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[Mista]

As part of Bethesda's E3 press conference it announced a new technology called Orion that it promises will deliver 4K, 60 FPS gameplay without "perceptible latency". Bethesda demonstrated Orion's streaming capabilities by showing someone off-stage playing Doom on an Orion-enabled mobile device which looked like it was performing well.

Bethesda didn't offer many details on exactly how the technology works, but it will apparently be integrated directly into software and will make games that include Orion better on every streaming platform.

Bethesda will be running some free Orion beta tests to those who are signed up for Doom Slayers Club and encouraged players to register for tonight in order to be able to participate.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

 

[Sqorin Hammerfarf]

WOOO!!!!

 

[sendit]

Because streaming is the future and anything to improve this tech, such as reducing latency or improving quality is a step forward?

 

[HarryKS]

If it wasn't a fake demo, it was pretty impressive to be fair.

 

[Petrae]

The video game industry is going all-in on streaming, and will aggressively make us understand that it’s where things are going— whether we like it or not.

 

[Quezacolt]

The part i hated the most about the conference

 

[mckmas8808]

The video game industry is going all-in on streaming, and will aggressively make us understand that it’s where things are going— whether we like it or not.

And I absolutely hate that they are doing this to us

 

[Quezacolt]

And I absolutely hate that they are doing this to us

We have to let them know. If they want streaming, ok, just dont push it down our throats, because if they force me to use it, well, i guess i'll stop gaming in the future, and will only play older games.

 

[Bryank75]

I will aggressively keep my money in my pocket, where game streaming is concerned. I suggest that all core gamers do so, if streaming takes over it will suck all the magic and amazing moments out of this hobby.

 

[ZehDon]

Oh boy! I sure can't wait to not own any games anymore, and be tied to aggressive services where I pay monthly fees to access single player games that require internet connections or suffer having them interrupted with advertisements for shit I don't care about or want! /s

As long as it's an option, I'm of course interested in it. Being able to use cross-save and/or cross progression in tandem between my local compute machines and cloud based infrastructure to enjoy my games everywhere is a very tempting proposition. Spending 30 minutes of my lunch break enjoying a game at my work PC, to go home and resume right where I left off, sounds pretty sweet. Colour me cautiously optimistic.

 

[FStubbs]

We have to let them know. If they want streaming, ok, just dont push it down our throats, because if they force me to use it, well, i guess i'll stop gaming in the future, and will only play older games.

Comcast, Verizon, etc laugh at these companies who think streaming is actually going to happen on their networks.

 

[Bryank75]

Oh boy! I sure can't wait to not own any games anymore, and be tied to aggressive services where I pay monthly fees to access single player games that require internet connections or suffer having them interrupted with advertisements for shit I don't care about or want! /s

As long as it's an option, I'm of course interested in it. Being able to use cross-save and/or cross progression in tandem between my local compute machines and cloud based infrastructure to enjoy my games everywhere is a very tempting proposition. Spending 30 minutes of my lunch break enjoying a game at my work PC, to go home and resume right where I left off, sounds pretty sweet. Colour me cautiously optimistic.

See them raise the price rapidly when they have enough people on board

 

[Petrae]

Comcast, Verizon, etc laugh at these companies who think streaming is actually going to happen on their networks.

Actually, they’re LOVING this, because it means more money in their pockets as gaming consumers will pony up for cap overage fees or “unlimited” plans*.

* - Of course, ISPs reserve the right to throttle speed after a certain data threshold, but few people understand that.

 

[FStubbs]

Actually, they’re LOVING this, because it means more money in their pockets as gaming consumers will pony up for cap overage fees or “unlimited” plans*.

* - Of course, ISPs reserve the right to throttle speed after a certain data threshold, but few people understand that.

Yep, and throttled game streaming is dead game streaming.

 

[SonGoku]

Because streaming is the future and anything to improve this tech, such as reducing latency or improving quality is a step forward?

Its not lol
streaming will always depend on games made for fixed hw

 

[PhilipDoesMatter]

Streaming? I'm out.

 

[GenericUser]

Who gives a fuck? Stuff like that belongs to gdc.

 

[Pallas]

It’s the future, like it or hate it. It’s interesting though.

 

[Falcs]

I think this is finally the beginning of the end of traditional consoles.
Companies love subscriptions.
TV is now all about on-demand subscriptions.
Listening to music - online subscription.
Playing consoles online - online subscription.
Microsoft Word - online subscription.

And meanwhile down here in Australia...

 

[Petrae]

I think this is finally the beginning of the end of traditional consoles.
Companies love subscriptions.
TV is now all about on-demand subscriptions.
Listening to music - online subscription.
Playing consoles online - online subscription.
Microsoft Word - online subscription.

And meanwhile down here in Australia...

Why let consumers buy something once and (think that they) own it, when we can perpetually charge them for the same thing and kill off things like resale at the same time?

The internet gave the video game and other software lines of business exactly what they always wanted: the ability to completely control their items at all times, including after receiving money for them.

At some point, non-internet or slow internet consumers will be left behind as “acceptable losses”.

 

[Grinchy]

This presentation was really strange. She's frantically pressing all these buttons that sometimes do and sometimes don't look like they are connected to what's happening on screen.



I'd have to watch it 10 times while it's slowed down to say whether I really thought this was faked, but at the very least, a lot of those presses on the right joystick don't seem to actually move the camera around or seem to do so with a lot of delay.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

You want me to trust your streaming services when you can't launch a game without bugs?

 

[SonGoku]

Should of invested money in updating to current standards their shitty ass gamebryo engine instead.

 

[Mista]

Updated OP with presentation video

 

[drexplora]

lots of resistance to game streaming.
for one, it is the inevitable future.
once the tech has matured, and our internet improves, no one will remember the difference.
pricing model will have to change, BUT with that comes the opportunity for more value.
Pricing will be competitive to what we pay today on our HW+new 60$ titles.
It is going to take a while though.
We also get new experiences no possible today, with all the data being being stored remotely on servers. Things like on the fly changes will become trivial.
Why do all the processing locally?

I do get the concern though.
With capitalism comes the opportunity for business practices that seem to go against the consumer.

 

[Quezacolt]

lots of resistance to game streaming.
for one, it is the inevitable future.
once the tech has matured, and our internet improves, no one will remember the difference.
pricing model will have to change, BUT with that comes the opportunity for more value.
Pricing will be competitive to what we pay today on our HW+new 60$ titles.
It is going to take a while though.
We also get new experiences no possible today, with all the data being being stored remotely on servers. Things like on the fly changes will become trivial.
Why do all the processing locally?

I do get the concern though.
With capitalism comes the opportunity for business practices that seem to go against the consumer.

I and many others said before, but the cons are much bigger than the pros. I for one, want to still own the games i pay for, and i want to be sure i can play something that i bought today for the next decades. We can still play our snes, ps2, gamecube, etc... in the actual hardware and we also have the choice of emulators, but what happens when it becomes streaming only? we've seen studios closing all the time, so what happens when they make stream only games and then close? we lose that game forever. People that buy that wont be able to play again, and people that never played it will never have a chance.

We saw stuff like this happen, to a lesser extent since last gen, just look at games like Scott pilgrim, wich had to be removed from the stores. Sure, people that bought can still download it, but the only way new players can experience it nowadays is through emulators.

I and many others don't trust that publishers will think in our interests when the time comes, and i don't want my favorite hobby to become even worse than it is today, but by simply saying that "it's the inevitable future", we are just giving them a thumbs up to screw us whenever they feel like, and you can be sure they will.

 

[Shifty]

Odd, I wonder how it works. Maybe some sort of graphical tech that optimizes the image for video streaming without messing up the aesthetic too much?

Either way, fuck this streaming nonsense. 'Inevitable future' my ass.

 

[drexplora]

I and many others said before, but the cons are much bigger than the pros. I for one, want to still own the games i pay for, and i want to be sure i can play something that i bought today for the next decades. We can still play our snes, ps2, gamecube, etc... in the actual hardware and we also have the choice of emulators, but what happens when it becomes streaming only? we've seen studios closing all the time, so what happens when they make stream only games and then close? we lose that game forever. People that buy that wont be able to play again, and people that never played it will never have a chance.

We saw stuff like this happen, to a lesser extent since last gen, just look at games like Scott pilgrim, wich had to be removed from the stores. Sure, people that bought can still download it, but the only way new players can experience it nowadays is through emulators.

I and many others don't trust that publishers will think in our interests when the time comes, and i don't want my favorite hobby to become even worse than it is today, but by simply saying that "it's the inevitable future", we are just giving them a thumbs up to screw us whenever they feel like, and you can be sure they will.

You're right.
Hopefully the new experiences brought by this new tech will be worth the sacrifice of physical media.
Also, with the way remasters work, I think any popular series/game that people are willing to pay for will live on.
Look at all of the emulation going on in the consoles these days, back in the playstation 1 and 2 days, emulation was a dirty subject.

I think we have a lot to gain from this new way of digesting our games.
Streaming will bring advancements not possible or dreamed of today, it will bring us closer to those games we have in our heads, that we hope to one day play if the hardware allows.

But yes there are concerns.
What happens when the internet goes out?
What happens then the game studio shuts down?
What happens when the streaming service goes out of business?
What happens to all the data I invested in that i likely do not own?

I think most of the concerns people have will be solved as they come by technology, and will seem trivial looking back.
Streaming has the ability to do what the Xbox helped do for gaming, bring it to many many more hands.
And that has the potential to enrich the experience for everyone.

Maybe this is where the road splits for good?
the Hardcore Physicallites, V.S the Ethereal Streamers

 

[Whitecrow]

I also have a incredible new technology to help game streaming: A great internet connection.

*Only available in some areas.

 

[Riven326]

How do you play games if your internet is out or isn't working great on any given day?

 

[Quezacolt]

How do you play games if your internet is out or isn't working great on any given day?

You dont

 

[drexplora]

hopefully by the time streaming takes off big, we would have solved the internet problem to an acceptable degree

 

[Riven326]

You dont

That's the problem. If the industry makes streaming the only way to play games then I'm done. It's either quit playing games or find alternative ways to play. It could open up a new market that caters to folks who don't want to stream. That's assuming the big players stop offering alternatives to streaming.

 

[mckmas8808]

lots of resistance to game streaming.
for one, it is the inevitable future.
once the tech has matured, and our internet improves, no one will remember the difference.
pricing model will have to change, BUT with that comes the opportunity for more value.
Pricing will be competitive to what we pay today on our HW+new 60$ titles.
It is going to take a while though.
We also get new experiences no possible today, with all the data being being stored remotely on servers. Things like on the fly changes will become trivial.
Why do all the processing locally?

I do get the concern though.
With capitalism comes the opportunity for business practices that seem to go against the consumer.

Streaming doesn't allow you to own the game. How do you get around that? I'd rather "own" my games.

 

[drexplora]

True.
Owning the game mean you have the proper hardware to run it on.
Streaming opens up possibilities that don't exist when you are tied down to your HW.
Its going to be up to the companies invested in streaming to convince us.
I am not sure how that one will go.

 

[DanielsM]

hopefully by the time streaming takes off big, we would have solved the internet problem to an acceptable degree

You mean the speed of light issue?

There isn't anything to really solve, native gaming is better and generally its going to be cheaper - so we're now looking for solutions to problems which we created on purpose because they are looking to use a solution for a problem that doesn't exist.

 

[stranno]

I guess it will be something similar to RetroArch's run-ahead.

 

[Hendrick's]

No company does quality tech like Bethesda.

 

[Daymos]

That's the problem. If the industry makes streaming the only way to play games then I'm done. It's either quit playing games or find alternative ways to play. It could open up a new market that caters to folks who don't want to stream. That's assuming the big players stop offering alternatives to streaming.

It's a great excuse to start stockpiling physical games now though! If streaming is a near-certainty then the availability of physical games will decrease as well. I mainly play long rpgs, and it usually takes me two months to finish 1, so I figure I only need like 180 physical games to last me until I'm dead 30-40 years from now.. if physical holds out 10 more years that's only 18 games a year. I can do that.

..maybe I better go for 240 instead, buying 2 games a month sounds better.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

game streaming is boring. why not come up with new technology that makes your games actually work without tons of bugs?

can't blame them tho. why fix the problem when you can just charge people more money for the same broken games?

 

[BusierDonkey]

It's a great excuse to start stockpiling physical games now though! If streaming is a near-certainty then the availability of physical games will decrease as well. I mainly play long rpgs, and it usually takes me two months to finish 1, so I figure I only need like 180 physical games to last me until I'm dead 30-40 years from now.. if physical holds out 10 more years that's only 18 games a year. I can do that.

..maybe I better go for 240 instead, buying 2 games a month sounds better.

I never thought thinking positively could be so dark...

 

[NickFire]

And I absolutely hate that they are doing this to us

Unless PS5 is a commercial failure or someone buys Sony, I think traditional consoles will be around for a long time still. All the streaming talk by corporate behemoths are reminding me of the OG Xbox.

 

[Alx]

Interesting, but they should have kept such topics for GDC rather than E3. Only game developers will be interested in the performance of your middleware, gamers only want to see the final results.

game streaming is boring. why not come up with new technology that makes your games actually work without tons of bugs?

As long as games will be developed and fixed by humans, there will be tons of bugs. And the more complex the game, the more bugs there will be. Technology can only go so far (and actually already helps a lot for detecting bugs).

 

[FranXico]

Bethesda and streaming. What could possibly go wrong?

 

[Animagic]

“If I preface my rebuttals with ‘STREAMING IS THE FUTURE’ then no other opinion matters.”

I’ll just play games I already own. I own more games than I will ever be able to play anyway.
I don’t think I’m alone in that, but I guess we will see what happens.

Game streaming futurist hopefuls need to wish upon a star that Google Stadia is a success. People accepting this as the next evolution in how they play games can be impacted for better or worse with how Stadia performs.

 

[mckmas8808]

“If I preface my rebuttals with ‘STREAMING IS THE FUTURE’ then no other opinion matters.”

I’ll just play games I already own. I own more games than I will ever be able to play anyway.
I don’t think I’m alone in that, but I guess we will see what happens.

Game streaming futurist hopefuls need to wish upon a star that Google Stadia is a success. People accepting this as the next evolution in how they play games can be impacted for better or worse with how Stadia performs.

Not if Sony and MS get it right next-gen, then Google Stadia will not matter.