1
00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,840
Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

2
00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:08,920
Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With

3
00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:17,880
Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello again, everyone,

4
00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:20,119
Speaker 1: Welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poulette and

5
00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:22,079
Speaker 1: I am an editor at how stuff works dot com.

6
00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:24,759
Speaker 1: Sitting in a crust from me as always the senior writer,

7
00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,440
Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. Now, the way this story ends is that

8
00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:30,760
Speaker 1: they get married and he goes on to become governor

9
00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,199
Speaker 1: of the state. Never he gets to Australia, but it

10
00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:35,479
Speaker 1: keeps reading a lot of books about it. I get

11
00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:37,440
Speaker 1: to be sure of this town, and then I go

12
00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:39,839
Speaker 1: on to become one of the most beloved characters in

13
00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:46,279
Speaker 1: Western folklore. All right, yeah, yeah, yeah. Today we are

14
00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,559
Speaker 1: going to have a podcast discussion about a topic that

15
00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:53,760
Speaker 1: comes to us courtesy of a little Facebook feedback you

16
00:00:55,200 --> 00:00:57,240
Speaker 1: And this is from Jackson who says, wondering if you

17
00:00:57,280 --> 00:00:59,840
Speaker 1: guys could do a podcast about the on Live game system.

18
00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:02,560
Speaker 1: Does it work? What kind of games are on it?

19
00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:05,560
Speaker 1: Is it a serious contender and the console market? Thanks?

20
00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:09,600
Speaker 1: I love your podcast, Thanks Jackson, appreciate that. Um. Yeah,

21
00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:11,520
Speaker 1: we've talked about on Live a couple of times before.

22
00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,119
Speaker 1: But a lot of the discussion we had came before

23
00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:18,840
Speaker 1: the the service actually launched. Yes, you s had at ces,

24
00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:24,560
Speaker 1: did you not? Three three? Yeah? I heard about It

25
00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:26,240
Speaker 1: was E three where I actually got my hands on

26
00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:29,680
Speaker 1: it and I enjoyed the experience. Then, yeah, it was

27
00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,920
Speaker 1: kind of neat. The concept is that it's it's Internet

28
00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:38,000
Speaker 1: streamed video games, and not the kind of video games

29
00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:39,880
Speaker 1: that you usually find on the web, like you know,

30
00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:43,440
Speaker 1: Bejeweled or Farmville or any of those sort of things.

31
00:01:43,440 --> 00:01:45,560
Speaker 1: We're talking about the kind of video games that you see,

32
00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,760
Speaker 1: like like the hardcore games on PC, Mac and and

33
00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,320
Speaker 1: your your video game console systems. Yes, like Slice of

34
00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:57,760
Speaker 1: Death three Assassin's Creed would be a good one, which

35
00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:00,440
Speaker 1: you know, shouldn't might as well be called Slice of

36
00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,440
Speaker 1: Death three. I just wanted to say a Slice of Death.

37
00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,040
Speaker 1: Slice of Death anyways, that's just making me think of

38
00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:13,200
Speaker 1: a cake or death. I'll take cake alright. So um,

39
00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:16,280
Speaker 1: but but yeah, this is this is a really different

40
00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:20,800
Speaker 1: model for gaming because, um, for the longest time, we've

41
00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:26,280
Speaker 1: been buying games for consoles or computers in which you know,

42
00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,320
Speaker 1: you go out, you buy your cartridge or your disk

43
00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:33,960
Speaker 1: or disks. In some cases um, and you pop it

44
00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:38,480
Speaker 1: into the machine. Um. In. In some of the older games,

45
00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:40,520
Speaker 1: you would buy the magazine on the news stand, type

46
00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,480
Speaker 1: the code into your machine, have it compile and you

47
00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:45,080
Speaker 1: could run the game. But yeah, I mean you were

48
00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:49,160
Speaker 1: actually buying something and taking it home and plugging it in. Now,

49
00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:51,520
Speaker 1: of course, we have online gaming, We've had it for

50
00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:54,440
Speaker 1: quite some time now, where you buy the game, you

51
00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:56,960
Speaker 1: plug it into your machine, you connect to the internet,

52
00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:58,840
Speaker 1: and you play with other people online. But this is

53
00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:01,280
Speaker 1: a completely different model. It's not even the same as

54
00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,520
Speaker 1: buying a game from say Steam and downloading a team machine.

55
00:03:05,639 --> 00:03:08,880
Speaker 1: In this case, the game itself is in the cloud.

56
00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,320
Speaker 1: It's in the internet where you are not. You don't

57
00:03:12,560 --> 00:03:17,600
Speaker 1: need to uh put the software on your machine at all. Um.

58
00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,200
Speaker 1: In fact, you can run these games on PCs and

59
00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:25,120
Speaker 1: max and also on a little on Live console right

60
00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:27,200
Speaker 1: and then and then the console doesn't require you to

61
00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:29,560
Speaker 1: go out and buy anything either. You This is all

62
00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:31,640
Speaker 1: done online. Yeah. Once you get the console, you just

63
00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:34,720
Speaker 1: hook it up to your router and then you can

64
00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:36,400
Speaker 1: play games. You know, you you hook it up to

65
00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:37,840
Speaker 1: your router, you hook it up to your TV, and

66
00:03:37,840 --> 00:03:41,200
Speaker 1: then you can play these great PC games mostly PC

67
00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:45,120
Speaker 1: games on your television, and uh, it's it's really kind

68
00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:47,880
Speaker 1: of an interesting concept. And here's here's the big draw

69
00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,880
Speaker 1: with this concept. The big draw is that the barrier

70
00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:56,360
Speaker 1: to PC gaming in general is that you have to

71
00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,560
Speaker 1: keep upgrading your machine in order to stay current with

72
00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:02,880
Speaker 1: the latest games. Well, we've talked about More's laws so

73
00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:08,200
Speaker 1: many times, where the processor speeds continually get faster, and

74
00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:14,160
Speaker 1: in fact they are essentially doubling every months depending on

75
00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,720
Speaker 1: upon whom you ask, and uh, game development cycles run

76
00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,440
Speaker 1: about actually about that long to years, two to five years.

77
00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:25,360
Speaker 1: So people are developing games and they want to in

78
00:04:25,440 --> 00:04:30,200
Speaker 1: order to sell the living daylights out of a game. Um,

79
00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,039
Speaker 1: they want to take advantage of the latest hardware. They

80
00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:37,160
Speaker 1: must on the bleeding edge. Like the idea for most games,

81
00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:40,560
Speaker 1: like we're talking the hardcore games again, is that if

82
00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:43,440
Speaker 1: you turn all the graphics settings all the way up,

83
00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,320
Speaker 1: you are going to need the fastest machine that's on

84
00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:48,400
Speaker 1: the market in order to run it when it when

85
00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:51,720
Speaker 1: the game launches, right, So you can still play the game,

86
00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:53,640
Speaker 1: but you don't have to play it at you know,

87
00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:56,240
Speaker 1: you have to dial down the graphics. Most of them

88
00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:58,960
Speaker 1: have settings where you can say all right, Well, my

89
00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,120
Speaker 1: processors not as fast as the one that they recommend,

90
00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,200
Speaker 1: so I will turn it down now. This this also

91
00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:08,160
Speaker 1: extends the shelf life of those video games, right, because

92
00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:09,800
Speaker 1: it means that you know, three months from now you

93
00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:12,760
Speaker 1: might get the computer that can really run it at

94
00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,080
Speaker 1: its at its peak. Yeah. And in my personal experience,

95
00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:20,159
Speaker 1: there is this uh lovely honeymoon right after you buy

96
00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:23,799
Speaker 1: the computer where when you pick up the game box

97
00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:25,920
Speaker 1: in your hand, you look at the system requirements. The

98
00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:28,640
Speaker 1: machine that you just bought beats all those system requirements,

99
00:05:28,640 --> 00:05:30,000
Speaker 1: and you take it home and you have this great

100
00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:33,240
Speaker 1: experience where you get to run everything flat out. And

101
00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:36,040
Speaker 1: then like a year, year and a half, two years later,

102
00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:38,680
Speaker 1: you look at the box like, well, you know, I've

103
00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:41,440
Speaker 1: got the bare bones system requirements. I should be okay,

104
00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:44,200
Speaker 1: and you are okay, but you can't take advantage of it.

105
00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:46,760
Speaker 1: And then you get another year two years later you

106
00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:48,840
Speaker 1: started looking at it like how much do I have

107
00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:51,760
Speaker 1: to turn off in order to play this game? Well, see,

108
00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:55,160
Speaker 1: I think you're being really ambitious with the year to

109
00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,040
Speaker 1: a year and a half thing. For me, it felt

110
00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,760
Speaker 1: more like three weeks later I suddenly employ the latest games. Well,

111
00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,280
Speaker 1: here you know, uh, those of our listeners who are

112
00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:07,360
Speaker 1: long term listeners know that I am primarily a Mac

113
00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:10,240
Speaker 1: person at home, although I have Windows and Linux available

114
00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:13,760
Speaker 1: to me as well. Um, Mac, Mac games and PC

115
00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:15,640
Speaker 1: games are a little bit different because Mac games have

116
00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,919
Speaker 1: a lot longer shelf life. Now PC games the the

117
00:06:19,480 --> 00:06:22,440
Speaker 1: If you're a PC gamer, you know that you expect

118
00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,240
Speaker 1: to see a game full price for I don't know,

119
00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:27,880
Speaker 1: probably six to eight months really, I would say, and

120
00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,280
Speaker 1: then before you know it, it's in the bargain bin

121
00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,960
Speaker 1: for ten bucks. Yeah. I mean it makes sense when

122
00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:36,280
Speaker 1: you think about the way the development cycles work, right

123
00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:41,200
Speaker 1: because because Mac computers get updated on a very deliberate pace.

124
00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:46,560
Speaker 1: Yeah they really, it's dictated by Apple. So when you're

125
00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,000
Speaker 1: a developer for a video game, you know that, uh,

126
00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:51,840
Speaker 1: at least you have a pretty good idea that you're

127
00:06:51,960 --> 00:06:55,080
Speaker 1: that the hardware is going to remain consistent on Mac

128
00:06:55,120 --> 00:06:57,840
Speaker 1: for a given amount of time. Usually it's a couple

129
00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:00,320
Speaker 1: of years, and really it's probably about two years between

130
00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:04,280
Speaker 1: major updates. So that means that for two years your

131
00:07:04,320 --> 00:07:08,160
Speaker 1: game is gonna run like new on all machines sold

132
00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:13,120
Speaker 1: after a certain date. PCs are like absolute chaos in

133
00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,880
Speaker 1: comparison because you have multiple manufacturers, you have multiple UM

134
00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:23,360
Speaker 1: chip manufacturers, so you've got you know, different processors out there. Uh,

135
00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:25,560
Speaker 1: what is going to be the fastest MAC is gonna

136
00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:27,480
Speaker 1: be the fastest MACK for two years. What's gonna be

137
00:07:27,520 --> 00:07:30,000
Speaker 1: the fastest PC is gonna be the fastest PC for

138
00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:34,400
Speaker 1: maybe a month. You know. So with that kind of

139
00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,360
Speaker 1: of rush, then you've got the rush to keep up

140
00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,480
Speaker 1: in order to play games. We kind of really cut

141
00:07:40,480 --> 00:07:43,440
Speaker 1: off track here, but on Live, well that the thing

142
00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:46,000
Speaker 1: gets around that. Well, yeah, that's the that's the whole thing.

143
00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:47,680
Speaker 1: You don't have to be with on Live. You don't

144
00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:50,320
Speaker 1: have to be caught up in worrying about whether or

145
00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,960
Speaker 1: not you have this hardware installed in your machine. You

146
00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,480
Speaker 1: don't have to worry about the cost of the game

147
00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,320
Speaker 1: on the shelf. Um, what you really need to do

148
00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:04,480
Speaker 1: is worry about the cost of the monthly subscription. Yeah,

149
00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,640
Speaker 1: well two things, the monthly subscription in your monthly internet bill.

150
00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:13,520
Speaker 1: That's true because one of the big things about this alright,

151
00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,200
Speaker 1: so so online they're worrying about the equipment costs. They're

152
00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:19,320
Speaker 1: worrying about making sure that their machines are going to

153
00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:22,160
Speaker 1: run the latest games at the at the best possible

154
00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:25,640
Speaker 1: UM levels. And then what they do is they're going

155
00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:29,240
Speaker 1: to compress the video that is generated and then shoot

156
00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:33,440
Speaker 1: it to you, the customer. Yeah, that's the trick. That's

157
00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:36,920
Speaker 1: how they do it. They they are compressing the video

158
00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,600
Speaker 1: output of these games to improve the compatibility with multiple

159
00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:43,680
Speaker 1: systems and to and cut down on latency issues. Yeah.

160
00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:47,120
Speaker 1: So your your Mac or PC or that little console

161
00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:51,120
Speaker 1: that we talked about, they have within them a decoder

162
00:08:51,280 --> 00:08:55,040
Speaker 1: that will decompress the video as it comes in. Is

163
00:08:55,080 --> 00:09:01,040
Speaker 1: it far Go North decode or um the Uh no, no,

164
00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:04,760
Speaker 1: not that kind of decoder. I'm not that Southern anyway.

165
00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:10,000
Speaker 1: The the the device or the software will decompress this

166
00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,520
Speaker 1: video stream so that you can view it theoretically in

167
00:09:13,559 --> 00:09:17,439
Speaker 1: its full glory. And it's based in the framework of

168
00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:20,920
Speaker 1: the interface. Right. So in the case of the PC

169
00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:23,600
Speaker 1: and MAX software, you've got this interface that you use

170
00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,839
Speaker 1: to access all these games, and the interface in theory

171
00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:31,920
Speaker 1: will display the game at its highest possible resolution without

172
00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,640
Speaker 1: taxing your computer because the real work is being done

173
00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:39,040
Speaker 1: in the cloud. Um, that's not always how it works out,

174
00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:42,720
Speaker 1: because a lot of it depends upon your internet speed,

175
00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,320
Speaker 1: your broadband speed, as well as how far away you

176
00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:49,000
Speaker 1: are from the server center that the online server center.

177
00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:55,600
Speaker 1: The further away you are in general, the poorer your uh,

178
00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:59,880
Speaker 1: your experience could be. Now poor is a given, you know,

179
00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:04,400
Speaker 1: that's subjective, right For one person may say if if

180
00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:07,679
Speaker 1: there's even a flicker, like even a hint of an artifact,

181
00:10:08,120 --> 00:10:11,000
Speaker 1: then that the situation is terrible and dire and you

182
00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:12,600
Speaker 1: should never do it and you should just get it.

183
00:10:12,600 --> 00:10:14,520
Speaker 1: You should just spend all the money for a gaming

184
00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:18,000
Speaker 1: PC or a console and stick with that. Other people

185
00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:21,600
Speaker 1: would say, you know what, I'm playing for the experience,

186
00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:24,800
Speaker 1: and an artifactor to every now and then because of

187
00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:28,040
Speaker 1: internet speeds or whatever isn't gonna bother me, and they

188
00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:30,800
Speaker 1: wouldn't call it poor at all. So your your mileage

189
00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,560
Speaker 1: may vary, is what I'm getting around to here right now. UM,

190
00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:37,320
Speaker 1: when you were talking about artifact basically, UM, if you've

191
00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:41,439
Speaker 1: watched digital video, UM, I find it true for DVRs

192
00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:46,480
Speaker 1: especially UH and something is moving very quickly on screen

193
00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,440
Speaker 1: for example. I'm just saying this as an example, UM,

194
00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:53,599
Speaker 1: but you might see blocky things look blocky or pixelated.

195
00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:56,720
Speaker 1: That's essentially what we're talking about. We're talking about artifacts right,

196
00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:58,960
Speaker 1: that the you would have problems with the images. They

197
00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,760
Speaker 1: wouldn't look smooth and crisp. It would look uh, there

198
00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:04,920
Speaker 1: might be some lag time on on the screen. And

199
00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,880
Speaker 1: by latency too, I realized I hadn't explained what that means. Um.

200
00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:11,040
Speaker 1: That has to do with your connection, whether or not

201
00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:14,839
Speaker 1: you're making a a fast connection with the servers, if

202
00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:19,240
Speaker 1: the packets of data are being held up on one

203
00:11:19,360 --> 00:11:21,600
Speaker 1: or more of the servers along the route between you

204
00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:24,480
Speaker 1: and the game center. That's what we're talking about latency.

205
00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:29,080
Speaker 1: So um by by compressing the video in the games, basically,

206
00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:33,320
Speaker 1: they're hoping that there will be fewer problems seeing the video.

207
00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:35,760
Speaker 1: The video will look smooth and you won't have a

208
00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:39,320
Speaker 1: lot of issues with the speed of the information because

209
00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:41,280
Speaker 1: a lot of these games that they're they're talking about

210
00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:45,120
Speaker 1: talking about Assassin's creed Um, these are games where being

211
00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,240
Speaker 1: behind by just a little bit is going to hamper

212
00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:51,360
Speaker 1: your ability to play the game significantly. Yeah. I've read

213
00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:55,360
Speaker 1: reviews and I have played some online games. I played

214
00:11:55,400 --> 00:11:58,599
Speaker 1: the I played the the PC based ones. Actually I

215
00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:00,440
Speaker 1: think it was a MAC based one was about an

216
00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:03,040
Speaker 1: E three. Uh, they had several stations open and I

217
00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:05,640
Speaker 1: got to try a couple of the things out. Um,

218
00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:10,120
Speaker 1: the lag issue is one that can initially be a

219
00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:12,559
Speaker 1: little irritating. And lag, of course as when we're talking

220
00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:15,680
Speaker 1: about the time between when you tell the computer to

221
00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,679
Speaker 1: do something and the time it actually does it. So

222
00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:20,920
Speaker 1: let's say you hit that jump button and there's a

223
00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:24,680
Speaker 1: very short lag. I mean usually the lag is we're

224
00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:28,000
Speaker 1: talking less than a second in most cases. Um. Even

225
00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,000
Speaker 1: so we can perceive that that less than a second

226
00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,320
Speaker 1: is easily perceptible, and it can throw you off at first.

227
00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:36,600
Speaker 1: But a lot of the reviews I've read have said

228
00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:39,120
Speaker 1: that once you get used to it, it's really not

229
00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,760
Speaker 1: that bad, Like you start to adjust for it without

230
00:12:41,800 --> 00:12:46,360
Speaker 1: even thinking about it, So the gameplay doesn't really suffer

231
00:12:46,760 --> 00:12:50,000
Speaker 1: after at least after you've gotten acclimated to it. So

232
00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:53,079
Speaker 1: you can still have a really good gaming session despite

233
00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:54,719
Speaker 1: the fact that there may be a tiny bit of

234
00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:58,000
Speaker 1: lag involved. Um. And I mean I've even played console

235
00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:03,959
Speaker 1: games where controls did not see incredibly responsive. So this

236
00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:06,640
Speaker 1: is not limited to just the cloud. We actually see

237
00:13:06,679 --> 00:13:10,960
Speaker 1: this on native machines sometimes as well, But it's one

238
00:13:10,960 --> 00:13:13,599
Speaker 1: of those things people worry about. Also, you mentioned the

239
00:13:13,960 --> 00:13:17,800
Speaker 1: subscription there there are actually two different models on Live. Uh.

240
00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:23,240
Speaker 1: They call it the play pack plan. Because play pack plan,

241
00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:25,959
Speaker 1: it's gonna be impossible for me to say that it

242
00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:29,440
Speaker 1: is too many ps and els. Okay, so play pack

243
00:13:29,640 --> 00:13:36,520
Speaker 1: plan and the play pass plan, and these two plans

244
00:13:36,600 --> 00:13:39,880
Speaker 1: are one of those subscription based is the play pack

245
00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:45,559
Speaker 1: where it's nine dollars a month to play any of

246
00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:49,280
Speaker 1: the games that are within that play pack library. Yes,

247
00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:52,640
Speaker 1: and and I should also hasten to add that that

248
00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:55,160
Speaker 1: will not be all the games that are actually on

249
00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:57,040
Speaker 1: on Live. It's just gonna be the ones that are

250
00:13:57,040 --> 00:14:00,160
Speaker 1: available in that library. And that's pricing licensing problems there.

251
00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:02,800
Speaker 1: I would imagine that's the big issue because you know,

252
00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:05,600
Speaker 1: keep in mind Online is not making these games, they're

253
00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,920
Speaker 1: just making these games available, and they have to license

254
00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:13,160
Speaker 1: these games from the other companies. So you've got that one.

255
00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:15,360
Speaker 1: So you've got the subscription based service nine dollars nine

256
00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:18,200
Speaker 1: nine cents for all you can Eat, But it's from

257
00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:20,520
Speaker 1: like it's kind of like a restaurant all you can eat,

258
00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:22,840
Speaker 1: where the buffet does not have everything that's on the menu,

259
00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:25,280
Speaker 1: but you can eat everything that's in the buffet for

260
00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:27,120
Speaker 1: as much as you want for as long as you're

261
00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:30,040
Speaker 1: there until they throw you out. Now I'm hungry, you've

262
00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:34,720
Speaker 1: been have full hour the the Hey, that's a classic

263
00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:40,160
Speaker 1: comedy routine. The play pass plan is where you purchase

264
00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:45,880
Speaker 1: games and you usually you can purchase them for a

265
00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:48,160
Speaker 1: given amount of time, so three day pass or a

266
00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:51,080
Speaker 1: five day pass, or you can outright purchase the game

267
00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:53,800
Speaker 1: so that every time you lug into your online account,

268
00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:56,000
Speaker 1: you have access to that game. And you may wonder,

269
00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:57,920
Speaker 1: why get a three day pass or a five day pass.

270
00:14:57,960 --> 00:14:59,280
Speaker 1: There are a lot of games out there that have

271
00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:05,120
Speaker 1: a RelA atively short uh a short session involved in

272
00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:07,760
Speaker 1: in completing the game. It doesn't mean that the game

273
00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:09,640
Speaker 1: is bad, it doesn't mean the game is not fun,

274
00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:13,000
Speaker 1: but you can you can get through it within you know,

275
00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,960
Speaker 1: ten hour gaming session. Yeah. So let's say that you

276
00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:17,840
Speaker 1: get a long weekend coming up. You may want a

277
00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,440
Speaker 1: three day pass to play through that one game and

278
00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:23,000
Speaker 1: just have that experience. And you know it's not going

279
00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:25,520
Speaker 1: to take you all weekend to do it, so there's

280
00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:27,720
Speaker 1: no point in and you know, you know, like maybe

281
00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:29,880
Speaker 1: there's not a lot of replay values to that game,

282
00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:32,440
Speaker 1: so you know, I'll just do this three days. Like

283
00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:36,600
Speaker 1: renting a game, um for others, like you know, really

284
00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:38,520
Speaker 1: really in depth games, you may want a full purchase

285
00:15:38,560 --> 00:15:41,040
Speaker 1: so that you can play it whenever you like. Yeah, yeah,

286
00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:43,160
Speaker 1: well it sort of depends on the games to what

287
00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:46,840
Speaker 1: the shorter games the story arcs versus you know, and

288
00:15:46,960 --> 00:15:50,440
Speaker 1: on something like a World of Warcraft which is not available.

289
00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:53,520
Speaker 1: But there are first person shooters that are and first

290
00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:56,000
Speaker 1: person shooters are are some of those games, like especially

291
00:15:56,000 --> 00:15:59,160
Speaker 1: the ones I have online play elements to them. You

292
00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:01,680
Speaker 1: can continually play. There's no end to the game. Yeah,

293
00:16:01,720 --> 00:16:04,720
Speaker 1: you may want to you know, maybe a slow afternoon

294
00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:06,520
Speaker 1: and you're like, I want to jump online and and

295
00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,240
Speaker 1: you know, snipe some people. So that might be a

296
00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:13,640
Speaker 1: full purchase. So yeah, they've got these these two different plans,

297
00:16:13,720 --> 00:16:15,800
Speaker 1: and not all the games are going to be available

298
00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:18,520
Speaker 1: on each plan, so you're gonna have some overlap where

299
00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,280
Speaker 1: games are gonna be available under either and then you're

300
00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:22,960
Speaker 1: gonna have some games that are gonna be unique to

301
00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,560
Speaker 1: one plan or the other. So you've got a shop carefully.

302
00:16:26,000 --> 00:16:28,720
Speaker 1: Uh speaking of games, um, the last I read, there

303
00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:33,320
Speaker 1: was something like forty titles available, So that doesn't you know,

304
00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:35,160
Speaker 1: it doesn't sound like a whole lot I mean, you've

305
00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:37,800
Speaker 1: got game systems that launched with fewer titles than that,

306
00:16:37,880 --> 00:16:39,680
Speaker 1: But then on Live has been around for a little

307
00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:43,600
Speaker 1: while at least in the PC and Mac. Uh iterations. Yeah,

308
00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:46,400
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, go ahead. I was going to say, if

309
00:16:46,400 --> 00:16:49,320
Speaker 1: you think about it, though, if you compare it to consoles,

310
00:16:50,240 --> 00:16:52,760
Speaker 1: for example, you know, the we the three sixty, the

311
00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:56,360
Speaker 1: Xbox three sixty, or the PlayStation three, I would think

312
00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:58,920
Speaker 1: of these sort of his launch titles for a new

313
00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,880
Speaker 1: console system, like it's sort of proving that it works.

314
00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:05,880
Speaker 1: And I have the feeling that as more people sign

315
00:17:05,960 --> 00:17:09,080
Speaker 1: up to the services, that as marketing takes hold and

316
00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:12,320
Speaker 1: more people understand what online is, and uh, they get

317
00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:14,120
Speaker 1: some more reviews in it about because the reviews I've

318
00:17:14,119 --> 00:17:17,639
Speaker 1: read have been generally positive. Um, I think I think

319
00:17:17,680 --> 00:17:20,159
Speaker 1: there may be more titles added to it in the future,

320
00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:22,359
Speaker 1: you know, and they plan on it. They say that

321
00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:26,440
Speaker 1: there are a lot more titles coming already. But um,

322
00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:28,760
Speaker 1: and you make a good point. I mean, forty games

323
00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:31,240
Speaker 1: that launch, especially if if you're looking at the consoles,

324
00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,160
Speaker 1: specifically the console online console that just launched out as

325
00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:39,000
Speaker 1: of the recording of this podcast, Um, I mean forty

326
00:17:39,040 --> 00:17:42,600
Speaker 1: titles is is great, especially when you look at some

327
00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:44,399
Speaker 1: of the titles. I mean there there's some big name

328
00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:47,040
Speaker 1: titles in there. There are, um whereas when you look

329
00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:49,400
Speaker 1: at some of the consoles when they launched, sometimes sometimes

330
00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:53,119
Speaker 1: they launched with fewer than twenty titles. And so you know,

331
00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:56,560
Speaker 1: you you buy into it with the knowledge that for

332
00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:59,800
Speaker 1: a little while at least, you're gonna your options are limited. However,

333
00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,320
Speaker 1: being said, a lot of those reviews that said positive

334
00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:07,160
Speaker 1: things about Online came with a lot of qualifications. Yeah. Uh.

335
00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:12,080
Speaker 1: For example, it depends very heavily upon the speed of

336
00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:16,240
Speaker 1: your your broadband access. That's true, and we have mentioned

337
00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:21,080
Speaker 1: many times in this podcast that, uh speeds are relative. Um,

338
00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:23,720
Speaker 1: the United States is not a country with the fastest

339
00:18:23,760 --> 00:18:28,520
Speaker 1: broadband speeds in the world. Actually have some figures are yeah. Um.

340
00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:34,400
Speaker 1: According to it depends upon which experts or which which

341
00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:37,200
Speaker 1: company you you look at to see what the average

342
00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:41,199
Speaker 1: speed is. Yeah, and speed we're talking about megabits per

343
00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:44,760
Speaker 1: second here. Uh. Now Online suggests that to play the

344
00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,000
Speaker 1: really intense games, the ones that are really graphic intensively,

345
00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:50,600
Speaker 1: you know, Assassin's Creed, that kind of thing, you want

346
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:54,720
Speaker 1: five megabits per second downstream? Yeah. Uh that's pretty fast.

347
00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,080
Speaker 1: That's faster than my internet access. But then I don't

348
00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:01,080
Speaker 1: use my internet access to do online gaming. True for me,

349
00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:04,399
Speaker 1: I could upgrade to a faster service if I wanted to,

350
00:19:04,480 --> 00:19:09,679
Speaker 1: I just don't need it. So, according to net Index,

351
00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:13,359
Speaker 1: the average megabets per second speed in the United States,

352
00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:17,080
Speaker 1: I can't believe this is true. It's ten point oh seven.

353
00:19:18,119 --> 00:19:21,879
Speaker 1: Now at the beginning of two thousands, yes, ten point

354
00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:26,160
Speaker 1: oh seven. The information I've seen from other three point nine.

355
00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,960
Speaker 1: That was the beginning of the big the average was

356
00:19:31,320 --> 00:19:34,800
Speaker 1: three point nine eight. But according to now this still

357
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:40,320
Speaker 1: has the United States ranking thirty second worldwide as far

358
00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:42,879
Speaker 1: as speeds go. And I think the reason why that

359
00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:44,959
Speaker 1: number is so high is because you do have a

360
00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:51,680
Speaker 1: few select markets that have insane data transfer rates, like

361
00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,359
Speaker 1: in the fifty megabits per second range. So we're in

362
00:19:55,440 --> 00:19:59,160
Speaker 1: some places megabets per second, which are that's throwing off

363
00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,520
Speaker 1: the average because I can tell you that I've never

364
00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:06,040
Speaker 1: seen a speed faster than three megabits per second. Yeah,

365
00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:09,760
Speaker 1: and I just get that, I just get three that Yeah,

366
00:20:09,840 --> 00:20:12,800
Speaker 1: that's my maximum. I've never gotten that high, right, I've

367
00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:15,560
Speaker 1: never even gotten to three. My my tests tend to

368
00:20:15,600 --> 00:20:18,600
Speaker 1: be actually tends to be like one point five. But

369
00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:22,119
Speaker 1: there's some regions that get really fast service. Now, that

370
00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,119
Speaker 1: was net Index saying ten point oh seven. Uh, speed

371
00:20:25,160 --> 00:20:28,359
Speaker 1: test dot net is slightly different, but not by a

372
00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:32,280
Speaker 1: whole lot nine point eight nine megabits per second. I'm

373
00:20:32,320 --> 00:20:38,520
Speaker 1: living in the wrong neighborhood using the wrong I s P. Yeah,

374
00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:42,800
Speaker 1: and well, while the net Index has the United States

375
00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:47,360
Speaker 1: at the thirty second ranked globally, um speed Test has

376
00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:51,560
Speaker 1: US at thirty three, so we actually drop a place

377
00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:55,160
Speaker 1: in that one the top. Do you want to take

378
00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:57,880
Speaker 1: a wild stab at what the top nation is as

379
00:20:57,880 --> 00:21:03,440
Speaker 1: far as as data transfer rates? Iceland, No, darn would

380
00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:05,400
Speaker 1: have to be South Korea. Then there you go. That's

381
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:09,440
Speaker 1: it South Korea. I know Iceland is as pretty fast

382
00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:13,800
Speaker 1: broadband too, but yeah, yeah, I mean Latvia is up there.

383
00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:18,960
Speaker 1: So Latvia is smaller than the United States. That is true, Chris,

384
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:23,440
Speaker 1: thank you for that input. So South Korea, Yeah, that's

385
00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:25,960
Speaker 1: that is also true. So at any rate we're talking

386
00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,479
Speaker 1: about these these uh, you know, you have to have

387
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:30,879
Speaker 1: about five megabits per second to have a really good

388
00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:34,080
Speaker 1: experience on online, and according to these figures, there are

389
00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,600
Speaker 1: plenty of laces of the United States that do have these.

390
00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:42,200
Speaker 1: It's not US, but some people apparently do. Uh So

391
00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:46,280
Speaker 1: if you do have that high speed broadband and and

392
00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:50,359
Speaker 1: it's it's you know, reliable at at those speeds, like

393
00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:55,200
Speaker 1: you you reliably get five megabits per second downstream or better,

394
00:21:56,280 --> 00:22:00,880
Speaker 1: then this might be a good approach for you. Um yeah.

395
00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:03,840
Speaker 1: I also I think it's interesting when you sign up

396
00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,639
Speaker 1: for an account with on live um. There's no fee

397
00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:09,320
Speaker 1: to sign up for an account, and in fact there's

398
00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,160
Speaker 1: no contract. So once you sign up for account, then

399
00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:15,320
Speaker 1: you you choose one of these monthly plans or you know,

400
00:22:15,400 --> 00:22:18,280
Speaker 1: for a for a play pass for a few days. Um.

401
00:22:18,359 --> 00:22:20,679
Speaker 1: So you know, it's it's worth trying if you have

402
00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:25,119
Speaker 1: un um an account or a fast enough internet account

403
00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,359
Speaker 1: to do that. Now, they're not the only game in town,

404
00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:32,760
Speaker 1: although they have recently secured a patent which was filed

405
00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:37,000
Speaker 1: UM I guess about well actually eight years ago now

406
00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:38,679
Speaker 1: as of when we recording this, it was filed on

407
00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:43,399
Speaker 1: December tenth, two thousand two. Um So you know, they

408
00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:45,560
Speaker 1: they do have a patented process, but there are other

409
00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:49,120
Speaker 1: people who are seeking a piece of this, uh pie. Yeah,

410
00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:51,960
Speaker 1: And it's understandable. I mean again, you're there's there's a

411
00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:53,920
Speaker 1: real appeal here when you don't have to worry about

412
00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,239
Speaker 1: upgrading your equipment and someone else is doing all that

413
00:22:57,320 --> 00:22:59,040
Speaker 1: for you and all you have to do is have

414
00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:01,960
Speaker 1: a machine capable of running the interface and that's it,

415
00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:05,240
Speaker 1: plus you know, controllers or whatever. But we're talking about

416
00:23:05,280 --> 00:23:10,160
Speaker 1: you know, their basic equipment. Um, I mean that's really enticing.

417
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:12,199
Speaker 1: So yeah, they're obviously a lot of other companies are

418
00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:14,760
Speaker 1: gonna want to get into it. And uh and not

419
00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:17,600
Speaker 1: only that, but Online is actually looking into expanding into

420
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:22,560
Speaker 1: other services that other companies are currently providing. Yeah, because

421
00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:27,320
Speaker 1: when you think about it, um, streaming video. Most of

422
00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:29,200
Speaker 1: the game in this case, that the game that we're

423
00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:32,560
Speaker 1: talking about was um, you know, compressing the video of

424
00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 1: the game. So let's see what other services stream video

425
00:23:37,400 --> 00:23:42,320
Speaker 1: computer or a TV. Yeah. Uh so for services like

426
00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:49,840
Speaker 1: Apple TV, Hulu, um, Netflix, all these different services that

427
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:54,119
Speaker 1: stream video to devices, computers, handheld devices, all that kind

428
00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:56,440
Speaker 1: of stuff. Online is taking aim at them, and they're

429
00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:00,520
Speaker 1: planning on delivering video services to customer is as well.

430
00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:04,720
Speaker 1: So you know, they're they're looking beyond just the games.

431
00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,000
Speaker 1: It's kind of interesting. I'm wondering how many of the

432
00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:10,280
Speaker 1: video services are looking into getting into games, like do

433
00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:12,879
Speaker 1: it the other way around? Well, of course Netflix is

434
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:17,399
Speaker 1: available now on the major three current generation consoles, you know,

435
00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:23,120
Speaker 1: the Xbox three, delivering video not not video games, right right,

436
00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:25,440
Speaker 1: So it doesn't seem like it would be a terrible

437
00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:30,119
Speaker 1: stretch for them to be too. They've already got um

438
00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:34,159
Speaker 1: the relationships with the console provider, so it seems somewhat

439
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,560
Speaker 1: logical that they might be interested in doing that since

440
00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:38,640
Speaker 1: they've already got an in row to the game consoles

441
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,520
Speaker 1: and they don't have to develop their own their own hardware.

442
00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:46,440
Speaker 1: Is online has Yeah, I don't know that. I think

443
00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:48,639
Speaker 1: I think it's a lot easier to make the transition

444
00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,120
Speaker 1: from video games to video than it is the other

445
00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:53,240
Speaker 1: way around. Oh, I agree with So I'm just saying

446
00:24:53,240 --> 00:24:57,320
Speaker 1: that Netflix has a relationship in place already and I

447
00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,400
Speaker 1: and and that may be an attractive outlet for them.

448
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,960
Speaker 1: Of course, there are game rental companies already out there,

449
00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:09,120
Speaker 1: so they might be looking for an opportunity to um

450
00:25:09,359 --> 00:25:12,800
Speaker 1: move into the streaming business themselves on all fronts. It's

451
00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,480
Speaker 1: funny how a long time ago we had phone companies

452
00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:20,120
Speaker 1: and cable companies, um, you know, and they all did

453
00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:23,800
Speaker 1: different things, and now all of them are encroaching on

454
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:26,000
Speaker 1: each other's turf. And it seems like this is the

455
00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:28,800
Speaker 1: same kind of thing that's going on here, where you

456
00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:31,959
Speaker 1: have a company doing something it seems like it may

457
00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,040
Speaker 1: not necessarily be in competition with another, and then you know,

458
00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:39,320
Speaker 1: suddenly they are a player in the market. Now, we

459
00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:42,000
Speaker 1: talked a bit about how you know, your devices don't

460
00:25:42,000 --> 00:25:44,000
Speaker 1: need to be state of the art to be able

461
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,480
Speaker 1: to run this kind of a software and access uh

462
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,320
Speaker 1: these games, which uh, I mean, that's my favorite thing.

463
00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:53,760
Speaker 1: That's why I got out of PC gaming, right because

464
00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:55,879
Speaker 1: I got tired of having to worry about updating my

465
00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:59,080
Speaker 1: machine and I went to console gaming because all the

466
00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,720
Speaker 1: updates were firmware updates. You didn't have to necessarily worry

467
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:04,800
Speaker 1: about getting your hardware updated until they came out with

468
00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:06,760
Speaker 1: a new console and then you'd be like, all right, well,

469
00:26:06,800 --> 00:26:10,600
Speaker 1: I'll go and get one of those. Did you see

470
00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:15,320
Speaker 1: what the processor is inside on Live's micro console? Actually

471
00:26:15,359 --> 00:26:17,600
Speaker 1: I did not write that down. What is the processor?

472
00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:24,760
Speaker 1: And it's the Marvel Armada really and it's underclocked underclock. Yeah.

473
00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,440
Speaker 1: The reason for underclocking this processor was that uh, the

474
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,639
Speaker 1: on Live said, we don't need a powerful processor, so

475
00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:36,200
Speaker 1: we went with a an affordable processor, and we underclocked

476
00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:38,240
Speaker 1: it so it would generate less heat. So that way

477
00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:42,200
Speaker 1: we didn't need to include a fan inside the micro console.

478
00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:43,960
Speaker 1: So it cut down on the size of the micro

479
00:26:44,040 --> 00:26:46,680
Speaker 1: console even more. And this thing is pretty tiny. I

480
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:52,119
Speaker 1: mean it's it's um around the size of like cell phones,

481
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:58,679
Speaker 1: some smartphones rather um and it's bye bye really cutting costs,

482
00:26:58,720 --> 00:27:01,800
Speaker 1: cutting the bones down whatever. You don't have to worry

483
00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:04,640
Speaker 1: about having a bulky system. You don't have to worry

484
00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,720
Speaker 1: about making noise because there's no real moving parts there. Um.

485
00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,400
Speaker 1: So that that also can be really attractive to gamers. Um.

486
00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:15,560
Speaker 1: Although I should stress that unlike the software that you

487
00:27:15,560 --> 00:27:17,919
Speaker 1: can get for your PC or mac, the console is

488
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:23,640
Speaker 1: not free. It's to purchase. Yeah, good to know. It's

489
00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,920
Speaker 1: it's certainly important to consider when you're making that that leap.

490
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:30,000
Speaker 1: If you don't have a computer of your own, and

491
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,760
Speaker 1: we're thinking that you just get the console, or you

492
00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:34,960
Speaker 1: want to play on a big screen, you know, and

493
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,280
Speaker 1: you don't have your computer hooked up to your television,

494
00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:39,960
Speaker 1: then this is uh, you know, this is and and

495
00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:43,240
Speaker 1: it also comes with a custom controller that actually kind

496
00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:46,280
Speaker 1: of seems to be like a hybrid of the Xbox

497
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:52,760
Speaker 1: three sixty and PlayStation three controllers. The the other element

498
00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:55,360
Speaker 1: I would mention about this is that, I mean, it's

499
00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:59,280
Speaker 1: it's the micro console's brand new. So there are only

500
00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:01,120
Speaker 1: a few review is as of the time that we're

501
00:28:01,119 --> 00:28:03,040
Speaker 1: recording this podcast, but most of the reviews I've seen

502
00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:06,120
Speaker 1: of that have been really positive, including reviews of the controller,

503
00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:11,760
Speaker 1: they say, that's really solid. So, I mean, that's it's

504
00:28:11,800 --> 00:28:14,040
Speaker 1: a really interesting approach, and when you compare it against

505
00:28:14,080 --> 00:28:17,280
Speaker 1: the prices of consoles, it's definitely attractive. Hundred dollars is

506
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,159
Speaker 1: not much when you compare it to other consoles on

507
00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:23,400
Speaker 1: the market, and it's certainly uh, you know, paying month

508
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:30,720
Speaker 1: to stream games library, right versus the cost of buying

509
00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:32,840
Speaker 1: a new game that you're going to play for you

510
00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:36,639
Speaker 1: know somewhere between twenty and sixty hours. That's something that

511
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:38,560
Speaker 1: you you would solve, you know where you go, well,

512
00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:40,760
Speaker 1: I've played through the game. Now. You know a lot

513
00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:44,320
Speaker 1: of people I've seen brag on how quickly they can

514
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:46,600
Speaker 1: solve a game, and I'm thinking, and you just dropped

515
00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:49,000
Speaker 1: sixty bucks on that thing and you've solved it in

516
00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,840
Speaker 1: twenty four hours. Their parents drop sixty bucks on that. Yeah,

517
00:28:52,880 --> 00:28:55,600
Speaker 1: it's probably true, but but you know, yeah, I mean

518
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,920
Speaker 1: it seems like it's a worthwhile investment. If this is

519
00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:02,840
Speaker 1: if you're a rabid gamer and you really burn through

520
00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,520
Speaker 1: titles like this, it's you know, it's certainly worth the cost.

521
00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:08,440
Speaker 1: And if you're a three sixty gamer, then you look

522
00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:10,520
Speaker 1: at this and you think, wait a minute. So for

523
00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,600
Speaker 1: for nine dollars and nine cents a month, I can

524
00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:16,840
Speaker 1: play unlimited games and uh that are within this library.

525
00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:19,960
Speaker 1: Keeping in mind that unlimited within the within the realm

526
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,560
Speaker 1: of that library of games, um, and I don't have

527
00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:25,160
Speaker 1: to worry about extra costs. Well with the Xbox three sixty.

528
00:29:25,200 --> 00:29:27,120
Speaker 1: And not only do you have to pay for the games,

529
00:29:27,120 --> 00:29:30,440
Speaker 1: you have to pay for the online online subscription if

530
00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:32,280
Speaker 1: you want to be able to do all all the

531
00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:35,720
Speaker 1: stuff that's on there right right. The thing is, though,

532
00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:38,720
Speaker 1: you're making a trade off if if the the video

533
00:29:38,880 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 1: part of the experience, if you're really interested in an

534
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:46,440
Speaker 1: immersive high definition experience where you've you really enjoy the

535
00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:51,400
Speaker 1: lush graphics and the you know, billions of polygons, um

536
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:53,600
Speaker 1: this may not be This may not be the service

537
00:29:53,640 --> 00:29:57,680
Speaker 1: for you because it's not the graphics on the online

538
00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:01,440
Speaker 1: the play is the issue. Yeah, yeah, so I mean

539
00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,760
Speaker 1: that's it'll be interesting to see if this model really

540
00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:06,880
Speaker 1: takes off, and if it does, it will also be

541
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:10,680
Speaker 1: interesting to see what the traditional video game consoles due

542
00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:14,080
Speaker 1: to in response to it. If anything. Yeah, I mean,

543
00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:17,400
Speaker 1: the the marketing distribution camps are certainly going to be

544
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:21,080
Speaker 1: affected by this. I mean, if this becomes the norm, Uh,

545
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:25,040
Speaker 1: companies that sell video games, retailers will certainly take a

546
00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,880
Speaker 1: hit from that, and I would wouldn't be surprised to

547
00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:32,200
Speaker 1: see some pressure coming from them on the video game manufacturers.

548
00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:38,800
Speaker 1: And remember thinking specifically like the embargo on streaming video

549
00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:42,200
Speaker 1: on Netflix, where you can buy a DVD the day

550
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:45,520
Speaker 1: it's released versus you know, having to wait, you know,

551
00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:47,720
Speaker 1: for a while before it comes out on Netflix. You

552
00:30:47,760 --> 00:30:49,880
Speaker 1: may see something like that, while you can buy the

553
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:52,840
Speaker 1: game now or you can wait thirty days or sixty

554
00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:55,360
Speaker 1: days and then play it on that But I would

555
00:30:55,360 --> 00:31:00,800
Speaker 1: imagine that online would have real trouble getting first party titles. Indeed,

556
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:04,240
Speaker 1: so anything that was made from Microsoft Studios, for example,

557
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:06,920
Speaker 1: it may be really challenging for Online to get that

558
00:31:07,200 --> 00:31:10,840
Speaker 1: on their system, and anything made directly by Sony or

559
00:31:10,920 --> 00:31:13,600
Speaker 1: Nintendo would also be difficult. I was going to say,

560
00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:16,640
Speaker 1: you probably will not see Mario on Online or Sonic

561
00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:19,320
Speaker 1: to be fair. Where also, we really should you know,

562
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,960
Speaker 1: specify we're mostly talking about PC games anyway, so it's

563
00:31:21,960 --> 00:31:26,160
Speaker 1: not like it's the console ones. But these companies console

564
00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:28,400
Speaker 1: or make PC versions of a lot of the games.

565
00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:32,040
Speaker 1: So like, for example, Halo games are available on PC

566
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:36,160
Speaker 1: as well as on on the Xbox three sixty. Well,

567
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,960
Speaker 1: I would imagine that you would not see that become

568
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:43,880
Speaker 1: available on on Live because Microsoft has uh ownership of that.

569
00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,200
Speaker 1: I p right, And I would argue too that with

570
00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,600
Speaker 1: a console. With them offering a console, they're going they're

571
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:53,240
Speaker 1: interested in the console market as well. So they're probably

572
00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:56,320
Speaker 1: they're probably I think they're interested in the console market.

573
00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:01,120
Speaker 1: But but I think the games P see like, I

574
00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:03,160
Speaker 1: see what you're saying. Yeah, it's going to always be

575
00:32:03,200 --> 00:32:05,760
Speaker 1: the PC version of whatever the game is, Okay. I

576
00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:09,840
Speaker 1: I had just seen that as sort of a characteristic

577
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:15,200
Speaker 1: of the initial launch releases, and I sort of assumed

578
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:17,960
Speaker 1: that they might branch out into as many different kinds

579
00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,400
Speaker 1: of games as they could. I'm sure that is the case.

580
00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:23,160
Speaker 1: I just I don't know that they actually have. Like

581
00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:25,239
Speaker 1: I think there would be a whole new host of

582
00:32:25,320 --> 00:32:30,440
Speaker 1: problems if they were to try and do actual Xbox,

583
00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:34,920
Speaker 1: PlayStation three and Nintendo games, right, because then you have

584
00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:38,320
Speaker 1: to worry about not just the software but the hardware. Yeah,

585
00:32:38,320 --> 00:32:41,200
Speaker 1: whereas if they're talking about just games that run on computers,

586
00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:45,600
Speaker 1: that part's not that's not an issue, right, So it's

587
00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:47,720
Speaker 1: a fair point. It'll be interesting to see how it

588
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:51,040
Speaker 1: shakes out. I really hope that, um, that it does well.

589
00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:54,080
Speaker 1: I've you know, I signed up for it immediately as

590
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,520
Speaker 1: soon as it was available, but I have not had

591
00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:58,960
Speaker 1: a chance to take advantage of it because I am

592
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,640
Speaker 1: not one of those people with the five megabits per

593
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:08,040
Speaker 1: second downstream data transfer rate. So um, I just get

594
00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:15,280
Speaker 1: to look at other people and feel envy. So thanks, um,

595
00:33:15,320 --> 00:33:18,000
Speaker 1: but that thanks is not directed at anyone in particular.

596
00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:21,240
Speaker 1: If I really wanted to, I could change that situation,

597
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,880
Speaker 1: but I just haven't done that. Yeah, when it was announced,

598
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:26,960
Speaker 1: that was a little skeptical about it, and uh, well

599
00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,240
Speaker 1: it has gotten you know, they made a release, they

600
00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:33,280
Speaker 1: have gotten some acclaim. It looks like they are getting

601
00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:38,000
Speaker 1: some customers, so it could definite reasons to be skeptical

602
00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:40,480
Speaker 1: because I mean there was a certain I mean I

603
00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:45,360
Speaker 1: almost a ghost, but maybe a certain phantom that that

604
00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:49,680
Speaker 1: loomed over the whole idea of accessing video games via

605
00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:54,320
Speaker 1: the Internet on a console that left left a sour

606
00:33:54,480 --> 00:34:00,960
Speaker 1: taste in our tech emouves. Um. Yeah, obviously, uh to

607
00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:04,720
Speaker 1: those of us who've been around the video game world

608
00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:08,840
Speaker 1: for a while, the phantom console is the item to

609
00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:11,719
Speaker 1: which Jonathan would be referring if there ever had been

610
00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:15,840
Speaker 1: an actual phantom console and not just a prototype. Um.

611
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:19,920
Speaker 1: So yeah, the idea itself is not is a variant

612
00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:23,960
Speaker 1: of that. But yeah, I mean it's some it's out.

613
00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:26,480
Speaker 1: It's out for six months now as at the time

614
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,479
Speaker 1: we're recording it's actually seven I guess now. Um, so

615
00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:32,400
Speaker 1: it looks like it will be here to stay at

616
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:35,400
Speaker 1: least for a little while and may inspire some competition

617
00:34:35,920 --> 00:34:39,399
Speaker 1: and a new model of of electronic gaming. So yeah,

618
00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:42,120
Speaker 1: I don't see a reason why not to try this,

619
00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:45,200
Speaker 1: at least on a PC or Mac, because you don't

620
00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:48,600
Speaker 1: have an initial investment. You can just play based on subscription,

621
00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,720
Speaker 1: and if the service ultimately doesn't work, out. You aren't

622
00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:56,400
Speaker 1: out that the price of that console right like that.

623
00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:58,720
Speaker 1: That's the other big fear is that if the service

624
00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:01,640
Speaker 1: does go under and you the micro console, that micro

625
00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:04,080
Speaker 1: console has now a paper weight. That's true, a very

626
00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:06,839
Speaker 1: small paper weight, but a paper weight on the less Um, yeah,

627
00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:10,319
Speaker 1: they My issues are are also the bandwidth. They don't

628
00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:13,759
Speaker 1: have a connection fast enough to run it. Uh and um,

629
00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:17,239
Speaker 1: the fact that the games that are out now are

630
00:35:17,280 --> 00:35:21,080
Speaker 1: really different from what I'm interested in. I'm more into

631
00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:23,200
Speaker 1: strategy and simulation than there are not a lot of

632
00:35:23,200 --> 00:35:25,839
Speaker 1: those on online, So you'll be looking at things like

633
00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:29,040
Speaker 1: Sieve five. Yes, I would be you know which that

634
00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:31,879
Speaker 1: would be, Like it's been so long since I've really

635
00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:35,160
Speaker 1: updated my PCs that that would be something I'd be

636
00:35:35,160 --> 00:35:36,759
Speaker 1: interested in because I feel like I want to play

637
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:38,960
Speaker 1: that game, but I'm not really sure my computer can

638
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,040
Speaker 1: handle it. It would certainly be a good way to

639
00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:44,240
Speaker 1: try out games. Oh sure. Yeah, and they've got online

640
00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:46,400
Speaker 1: does have a lot of ways where you can do

641
00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:48,239
Speaker 1: a demo game. Most of the games have a thirty

642
00:35:48,239 --> 00:35:52,399
Speaker 1: minute demo version that you can play for free. Well,

643
00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:54,719
Speaker 1: I think that's a good discussion on on Live. I mean,

644
00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:56,600
Speaker 1: you know, like I said, we talked about before it

645
00:35:56,680 --> 00:35:58,960
Speaker 1: launched and thought it was a pretty interesting idea, and

646
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:02,160
Speaker 1: in my opinion has remained that it is an interesting idea.

647
00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:07,480
Speaker 1: Maybe once my broadband gets um sufficient, I will actually

648
00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:12,160
Speaker 1: get to change go from idea to uh to enact. Yes,

649
00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:15,200
Speaker 1: you know, but we'll have to wait. So if any

650
00:36:15,280 --> 00:36:17,959
Speaker 1: of you have any experiences with on live that you'd

651
00:36:17,960 --> 00:36:20,399
Speaker 1: like to share, or perhaps you have a suggestion for

652
00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:22,880
Speaker 1: a topic, or you have any questions, you can let

653
00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:25,600
Speaker 1: us know on Facebook and Twitter are handle there is

654
00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:28,480
Speaker 1: tech stuff h s W or you can send us

655
00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:31,360
Speaker 1: an email that dress is tech stuff at how stuff

656
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:32,920
Speaker 1: works dot com and Chris and I will talk to

657
00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:38,000
Speaker 1: you again really soon. For moral nos and thousands of

658
00:36:38,000 --> 00:36:40,799
Speaker 1: other topics, visit how stuff works dot com. So learn

659
00:36:40,800 --> 00:36:43,640
Speaker 1: more about the podcast, click on the podcast icon in

660
00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:47,080
Speaker 1: the upper right corner of our homepage. The How Stuff

661
00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:50,560
Speaker 1: Works I Fine app has arrived. Download it today on iTunes,

662
00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:58,000
Speaker 1: brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

663
00:36:58,280 --> 00:36:59,520
Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you