CarMadMike

Cloud-based gaming: An inevitable future? As of August 2016 we find ourselves at a time where the demographics of internet users are quickly being dominated by those that do not remember a time before the internet existed. This age of rapid technological advancement results in a large number of internet users not being old enough to remember a time before music streaming services such as Spotify (launched in 2008), and also peer-to-peer services such as Napster (2002) and Limewire (2000). This eradication of the need to leave your house and purchase a hard copy of music or software or a PC platform video game has quickly increased in pace and now we find ourselves being able to play the latest console games as soon as they are released, right from the comfort of our own sofa thanks to cloud-based gaming. However, the gaming industry appears to be a few years behind its counterparts, with it only now being the norm to gamers that having a large amount of storage space or a high speed internet connection is now more important than living near to a video game store. We find ourselves in a world where there is seemingly no alternative to streaming. The shift from peer-to-peer in the mid noughties to the dominance of streaming services in the music industry is only now being reflected in the gaming industry. What is cloud-based gaming all about? These are both new technologies that promise to make any gaming previous to 2010 feel positively ancient but what are the advantages they give to the gamer? No dependence on gaming consoles: Do you have a controller? Do you have a TV? Do you have an internet connection? Then it is becoming increasingly possible for you to play a video game that you would have otherwise had to play on an expensive gaming console. Instant playing: If you want to play a game, be it an old one you have not played for a few years or a brand new one, there should be no wait. Gone are the days of searching for a game case/disc in the back of a cupboard, gone are the days of waiting impatiently as your new game downloads slowly. Hardware update: For the moment is hard to see the cloud-based systems matching the console-based systems for the constant requirement to update hardware. The almost annual update of gaming hardware from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo may be a thing of the past for gamers. Pirating-proof: As with all new technological advancements, everything is secure up until that moment where it suddenly is not. The secure servers on which cloud-based gaming hosts their games is up until now still secure. It is only a matter of time until pirated games are hosted on less-than-legal sources but for now this is a small victory to developers. My Experience As someone who has recently purchased an Nvidia shield and signed up to its GeForce Now cloud-based streaming service, the thought of having endless amounts of video games on that tiny rectangular box in my living room still comes across as alien. The quality of the Shield is comparable if not superior to that of a gaming console. It is quick, well thought out and good value for money. When you consider the first 3 months of the GeForce Now subscription are free and that there are a fair few big-name titles available to stream on the service the attractiveness of this new technology is evident. The convenience of being able to sit on your couch and play a new game without having to leave your house or wait while it downloads is something I simply cannot see gamers turning their back on. Cloud-based gaming eliminates the need for gamers to leave their couch - image credit Ian Burt So is it the future? Is cloud-based gaming the future, is it too good to be true or is it simply a fad? This comes down to a few variables such as how fast is your internet? Is it reliable? Cloud gaming can be faultless at times but if multiple people decide to stream live TV in your house, lagging can render a game unplayable. Another question needing to be asked is if services such as GeForce Now are worth paying for? The issue here is that cloud-based gaming still comes across as new and therefore slightly undeveloped. GeForce might have a good variety of genres and games but there is still not anything too appealing on the games list. Titles such as Dirt and Saints Row are a good start but there is nothing too eye-grabbing on the service as of July 2016. Will joining a large subscription based service such as Geforce ever be worthwhile to the popular game developers? I hope so, but with the messiness surrounding music streaming at the moment it is a difficult future to predict. At a time when the most popular artists in the world (Beyoncé, Adele and Taylor Swift) are trying to be independent or claim a loyalty to a certain service it highlights one of gaming’s biggest issues. Exclusivity. A word that might place cloud-based services such as GeForce now in the history books. The dominant companies will be either developing their own titles or ensuring brand exclusivity wherever possible to stop GeForce taking money from them. Over to you! What do you think? Will cloud-based video gaming inevitably take over and dominate how we game? Will downloading games to a local HDD be a thing of the past? Will gaming discs become a relic that our future children look at in wonder? Let me know in the comments section below or on the Forum!

2017 Ford GT: What is Ford playing at? Let me take you back to 2002. The world was a much simpler time: Foot and Mouth disease was still the biggest talking point in British tabloids, David Beckham was still scoring goals for England, Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry were faffing around in Die Another Day and Girls Aloud went straight to #1 with Sound Of the Underground. However, of much more importance to you and I, Ford were completely dominating the UK market. The Focus was the best selling car at the time, soon to be followed by the Fiesta. Ford was producing cars for 'the people' and it was rather good at it. Ford then dropped the curtains for the 2002 Ford GT40 concept at that year's Detroit Motor Show. It won over crowd after crowd with its retro looks, striking ‘go fast’ racing stripes but understandably most attention and awe was correctly directed towards the powertrain, which was undeniably its pièce de résistance. A 5.4L American big block supercharged V8 that also came in right hand drive? British fans were soon swooning all over it. 13-14 years on we find ourselves in 2016 in a similar situation. A new Ford GT is on its way and it is getting just as much attention. The new car has the intention of moving on from where the old car left off. It aims to successfully mix some nostalgia from the designs of its ancestors with some 21st century ultramodern technology. [caption id=attachment_5177" align="aligncenter" width="800] A proper classic Ford GT40 - image credit Rex Gray[/caption] What is the problem: It all comes down to how Ford are treating customers interested in purchasing the 2017 GT. At a first glance all seems well, Ford seems to be on the ball. The 2017 GT product launch is going in exactly the right direction if you were to listen to Ford’s Product Chief Raj Nair: “There’s a loyal following to the car. We want to prioritize people who are going to care about the car, keep the car and drive the car.” That sounds great, no? At first you have to admire their intentions. Ford appears to want their pride and joy, their halo car, to go to a loving family and is putting just as much effort into the vetting process as if you were putting your beloved 5 month old Golden Labrador puppy up for adoption. But when you dig deeper, the control and regulations are simply insane. The criteria to buy a 2017 Ford GT: You must have a large social media presence: We are not all Shmee150, as much as I admire his success, a life/career in front of a camera on Youtube is not something we can all achieve and it is not something we all want to achieve. If I have the money to purchase a 2017 Ford GT, why should I share it with the world through social media? What if the car is awful? What if it is unreliable? If I have a huge social media presence and your car breaks down repeatedly, what would you have achieved Ford? You must be a loyal Ford customer: This might make more sense in the USA, where you have been able to buy fast expensive Fords for a long time and there are more sought after collectibles. But on the other side of the Atlantic, what does this mean for us? Should Ford prioritise someone who learned to drive in a 2002 Ford Fiesta over someone who owns a Ferrari 250GTO? The whole system seems bizarre and open to exploitation. There are a lot of people who are justifiably upset by this whole fiasco. You must not flip the car: With the amount of limited edition cars appreciating in price as soon as they roll off of the production like (yes, I'm looking at you Porsche), the practice of purchasing one of these sought after cars with the intention of selling them at a higher price in the not so distant future has become exponentially popular in recent years. This is frowned upon by enthusiasts as it usually results in the cars not being driven and staying in air-conditioned garages until someone offers crazy money for it. Is it a shame the car will not be driven as intended, absolutely. This is something us car fanatics disapprove of but as soon as a car company starts telling you what you can and cannot do with a vehicle you've spent high 6 figures on, then questions should be asked. It is not an illegal practice, it is not even an immoral practice. It is capitalism. Where does that leave us? The launch of the 2017 Ford GT should have been impressive, it was almost flawless. The media and fan hype surrounding the vehicle is incredible yet it all leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Judging from the online reaction to the confirmation/refusal emails sent this week I think Ford might have gone too far and inadvertently upsetting some of its most important customers and fans. This is behaviour we have come to accept from companies such as Ferrari. Ford has historically been a company producing cars for the people, should we accept such diva-esque demands? Please let me know in either the comment section below or on the Forum as to whether you agree with me. Has Ford taken it too far with the launch of the 2017 Ford GT?