2010: The Year Of The Cloud For Gamers

We won’t be getting Star Wars: The Old Republic this year. We’ll get Cataclysm for sure, and that is likely to be great but short lived. Mass Effect 2 and BioShock 2 are right around the corner, but your average online PC gamer just might be feeling a little down about 2010’s gaming prospects. To be honest, I sort of feel the same. There will be some high points for gaming in 2010, but overall it looks to be another year of more of the same. Or is it?

Gamers are indeed set to see some radical changes to gaming in 2010. The big change to gaming in 2010 will be on the PC, as we see the entry of OnLive and Gaikai who can *theoretically* use cloud computing technology to bring us high end gaming on netbooks, old and dated computers or even on our mobile phones. Unless they delay their launches, OnLive is set to launch in February 2010 and Gaikai is also slated for a Q1 2010 launch. As I look at my calendar, February is only a few weeks away. We’ll soon see what the real possibilities are for these technologies.

While I remain skeptical, it is potentially exciting. If these services can even come close to delivering what they say they can, many things will change. You will soon see the technology coming to the Xbox and PS3 if either of these cloud gaming companies have any success. 2010 will bring some huge changes to gaming, so long as both of these companies don’t outright flop.

I haven’t really heard much on the progress of their beta testing and don’t know how their progress is coming along. I think it is very likely that these Q1 launches might be a bit too aggressive given the radical nature of the technology. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see both companies delay their launches and slip into Q2 or even into Q3. Even if their launches are delayed, it’s still likely that we’ll see 2010 launches from both companies. Whatever the case, I’ll be investigating both services as soon as they are available to me. Here’s to hoping we get to run Crysis on a toaster!

Are you looking forward to these services? Do you think they can pull it off, and will it change everything as many think it will?

~br3ntbr0