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Isn't the problem with browser gaming the size of game assets? Any sizable game with sound and high-res textures could easily span multiple gigabytes (AAA games

Isn't the problem with browser gaming the size of game assets? Any sizable game with sound and high-res textures could easily span multiple gigabytes (AAA games now approach 100 GB in size). The browser would have to enable persistent store at that scale to make that kind of gaming feasible. The alternative is server-rendering+streaming, but this doesn't need WebAssembly.

krapp 8y ago
One problem is the paradigm of the browser and the expectations behind it. Websites are intended to load in a second, or at worse, a few seconds, so waiting any longer for an entire application would be excruciating. But no one minds downloading a multi-megabyte or gigabyte game over Steam or console, because users are trained to expect that to take a while. So what's needed, in my mind, is something with a user experience between the two - for games and applications to run in something more akin to a "package manager" mode than a basic browser window. Or maybe, on the web, have some alternative content to distract the user while the content downloads. The size of the entire download could possibly be reduced by having browsers ship with some standard plugins and modules, maybe runtimes (imagine having most of the Unity framework already in the browser.)
- plushpuffin 8y ago
  This is the 90s all over again! Something very like this once existed for Java games. It was called Castanet. IIRC, the website ClassicGames.com (later acquired by Yahoo) used this before broadband really took off. http://mindprod.com/jgloss/castanet.html http://mindprod.com/jgloss/castanet.html
- ori_b 8y ago
  > So what's needed, in my mind, is something with a user experience between the two - for games and applications to run in something more akin to a "package manager" mode than a basic browser window. Maybe, just maybe, they could not run in a browser window.
  - krapp 8y ago
    I could easily imagine a dedicated tab for "applications" that served as a download manager (something like the old Downthemall plugin) that would launch a game from the browser, but not in the browser. You could keep all the benefits of URLs and the web, but not have to actually tie the browser down with executing in a webpage.
- viraptor 8y ago
  The application could be split into pieces. Most game content is not going to be needed for many hours from you starting the game, so why wait for it to be downloaded? You likely can download >100mb while you show the credit screens in an AAA game. Steam actually offers the option to start playing before the download is complete on a few titles (not everything supports it)
- omnimus 8y ago
  There are AAA games that somehow allow you to play before downloading is finished. Notably battlefield i was allowed to play single missions and tutorial why the game was being downloaded in the background.

krapp 8y ago

One problem is the paradigm of the browser and the expectations behind it. Websites are intended to load in a second, or at worse, a few seconds, so waiting any longer for an entire application would be excruciating. But no one minds downloading a multi-megabyte or gigabyte game over Steam or console, because users are trained to expect that to take a while. So what's needed, in my mind, is something with a user experience between the two - for games and applications to run in something more akin to a "package manager" mode than a basic browser window. Or maybe, on the web, have some alternative content to distract the user while the content downloads. The size of the entire download could possibly be reduced by having browsers ship with some standard plugins and modules, maybe runtimes (imagine having most of the Unity framework already in the browser.)

plushpuffin 8y ago
This is the 90s all over again! Something very like this once existed for Java games. It was called Castanet. IIRC, the website ClassicGames.com (later acquired by Yahoo) used this before broadband really took off. http://mindprod.com/jgloss/castanet.html http://mindprod.com/jgloss/castanet.html
ori_b 8y ago
> So what's needed, in my mind, is something with a user experience between the two - for games and applications to run in something more akin to a "package manager" mode than a basic browser window. Maybe, just maybe, they could not run in a browser window.
- krapp 8y ago
  I could easily imagine a dedicated tab for "applications" that served as a download manager (something like the old Downthemall plugin) that would launch a game from the browser, but not in the browser. You could keep all the benefits of URLs and the web, but not have to actually tie the browser down with executing in a webpage.
viraptor 8y ago
The application could be split into pieces. Most game content is not going to be needed for many hours from you starting the game, so why wait for it to be downloaded? You likely can download >100mb while you show the credit screens in an AAA game. Steam actually offers the option to start playing before the download is complete on a few titles (not everything supports it)
omnimus 8y ago
There are AAA games that somehow allow you to play before downloading is finished. Notably battlefield i was allowed to play single missions and tutorial why the game was being downloaded in the background.