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General discussionGOG partnership with a cloud gaming service?(7 posts)(7 posts)
(7 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted May 12, 2021
Last night I was browsing the Stadia Pro library for something to play. I didn't find anything interesting.
In another browser window I was watching a let's play of I-War.
The 'Let's player' in question sucked, and I wanted to, there and then, hassle-free, drop into a game of I-War.

This got me wondering; why has GOG not partnered with a cloud gaming service?

I appreciate cloud gaming isn't exactly conforming to GOG's DRM-free ethos, but it would achieve their goal of protecting old IP from technical obsolescence.

Bypassing the finicky setup & compatibility issues of running many old games would definitely add value, and the ease of access would better satisfy the nostalgia cravings that often drive GOG's customers.

Old games are also a lot less demanding to host too, and would pad out the often rather limited cloud gaming libraries.

It might even allow GOG to offer a larger library, as they'd only need to get a game working reliably on a single hardware configuration to be able to sell it.

The delivery of the stream could even utilize gog.com as a portal, increasing virtual foot fall on the website, potentially driving further sales.

The consoles have already (sort of) embraced this for previous gen compatibility modes, but for PC? Not so much.
Yet PC has an absolutely *vast* back catalogue to offer. It seems to me like the perfect fit.
Post edited May 12, 2021 by TehJumpingJawa
Posted May 12, 2021
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TehJumpingJawa: Last night I was browsing the Stadia Pro library for something to play. I didn't find anything interesting.
In another browser window I was watching a let's play of I-War.
The 'Let's player' in question sucked, and I wanted to, there and then, hassle-free, drop into a game of I-War.

This got me wondering; why has GOG not partnered with a cloud gaming service?

I appreciate cloud gaming isn't exactly conforming to GOG's DRM-free ethos, but it would achieve their goal of protecting old IP from technical obsolescence.

Bypassing the finicky setup & compatibility issues of running many old games would definitely add value, and the ease of access would better satisfy the nostalgia cravings that often drive GOG's customers.

Old games are also a lot less demanding to host too, and would pad out the often rather limited cloud gaming libraries.

It might even allow GOG to offer a larger library, as they'd only need to get a game working reliably on a single hardware configuration to be able to sell it.

The delivery of the stream could even utilize gog.com as a portal, increasing virtual foot fall on the website, potentially driving further sales.

The consoles have already (sort of) embraced this for previous gen compatibility modes, but for PC? Not so much.
Yet PC has an absolutely *vast* back catalogue to offer. It seems to me like the perfect fit.
Like Geforce Now?
There a few gog games that can be played via that
Posted May 12, 2021
https://www.gog.com/news/gog_versions_of_the_witcher_games_available_on_geforce_now


As for the ideal, i think it's a bit tone deaf when you go from fck drm to LET'S GO CLOUD GAMING! but alas

i'd argue ''Bypassing the finicky setup & compatibility issues of running many old games'' was a core ideal GOG used to thrive on and still could, without the need to do cloud gaming.

It's worth remembering cloud gaming is growing, but hampered by a number of factors, primarily being the consumer entry-level needed. Despite the topic rarely getting much focus these days, the quality of internet connections is so wide in the Western-central European world and beyond. It makes the idea of cloud gaming a hard sell to the masses.
Posted May 12, 2021
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TehJumpingJawa: I appreciate cloud gaming isn't exactly conforming to GOG's DRM-free ethos, but it would achieve their goal of protecting old IP from technical obsolescence. Bypassing the finicky setup & compatibility issues of running many old games would definitely add value, and the ease of access would better satisfy the nostalgia cravings that often drive GOG's customers.
I'm not really seeing how. If a game is too flaky to run in 2021, then how is it magically running any better on the server that's streaming it to you? There's very little "finicky setup" by the end user for GOG games. The biggest playability issue of many old games isn't setting them up but stuff like core controllability of the game itself (eg, pre-mouselook FPS's) for which remotely streaming will never fix. The same kind of people who want extreme convenience also seem to be the ones who will leave negative feedback for old games "because this 1992 game doesn't support (invented in 2001) XBox controllers".
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TehJumpingJawa: Old games are also a lot less demanding to host too, and would pad out the often rather limited cloud gaming libraries.
They're less demanding to render but unlike video streaming whose content is pre-compressed, static and the same content can be multicast to different users simultaneously, cloud gaming still needs a completely unique 1:1 video renderer + compressor path per user regardless of the game itself. It doesn't save that much on distribution logistics.
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TehJumpingJawa: It might even allow GOG to offer a larger library, as they'd only need to get a game working reliably on a single hardware configuration to be able to sell it.
Last time I looked, Stadia is powered by Linux, the same OS that GOG has the worst support for. Hmm...

Likewise, bringing back the same end effect as returning to the dark age of SecuROM PA DRM (you had to be online to play and the game would insta-quit if the internet connection dropped even for a single second) is generally not why I buy games here...
Post edited May 12, 2021 by AB2012
Posted May 12, 2021
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TehJumpingJawa: Last night I was browsing the Stadia Pro library for something to play. I didn't find anything interesting.
In another browser window I was watching a let's play of I-War.
The 'Let's player' in question sucked, and I wanted to, there and then, hassle-free, drop into a game of I-War.

This got me wondering; why has GOG not partnered with a cloud gaming service?

I appreciate cloud gaming isn't exactly conforming to GOG's DRM-free ethos, but it would achieve their goal of protecting old IP from technical obsolescence.

Bypassing the finicky setup & compatibility issues of running many old games would definitely add value, and the ease of access would better satisfy the nostalgia cravings that often drive GOG's customers.

Old games are also a lot less demanding to host too, and would pad out the often rather limited cloud gaming libraries.

It might even allow GOG to offer a larger library, as they'd only need to get a game working reliably on a single hardware configuration to be able to sell it.

The delivery of the stream could even utilize gog.com as a portal, increasing virtual foot fall on the website, potentially driving further sales.

The consoles have already (sort of) embraced this for previous gen compatibility modes, but for PC? Not so much.
Yet PC has an absolutely *vast* back catalogue to offer. It seems to me like the perfect fit.
GOG never had a “protecting old IP form technical obsolescence” moto. They may have made old games work, but only for the purpose of making money. They are not an archiver, not a champion of open, not a champion of the user, not our “friend”, this is old sales pitch from back in the good old games days. They are here to make money, end of story.

In terms of streaming, yes it will be coming. Probably the next iteration of galaxy will be online only, maybe streaming only, or just selling products from others stores which are like that. All good news(tm) for offline and drm free users of course.
Posted May 12, 2021
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nightcraw1er.488: GOG never had a “protecting old IP form technical obsolescence” moto. They may have made old games work, but only for the purpose of making money. They are not an archiver, not a champion of open, not a champion of the user, not our “friend”, this is old sales pitch from back in the good old games days. They are here to make money, end of story.

In terms of streaming, yes it will be coming. Probably the next iteration of galaxy will be online only, maybe streaming only, or just selling products from others stores which are like that. All good news(tm) for offline and drm free users of course.
if i know no better i would assume they are just a greedy corp like the others
Posted May 12, 2021
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nightcraw1er.488: GOG never had a “protecting old IP form technical obsolescence” moto. They may have made old games work, but only for the purpose of making money. They are not an archiver, not a champion of open, not a champion of the user, not our “friend”, this is old sales pitch from back in the good old games days. They are here to make money, end of story.

In terms of streaming, yes it will be coming. Probably the next iteration of galaxy will be online only, maybe streaming only, or just selling products from others stores which are like that. All good news(tm) for offline and drm free users of course.
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Orkhepaj: if i know no better i would assume they are just a greedy corp like the others
There is no need to assume, just look at the last year or so.
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General discussionGOG partnership with a cloud gaming service?(7 posts)(7 posts)
(7 posts)