December 2011 should be remembered as a seminal month in cloud computing and console gaming, but you can blame the fast pace of internet and mobile technology for that not being the case. An Internet startup and a software giant are making it easy for hardcore gamers to step out of their living rooms and into the streets while staying connected to their favorite video game titles. Read more to see how these companies are making it happen.
Most of the gaming options for smartphone and tablet users are somewhat limited by hardware requirements. While there are tons of fun, casual games that can be enjoyed on Apple’s iDevices and Android-powered handhelds, those offerings tend to be simplistic and underwhelming; hardly the kind of games that appeal to hardcore gamers who enjoy multiplayer shooters such as Unreal Tournament or engrossing cinematic sandbox games like Rockstar’s L.A. Noire. Cloud computing and gaming startup OnLive wants gamers to continue playing their favorite titles on their mobile devices. Thanks to OnLive’s powerful cloud computing platform servers, gamers are now able to access their favorite console-based games from Internet-connected mobile devices.
Providing connectivity and social networking features to console gamers are two important goals for Microsoft. The software giant recently announced three key software releases that are truly “game changers” for members of the Xbox 360 community. Microsoft’s crucial update of its Xbox 360 Dashboard has been coupled with two new mobile gaming apps that take advantage of the cloud computing paradigm to augment gamers’ experiences while on the go.
The new Xbox 360 Dashboard allows gamers to save game content to the cloud and share it across consoles. This means that someone playing Halo at a friend’s living room can simply save his game progress and score to Xbox Live and resume playing the game at home exactly where he or she left off. Microsoft’s new Companion app for Android allow gamers to be notified when their friends are online and what games they are playing. Mobile gamers can also message their friends to let them know when they will be able to join in. My Xbox Live is the name of the corresponding app for the iPhone and the iPad.
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