Is video game streaming going to change the industry as we know it? On Kotaku Splitscreen we discuss that question and much more.
Kirk was on jury duty last week, so Maddy and I recorded and edited the show all by ourselves like grown adults. First we talk about Bloodborne, Danganronpa, beloved Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime retiring, and the rumors of a Nintendo-Xbox love affair. We take some listener questions on Anthem and games as a service (35:10). Then itās time for off-topic talk (52:40) on X2 and Russian Doll as well as my surprise Music Pick Of The Week. Itās a good one.
Listen here:
https://player.megaphone.fm/PPY8743190146
Get the MP3 here, or read an excerpt:
Jason: …Thereās definitely something to the idea that [Microsoft and Nintendo] are working together.
Maddy: Theyāre buddies nowāwhat is going on? The console wars are over! Thereās some sort of truce happening. I donāt know, itās messed up now. Whole new world.
Jason: I think the part of this equation maybe people arenāt paying enough attention to but will be soon is streaming and what that will do to games, because thatās going to change everything. Iām incredibly excited to see what Google shows at GDC.
Maddy: Weāre gonna be there! Weāre gonna see it.
Jason: Yep, you and I will be there, and hopefully weāll get to talk to some folks over there. They announced that theyāre doing this big GDC keynote. All shall be revealed, thatās their big thing.I had reported in the past that they have this streaming thing, they have some hardwareāI donāt know if the hardwareās going to be there; Iād heard rumblings that it might not beābut the streaming platform, if it works as advertised, I think that could change everything we know about the way video games are made and played.
Maddy: People have said this about streaming and games for a while, though.
Jason: But there hasnāt been a company on the level of Google coming in and saying, āHey, weāre going to bring this to mass market, make it so everyone, no matter what equipment they have, can pick up their phone, PC, whatever, and open up a Google Chrome tab and play Assassinās Creed on it.ā
Maddy: That sounds too good to be true to me, but hey.
Jason: Did you try the Project Stream beta test at all?
Maddy: Nope, did you try it? Was it awesome?
Jason: Yeah!
Maddy: Then Iām no longer skeptical. Iām totally bought in. Iām ready to play Assassinās Creed in Firefox or whatever.
Jason: Well no, not Firefox. Never Firefox.
Maddy: Of course not! Chrome. Google Chrome.
Jason: Thereās a tiny bit of latency that I noticed, and I was on a high-speed internet connection. Obviously this isnāt going to work if youāre on bad internet or your bandwidth is capped. But when I played it, it ran pretty smoothly. It was at 30 frames per second, not 60, but it looked good. I could play the game. And I was baffled by the fact that I was sitting in the office on my Macbook playing this in a Google Chrome tabāit was just mindblowing. So Iām excited to see what they have to show, and what their capabilities are, and what they can actually do with this thing. I know theyāve been funding games, so maybe weāll see some of those at their presentation.
Maddy: Itāll be fun. Itāll be fun to be there.
For much more, listen to the entire episode. As always, you can subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts and Google Play to get every episode as it happens. Leave us a review if you like what you hear, and reach us at [email protected] with any and all questions, requests, and suggestions.
