Samsung announced that it is beta testing Gaikai’s streaming service in July 2012. Owners of Samsung’s high-end Smart TVs will receive on-screen beta invites this month.
“When you talk about Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo the conversation now has to include Samsung. This is their gaming solution,” said Gaikai founder David Perry. “We were supposed to launch at E3 2013 but we’ve bought it forward and managed to get it working much faster than expected. The timing could not be better. As the consoles are reset to a zero audience, it’s a wonderful strategic move.”
Any PC controller with a USB connection will work with the service, and Samsung will also mail out their own peripherals. There’s a chance the down the road the service will come to smartphones and tablets.
“This is mass market,” said Perry. “This isn’t about trying to sell to someone who’s already bought two consoles, this is trying to open up the market. And they can add any other devices at anytime of they want to.”
“You’re making tablets, TVs, phones, but nothing participated in the biggest entertainment launch in history – Call of Duty,” argued Perry. “The movie Avatar works on everything you make, so you’re supporting the movie business but it’s the games business that’s creating these monster hits. You want to get the real state-of-the-art games running on your devices in the best possible quality and the only way you’re going to do that is through cloud gaming, there is no other way.”
Gaikai is clearly targeting early adopters who want to get in on next-generation graphics. “Someone said recently that in 2013 the graphics on tablets are going to be as good as the Xbox 360,” noted Perry. “My point there is the Xbox 360 is six years old. You’re telling me if I wait another 12 months I can be like it was six years ago? That’s not what I want to play. I want to play today’s hardware running the best new MMO or FPS on maximum settings, as good as the developer’s can make it look.”
Source: GamesIndustry.biz
