Is XBONE's "cloud power" the new "blast processing"?

[CodeWhite29]

I just received an advert email from microsoft for the XBONE. It was titled Xbox One: Its cloud powered! At the top of the advert was "UNLEASH CLOUD POWER" The email basically went on to say how they are going to have 300,000 servers connected to the network, but it did not really get into any specifics on what advantage "the cloud" really provides.

Everybody remembers the infamous Sega "blast processing" campaign back in the 90s and I couldn't help but laugh at the similarities. So does anybody know what greatness awaits us once we experience "the cloud?" Or is it just another technobable marketing campaign?

[Erik_Twice]

It's more like "information superhighway" I think.

[Cronozilla]

It's a little from column A and a little from column B.

Blast Processing was just direct memory access (CPU wasn't required to do all memory operations), so as a result, things could be drastically faster as long as CPU computation weren't required.

Cloud processing is actually a big deal ... but it's unlikely they'll have enough servers to change the experience on an individual basis. It's absolutely being talked up, but it is a real thing. The idea is offloading tasks that are well beyond the capabilities of the box to a server cluster and getting the data back and incorporating that into live or future gameplay. But that's a hard thing to keep consistent for something millions of people are using with varying, non-guaranteed, internet connections. They're likely very cognizant, as John Carmack pointed out, that network latency seems to actually be lower than TV display latency. (Which is atrocious) It could give online processing a major leg up if they took that into consideration.

But, will it change the way you play games? Probably not. And if it does, it might not be for the better.

You should be wary of relying on cloud services. The way it's been used so far, and the way companies talk about it ... it's not a consumer friendly path they're going down. It's essentially being done to make you dependent on them for services that have traditionally been products (or features). I wouldn't be remotely surprised if launch features of the Xbox One (or PS4) become "Live Only with the Cloud" services into its life.

Computer Clouds are a truly evolutionary thing, but it looks like most of the current uses are for control. Blast Processing never had that problem!

[ninjainspandex]

really don't want the future to be like OnLive, do not want.

[CFFJR]

There's a huge difference:

Blast Processing is awesome.

[foxhound1022]

This sounds like the beginning of SkyNet.

[GSZX1337]

This sounds like the beginning of SkyNet.

Dude, you missed the obvious joke: Sky.NET.

[skate323k137]

I work in web hosting: "The cloud" is the biggest pile of shit buzzword to exist since "synergy." I absolutely hate "the cloud." All it really means is a network of machines, usually virtual machines, on an infrastructure that allows usually cloning/scaling of those machines. That's it. In other words, a data center hooked to the internet that varies quite little from the same technology we've had for at least a decade. Your only real advantage is often physical servers are already in place, and if your servers are too busy or failing, you can fire up more virtual machines in your "cloud."

Sure, distributing processing workload across a bunch of boxes is cool. Whoop de do.

/rant

[GSZX1337]

I work in web hosting: "The cloud" is the biggest pile of shit buzzword to exist since "synergy." I absolutely hate "the cloud."

I never liked that word either. It sounds like bullshit marketing speak meant to be overwhelming and condescending.

[MrPopo]

I work in web hosting: "The cloud" is the biggest pile of shit buzzword to exist since "synergy." I absolutely hate "the cloud."

I never liked that word either. It sounds like bullshit marketing speak meant to be overwhelming and condescending.

Implying that marketing speak is intended to be anything but overwhelming and condescending.