4 ms·

If Stadia and xCloud really do solve the latency issues inherent in client/server computing - and show that it's economical - one could almost imagine Microsoft

If Stadia and xCloud really do solve the latency issues inherent in client/server computing - and show that it's economical - one could almost imagine Microsoft launching a consumer version of this with a "terminal" that was little more than a screen, keyboard and network connection... Like Sun Microsystems reborn. The whole concept would, of course, enrage certain sections of the populace including most of HN's readership, but I can see it happening.

iscrewyou 7y ago
You know, I’d pay for that service. For example like $4.99/month if they give me say 200 hours per month. (I haven’t done the math or the research if that is economically sane). Some idea.
thrower123 7y ago
How do you beat the speed of light? That's ultimately what we're up against here. High-frequency traders lay down special fiber lines between the exchanges to get the absolute fastest possible ping times, at enormous expense[1]. That gets a 13 ms ping time from NYC to Chicago. My experience with a Steam Link, hardwired on a local ethernet makes me skeptical that any of these cloud gaming platforms will really be practical. [1] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10736960/High-frequency-trading-when-milliseconds-mean-millions.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfin...
- nerdbaggy 7y ago
  A lot of traders are actually switching to wireless links since RF travels faster than light in a fiber. But some fun stuff happens then https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-03/this-heat-wave-s-so-bad-it-s-even-slowing-down-u-s-stock-trades https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-03/this-heat...
  - teddyc 7y ago
    It travels faster because it travels "as the crow flies" instead of snaking through all the conduit for a fiber connection.
- sidibe 7y ago
  13 ms is not noticeable and almost everyone is much closer to Google or Microsoft machines than NYC is to Chicago. The bigger but more tractable issue are the steps between your machine and your ISP.
- jjeaff 7y ago
  Even pretty hard core gamers seem to think that 40ms or less is good for gaming. So that leaves some leeway to work with I guess.
- mikepurvis 7y ago
  If nothing else, those dedicated services are going to have specialized video encoding that is very, very fast, and possibly even integrated into the game render pipeline. Maybe Steam Link is better on a really beefy PC, but I tried the remote play built into my PS4, and it was pretty bad, even over wired LAN. I have to imagine at that point that at least some of the latency is the cost of encoding the video.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- Godel_unicode 7y ago
  Stadia isn't for shooters or esports though, it's for Age of Empires and Civ.
- Havoc 7y ago
  Tried steam link on local eth too with same conclusion, but later realised that was probably cause I had x264 not 265 which apparently makes a massive diff

iscrewyou 7y ago

You know, I’d pay for that service. For example like $4.99/month if they give me say 200 hours per month. (I haven’t done the math or the research if that is economically sane). Some idea.

thrower123 7y ago

How do you beat the speed of light? That's ultimately what we're up against here. High-frequency traders lay down special fiber lines between the exchanges to get the absolute fastest possible ping times, at enormous expense[1]. That gets a 13 ms ping time from NYC to Chicago. My experience with a Steam Link, hardwired on a local ethernet makes me skeptical that any of these cloud gaming platforms will really be practical. [1] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10736960/High-frequency-trading-when-milliseconds-mean-millions.html https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfin...

nerdbaggy 7y ago
A lot of traders are actually switching to wireless links since RF travels faster than light in a fiber. But some fun stuff happens then https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-03/this-heat-wave-s-so-bad-it-s-even-slowing-down-u-s-stock-trades https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-07-03/this-heat...
- teddyc 7y ago
  It travels faster because it travels "as the crow flies" instead of snaking through all the conduit for a fiber connection.
sidibe 7y ago
13 ms is not noticeable and almost everyone is much closer to Google or Microsoft machines than NYC is to Chicago. The bigger but more tractable issue are the steps between your machine and your ISP.
jjeaff 7y ago
Even pretty hard core gamers seem to think that 40ms or less is good for gaming. So that leaves some leeway to work with I guess.
mikepurvis 7y ago
If nothing else, those dedicated services are going to have specialized video encoding that is very, very fast, and possibly even integrated into the game render pipeline. Maybe Steam Link is better on a really beefy PC, but I tried the remote play built into my PS4, and it was pretty bad, even over wired LAN. I have to imagine at that point that at least some of the latency is the cost of encoding the video.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
Godel_unicode 7y ago
Stadia isn't for shooters or esports though, it's for Age of Empires and Civ.
Havoc 7y ago
Tried steam link on local eth too with same conclusion, but later realised that was probably cause I had x264 not 265 which apparently makes a massive diff