7 ms·

Google shows the Future of Browser Games

66 points by dirtyaura 16y ago

extension 16y ago
They are not going to sell any browser games if they don't work on phones, tablets, or TVs. And they wont, if they depend on Flash and NaCl.
- rsaarelm 16y ago
  Why wouldn't NaCl work on phones and tablets? The NaCl people seem be developing an ARM version.
  - extension 16y ago
    It works in theory. In practice, compiling your web app for multiple CPU targets is likely to be yet another complexity for the app developer and a drag on the platform as it tries to keep up with native apps. I don't see how they are going to get it on any other gadget platform besides Android, in which case there is no real advantage for the developer over a native Android app.
    - corysama 16y ago
      Having both an Android version and a web version of the same app native-compiled using 90% shared code is a pretty nice advantage.
- extension 16y ago
  I don't understand the downvoting on this, but I'll elaborate. Computer gaming was already a high-end, enthusiast market before the whole phone/tablet thing started. Going forward, it's only going to become more of a niche as the desktop computer becomes strictly a work machine. Casual entertainment is now delivered through convenient gadgets that work where you are comfortable, instead of chaining you to a desk. Anybody who has some of these gadgets knows that this is the way it must be, and soon that will be everybody. The technology stack Google is talking about here is nowhere close to being viable for games on gadgets. And the gadgets already have fully realized commercial gaming platforms anyway, that are always going to be way ahead of the web stack. There is just no reason to make games for the Chrome App Store. Productivity apps are a whole other matter. But games, no.
  - patrickaljord 16y ago
    > Computer gaming was already a high-end, enthusiast market before the whole phone/tablet thing started. I'm not sure what you mean by "computer gaming" but if you mean graphic intensive games, I don't think that's what Google is aiming at (at least, not as a priority). Google is aiming at social addictive games that millions of normal people (not hardcore gamers) play, such as farmville and co. Google has already bought/invested in 5 social gaming companies and those are doing great on the "computer gaming" market.
dirtyaura 16y ago
We are in an interesting junction point for browser games: will the future be HTML5 based games or will all browsers start to offer sandbox that will run native games like Chrome does. Basically, will current AAA game industry shift to use HTML5 or will browser makers be eager enough to get AAA titles to their platform that they will offer native clients in browsers.
- Raphael_Amiard 16y ago
  I think we will see flash games continue to spread, because it's a very good platform for games. I think we will see a lot more of HTML5 games. Time is needed so JavaScript engines still enhance a bit, as well as browser's rendering engines. Everything else will be palliated by libraries providing a good game development environment for games in JavaScript. For the moment flash has an enormous edge, but i don't see anything preventing canvas+JavaScript to become a very good platform for gaming in the next 3 or 4 years. Whether it will be used or not is another question. On the other hand i don't see Native Client having a big success. I could very well be wrong about that, and it's really just a feeling, since with proper ecosystem and integration, it could become a lot better than flash for web game development.
  - xiaoma 16y ago
    Fortunately for those of us coding in flash (i.e. ActionScript 3), a move to JavaScript would be pretty painless.
- amalcon 16y ago
  I'm pretty sure the current AAA game industry isn't going to move into the browser. Not everything needs to happen inside the browser. If the browser really does take over the whole computer, like many are predicting, the game industry will probably abandon the general-purpose computer entirely and stick to the (more profitable) consoles.
pavs 16y ago
Its interesting to see that when talking about Sunspider benchmark, he specifically pointed out that IE9 preview performs a lot better than IE8 that was shown on the benchmark and even complemented the IE team for doing a good job. On the other hand IE team spreads FUD about Chrome: http://geektechnica.com/2010/04/microsoft-continues-its-tradition-of-misinformation-with-ie8/ http://geektechnica.com/2010/04/microsoft-continues-its-trad... Things like this is why its easy to dislike MSFT and trust Google (despite privacy concerns). I have said this before and I will say it again, IE can be the fastest, most standard compliant and most secure browser out there and I would still not use it.
nadam 16y ago
A little rant: "USD only for App developers, WWW for buyers" I translate it to myself: "west: place with creative smart people. rest: dumb idiot consumers" This is what always happen with 'gaming marketplaces', and 'mobile marketplaces'. This is the case with XNA, X-Box Live, android market etc... As someone from Hungary (Eastern Europe) I was naive enough to get excited about some of these in the past. I no longer do that. My first task is to check for this 'west-rest' rule. If I smell this I avoid the stuff like plague. Maybe a good startup idea for someone who is reading this: create non-protectionist gaming marketplaces? I think there would be huge demand for that.
- yanw 16y ago
  It's more likely due to Checkout's limitations.
  - dagw 16y ago
    It's more likely that Checkout's limitations are due to Google's disinterest in the non-US world. This is just another consequence of that.
- Raphael_Amiard 16y ago
  Just came to reiterate and agree with you. As developer friendly Google generally is, i find this kind of attitude very annoying. The fact that the android marketplace is closed to lots of countries even two years (!!) after launch certainly tames any optimistic posture one might take regarding Google's attitude towards rest of the world developers.
  - ido 16y ago
    How possible/easy it is for someone in the EU to register a company in the US (with a US bank account) without being a US resident? EDIT: A cursory search on google indicates it's possible, but it seems like a field rife with scams. Any advice from someone who has done it before would be highly appreciated.
- jasonkester 16y ago
neeleshs 16y ago
Very very interesting to see C++ being thrown in to the mix.
- Groxx 16y ago
  a la Native Client (NaCl). Honestly, I see NaCl as the only actual reason why things will move to being almost totally web-based, and a damn good one at that. It's the ultimate merger of both worlds, and you can (and they do / will) sandbox every application (something I've wanted since I started looking into computers at all). Easy installing + easy purchasing + easy updates + performance = win.
paul9290 16y ago
I dont understand fully the point of this web store from a consumer stand point. If i can go play the same game at www.x.com what is the advantage of buying the same game in the Chrome store?
- cryptoz 16y ago
  I assume that this web store will launch simultaneously with Google's Chrome OS, where it will make lots of sense for you to use their store to browse for games, apps, themes, and everything else. It also seems that we're moving to a place where people are happy to pay $0.50 for a game if they know that paying means the developer will make more. Better to use the official app store on your new Google computer and pay small amounts for the apps you like than the old way of not being able to find a Flash game hidden among a page of Flash ads.
- elblanco 16y ago
  It's just a sales channel, like steam.
- muhfuhkuh 16y ago
  Centralized so you don't have to go to multiple places to get your gaming fix (if you like a lot of games rather than just a couple), gamesaves and badges/achievements are centrally located and saved in the cloud for gaming anywhere and on any platform, no downloads, consistent UI, more games to browse = better discovery of new games. I'm guessing this service will also have a both a friend list (connected via facebook, twitter or whatever) and/or a lounge or lobby where gamers can make/meet friends and start-up a group game, or just chat in general. Can't really get a critical mass of these at individual game sites.
Groxx 16y ago
Looks nigh-identical to a talk they gave, what? A few months / a year ago? I think NaCl is the single biggest part of all this. As I said in another comment here: I see NaCl as the only actual reason why things will move to being almost totally web-based, and a damn good one at that. It's the ultimate merger of both worlds, and you can (and they do / will) sandbox every application (something I've wanted since I started looking into computers at all). Easy installing + easy purchasing + easy updates + performance = win.
- andreyf 16y ago
  Looks nigh-identical to a talk they gave, what? A few months / a year ago? Yup, Google does this a lot.

66 points by dirtyaura 16y ago

They are not going to sell any browser games if they don't work on phones, tablets, or TVs. And they wont, if they depend on Flash and NaCl.

rsaarelm 16y ago
Why wouldn't NaCl work on phones and tablets? The NaCl people seem be developing an ARM version.
- extension 16y ago
  It works in theory. In practice, compiling your web app for multiple CPU targets is likely to be yet another complexity for the app developer and a drag on the platform as it tries to keep up with native apps. I don't see how they are going to get it on any other gadget platform besides Android, in which case there is no real advantage for the developer over a native Android app.
  - corysama 16y ago
    Having both an Android version and a web version of the same app native-compiled using 90% shared code is a pretty nice advantage.
extension 16y ago
I don't understand the downvoting on this, but I'll elaborate. Computer gaming was already a high-end, enthusiast market before the whole phone/tablet thing started. Going forward, it's only going to become more of a niche as the desktop computer becomes strictly a work machine. Casual entertainment is now delivered through convenient gadgets that work where you are comfortable, instead of chaining you to a desk. Anybody who has some of these gadgets knows that this is the way it must be, and soon that will be everybody. The technology stack Google is talking about here is nowhere close to being viable for games on gadgets. And the gadgets already have fully realized commercial gaming platforms anyway, that are always going to be way ahead of the web stack. There is just no reason to make games for the Chrome App Store. Productivity apps are a whole other matter. But games, no.
- patrickaljord 16y ago
  > Computer gaming was already a high-end, enthusiast market before the whole phone/tablet thing started. I'm not sure what you mean by "computer gaming" but if you mean graphic intensive games, I don't think that's what Google is aiming at (at least, not as a priority). Google is aiming at social addictive games that millions of normal people (not hardcore gamers) play, such as farmville and co. Google has already bought/invested in 5 social gaming companies and those are doing great on the "computer gaming" market.

dirtyaura 16y ago

We are in an interesting junction point for browser games: will the future be HTML5 based games or will all browsers start to offer sandbox that will run native games like Chrome does. Basically, will current AAA game industry shift to use HTML5 or will browser makers be eager enough to get AAA titles to their platform that they will offer native clients in browsers.

Raphael_Amiard 16y ago
I think we will see flash games continue to spread, because it's a very good platform for games. I think we will see a lot more of HTML5 games. Time is needed so JavaScript engines still enhance a bit, as well as browser's rendering engines. Everything else will be palliated by libraries providing a good game development environment for games in JavaScript. For the moment flash has an enormous edge, but i don't see anything preventing canvas+JavaScript to become a very good platform for gaming in the next 3 or 4 years. Whether it will be used or not is another question. On the other hand i don't see Native Client having a big success. I could very well be wrong about that, and it's really just a feeling, since with proper ecosystem and integration, it could become a lot better than flash for web game development.
- xiaoma 16y ago
  Fortunately for those of us coding in flash (i.e. ActionScript 3), a move to JavaScript would be pretty painless.
amalcon 16y ago
I'm pretty sure the current AAA game industry isn't going to move into the browser. Not everything needs to happen inside the browser. If the browser really does take over the whole computer, like many are predicting, the game industry will probably abandon the general-purpose computer entirely and stick to the (more profitable) consoles.

pavs 16y ago

Its interesting to see that when talking about Sunspider benchmark, he specifically pointed out that IE9 preview performs a lot better than IE8 that was shown on the benchmark and even complemented the IE team for doing a good job. On the other hand IE team spreads FUD about Chrome: http://geektechnica.com/2010/04/microsoft-continues-its-tradition-of-misinformation-with-ie8/ http://geektechnica.com/2010/04/microsoft-continues-its-trad... Things like this is why its easy to dislike MSFT and trust Google (despite privacy concerns). I have said this before and I will say it again, IE can be the fastest, most standard compliant and most secure browser out there and I would still not use it.

nadam 16y ago

A little rant: "USD only for App developers, WWW for buyers" I translate it to myself: "west: place with creative smart people. rest: dumb idiot consumers" This is what always happen with 'gaming marketplaces', and 'mobile marketplaces'. This is the case with XNA, X-Box Live, android market etc... As someone from Hungary (Eastern Europe) I was naive enough to get excited about some of these in the past. I no longer do that. My first task is to check for this 'west-rest' rule. If I smell this I avoid the stuff like plague. Maybe a good startup idea for someone who is reading this: create non-protectionist gaming marketplaces? I think there would be huge demand for that.

yanw 16y ago
It's more likely due to Checkout's limitations.
- dagw 16y ago
  It's more likely that Checkout's limitations are due to Google's disinterest in the non-US world. This is just another consequence of that.
Raphael_Amiard 16y ago
Just came to reiterate and agree with you. As developer friendly Google generally is, i find this kind of attitude very annoying. The fact that the android marketplace is closed to lots of countries even two years (!!) after launch certainly tames any optimistic posture one might take regarding Google's attitude towards rest of the world developers.
- ido 16y ago
  How possible/easy it is for someone in the EU to register a company in the US (with a US bank account) without being a US resident? EDIT: A cursory search on google indicates it's possible, but it seems like a field rife with scams. Any advice from someone who has done it before would be highly appreciated.
jasonkester 16y ago

neeleshs 16y ago

Very very interesting to see C++ being thrown in to the mix.

Groxx 16y ago
a la Native Client (NaCl). Honestly, I see NaCl as the only actual reason why things will move to being almost totally web-based, and a damn good one at that. It's the ultimate merger of both worlds, and you can (and they do / will) sandbox every application (something I've wanted since I started looking into computers at all). Easy installing + easy purchasing + easy updates + performance = win.

paul9290 16y ago

I dont understand fully the point of this web store from a consumer stand point. If i can go play the same game at www.x.com what is the advantage of buying the same game in the Chrome store?

cryptoz 16y ago
I assume that this web store will launch simultaneously with Google's Chrome OS, where it will make lots of sense for you to use their store to browse for games, apps, themes, and everything else. It also seems that we're moving to a place where people are happy to pay $0.50 for a game if they know that paying means the developer will make more. Better to use the official app store on your new Google computer and pay small amounts for the apps you like than the old way of not being able to find a Flash game hidden among a page of Flash ads.
elblanco 16y ago
It's just a sales channel, like steam.
muhfuhkuh 16y ago
Centralized so you don't have to go to multiple places to get your gaming fix (if you like a lot of games rather than just a couple), gamesaves and badges/achievements are centrally located and saved in the cloud for gaming anywhere and on any platform, no downloads, consistent UI, more games to browse = better discovery of new games. I'm guessing this service will also have a both a friend list (connected via facebook, twitter or whatever) and/or a lounge or lobby where gamers can make/meet friends and start-up a group game, or just chat in general. Can't really get a critical mass of these at individual game sites.

Groxx 16y ago

Looks nigh-identical to a talk they gave, what? A few months / a year ago? I think NaCl is the single biggest part of all this. As I said in another comment here: I see NaCl as the only actual reason why things will move to being almost totally web-based, and a damn good one at that. It's the ultimate merger of both worlds, and you can (and they do / will) sandbox every application (something I've wanted since I started looking into computers at all). Easy installing + easy purchasing + easy updates + performance = win.

andreyf 16y ago
Looks nigh-identical to a talk they gave, what? A few months / a year ago? Yup, Google does this a lot.