Grid

When we think of gaming today we think about our computers, tablets, phones, handhelds, and consoles. We are always looking for more processing power, better graphics capabilities, and more RAM. Wouldn’t it be nice if the platform didn’t really matter anymore? What about looking at it from a developers point of view? Imagine creating a game that just works everywhere on everything. This type of technology is going to go mainstream and it’s going to revolutionize the way we use hardware.

I would go as far as to predict that the next generation of consoles that are released may very well be the last that actually do all of the data processing inside the hardware itself. I believe that cloud based gaming will become the standard and I think it will be amazing.

As someone who has worked with developing games, I understand wanting to make sure that anyone who experiences your game should experience it in the best way possible. You don’t want gamers to experience a lower quality version of your game just because of their hardware limitations.

Imagine how much easier it will be for game developers to send out patches and update their software, you can be sure that everyone is up-to-date with the latest bug fixes and features. Will patch day become a thing of the past?  Secondary servers could be loaded up with the new version of the game and then swapped with the live version instantaneously.

Cloud based gaming is not without it’s flaws. Latency, which most online gamers are quite aware of and monitor regularly, has been a huge issue when trying to deliver an epic experience in real-time across the inter webs. Nvidia has come up with a solution to this problem and they are calling this new technology GeForce Grid. Geforce Grid is basically a supercomputer that you can tap into from your home. It’s almost like having Nvidia as your next door neighbor and whenever they come out with something better they just come into your house and upgrade your hardware first thing in the morning.

Now, I am not entirely sure how this will be marketed, I am thinking you might be able purchase server time and be able to play any title that is registered with your account. There will need to be some type of equipment for when you wanted to play on your television but most likely you will only need something for your controller to connect to. Most of the gaming hardware we will use will basically be a shell with a screen, talk about light weight.

This new technology is exciting to say the least and will be interesting to watch evolve. This will undoubtably reach far beyond the gaming space and reach into every aspect of our digital world.

If you would like to learn more about GeForce Grid, head to Nvidia’s official website here.