeing a tremendous growth in production," said Ms Graner-Ray from Schell Games.

"I think that's a brilliant place for women to be because it allows them to have a lot of say in how the product is going to develop and how it's going to grow."

Location Berkman Center for Internet and Society License Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution Unported Copyright Holder The President and Fellows of Harvard College Lisa Nakamura: Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game

Location

Berkman Center for Internet and Society

License

Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution Unported

Copyright Holder

The President and Fellows of Harvard College

Lisa Nakamura: Don’t Hate the Player, Hate the Game

Internet gameplay is becoming more socially and culturally diverse and ubiquitous than ever before. Yet at the same time, the culture of griefing or pranking that dominates these games and other forms of networked social life such as Second Life and Chatroulette takes increasingly racist and racialized forms. In this talk Lisa Nakamura — the Director of the Asian American Studies Program, Professor in the Institute of Communication Research and Media Studies Program, and Professor of Asian American Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign recaps the history of racist griefing online and links the current crisis in racial discourse in the US with this practice, exploring the implications for digital games as a public sphere.

David Perry on videogames