1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology with 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:12,879 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot Com. Join Josh 4 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: and Chuck, the guys who bring you stuff you should know, 5 00:00:15,600 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: as they take a trip around the world to help 6 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: you get smarter in a topsy turv economy. Check out 7 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 1: the all News super Stuff Guide to the Economy from 8 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot Com, available now exclusively on iTunes. Hello, everybody, 9 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:34,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to the podcast. My name is Chris Polette. I'm 10 00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: the an editor here at how stuff works dot Com, 11 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: and sitting next to me, as usual at the text 12 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: Stuff News desk is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. No, we're 13 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 1: not talking about networking today. Well, we are kind of 14 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,040 Speaker 1: kind of Yeah, I guess we can't get away from 15 00:00:50,040 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: that no matter what. Huh. No, sadly, but we are 16 00:00:53,800 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: here to talk about gaming. Yes, gaming, something I am 17 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,160 Speaker 1: passionate about, despite the fact that I don't own any well, 18 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:01,520 Speaker 1: I own a Wee that's the only current generation console 19 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: I don't need to know. Yeah, however, I'd like to 20 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 1: share anyway, we are talking about networks and gaming. We 21 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,840 Speaker 1: did those go together again? Well, of course, networks and 22 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:17,040 Speaker 1: gaming aren't new. We've been networking and gaming for years 23 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,279 Speaker 1: and years now. But what we wanted to talk about 24 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:24,480 Speaker 1: was a new kind of networked gaming where the network 25 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,440 Speaker 1: is doing all the the the number crunching and graphics 26 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:31,640 Speaker 1: processing and all that kind of stuff on its end, 27 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:34,280 Speaker 1: and so you just need a very thin client to 28 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,640 Speaker 1: access those games. So again, this is taking us back 29 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: to one of our favorite topics here at Tech Stuff, 30 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:45,240 Speaker 1: that would be cloud computing. This is my wireless router. 31 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: There are many like it, but this nice, nice full 32 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:54,880 Speaker 1: metal jacket reference because I'm not mistaken. Um, this is 33 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: my router. This is my gun. Okay, So uh, first, 34 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: before we get it too far into this, UM, I 35 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 1: wanted to kind of talk about reasons why some of 36 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,360 Speaker 1: us are a little skeptical about the whole cloud gaming thing. 37 00:02:07,960 --> 00:02:12,320 Speaker 1: And um, it's because in recent years we've seen some companies, 38 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:16,320 Speaker 1: UM One in particular, does really make a claim about 39 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: an upcoming console that it wasn't so much a cloud 40 00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 1: computing console, but was a console promising these these really 41 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: big big results, and um and nothing ever came of it. Why, Jonathan, 42 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,400 Speaker 1: I don't know what you could mean. I could mean, 43 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 1: the Phantom Game Console, one of the most aptly named 44 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:43,119 Speaker 1: consoles ever to come out of anyone's imagination. Yeah. Honestly, 45 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: when you're when you're thinking about the Phantom Console and 46 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: how it never appeared, you would think, wait a minute, 47 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: did they know they were going to put one over 48 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:55,520 Speaker 1: on me? Yeah, with a name like that, you're thinking 49 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:57,799 Speaker 1: they did that on purpose, So at least I am. 50 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:00,679 Speaker 1: The Phantom Game Console was an idea that out of 51 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: a company called Infinium Labs, and the basic concept behind 52 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: the console was that you would have a console that 53 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: was always hooked up to the the Internet, uh through 54 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: a high speed internet connection to broadband connection, and you 55 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,920 Speaker 1: would download games from the Internet onto this console and 56 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,440 Speaker 1: it would have all the software on the console necessary 57 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,640 Speaker 1: to play games that were meant for PCs for other 58 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: game consoles I think they mentioned like the PS two 59 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 1: and the Xbox and all the Nintendo games. So it 60 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,240 Speaker 1: was kind of this pie in the sky unified game 61 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:39,480 Speaker 1: console where you could suddenly have access to all these 62 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: different games using one machine, which is kind of the 63 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: thing that a lot of gamers have wanted for a 64 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: really long time because despite the fact that you have 65 00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:50,120 Speaker 1: fan boys of every single gaming device out there, who 66 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 1: will claim to their to their grave that their favorite 67 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: console is the best one. Ultimately, every single one of 68 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: those fan boys has a game that he or she 69 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: I guess I could put fan girls in there too. 70 00:04:05,080 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: UH wants to really play, but it's on another console 71 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: like E T for the that Why are you trying 72 00:04:13,600 --> 00:04:17,600 Speaker 1: to trying to derail me? No one wants to play 73 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 1: ET for the twenty. If you do want to play 74 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: ET for the talk to me, because I might have 75 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,040 Speaker 1: a copy somewhere, you know. I'm I'm very sorry that 76 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: those of you listening can't see the vein that throbs 77 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: for that game. I want a horrible game. No, no, no, 78 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: I'm talking about Okay, So let's say that I'm an 79 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:43,680 Speaker 1: Xbox owner and I really want to access Oh gosh, 80 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: what's a good PS two game or PS three game 81 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:50,480 Speaker 1: that's that's only for that system. UM. I was gonna 82 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: say Grand Theft Auto, but that change to Uh, I 83 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: might say Ratchet and Clink. Okay, Ratchet and Clink. All right. 84 00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 1: Let's say let's say that there's a game that's specifically 85 00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 1: for one console you own the other one. You would 86 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:04,159 Speaker 1: have to go out and either buy or rent the 87 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,160 Speaker 1: other console before you could play that game, which big bummer. 88 00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:10,160 Speaker 1: So the Phantom Game Console was promising, Hey, you're gonna 89 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: be able to play any game you want on this 90 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: one system, very very uh kind of enticing idea. Um, 91 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 1: there's a little problem. Oh yeah, there was no evidence 92 00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:21,960 Speaker 1: that the thing actually existed. There were some pictures, but 93 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: the pictures weren't really conclusive. Uh. Some people did some 94 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: investigating and found that the address for the company led 95 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: to like a little empty office building or I guess 96 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: it was actually an empty office in a strip mall. 97 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:36,200 Speaker 1: And then it was I think it was like a 98 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,279 Speaker 1: hundred square feet with um, a desk and two phones, 99 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:43,920 Speaker 1: and that wasn't So people were immediately skeptical of this 100 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: and a lot of people were calling shenanigans and I 101 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,159 Speaker 1: believe it was seconded so they got the brooms out. 102 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 1: Um that's a reference for the South Park fans out there. 103 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: So anyway, it did turn out that the the Infinium 104 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: Labs eventually kind of backed away from this whole game 105 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: console thing. They do have a product out now, Um 106 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: it's a keyboard, and they they change their name, yes, 107 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:12,240 Speaker 1: And they apparently lost about sixty two point seven million 108 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: dollars between two thousand two and two thousand five. Yeah, 109 00:06:15,760 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: I'm betting that's not on that hundred square foot office space. 110 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,560 Speaker 1: Probably not so. At any rate, there were a lot 111 00:06:21,600 --> 00:06:24,600 Speaker 1: of charges of fraud and stuff being bandied about during 112 00:06:24,640 --> 00:06:28,120 Speaker 1: that whole time, so that has understandably made people a 113 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: little skeptical about other gaming systems that aren't coming from 114 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: one of the big names. Um that you know, most 115 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:37,160 Speaker 1: people think like, okay, either it's not gonna make an 116 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:41,719 Speaker 1: impact at all, uh, it doesn't really exist, or um, 117 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 1: you know the guys crazy you know, Yeah, I mean 118 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: it's you know, You've got your your sagas and Nintendo's 119 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,280 Speaker 1: and Atari's and people who you know have the wherewithal 120 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,480 Speaker 1: and expertise doing this stuff. And then somebody else, like 121 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:58,479 Speaker 1: say Microsoft, wants to join in. You go, well, okay, 122 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: sure they can throw hundreds of millions of dollars at 123 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: doing this, so okay, ye, I'll believe that they're doing that. 124 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,680 Speaker 1: But you know, Joe comes up and say, yeah, I've 125 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: started Joe's games. I'll have a console out next year. 126 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: You're going, hey, okay, I'm sorry, who are you again? Right, 127 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: But in this case, we're talking about someone who actually 128 00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:17,640 Speaker 1: is well known who has come out with this, uh, 129 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:20,040 Speaker 1: this new proposed gaming system. And we should add that 130 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: the one we're about to talk about is not necessarily 131 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 1: the only cloud gaming system in development right now. It's 132 00:07:27,080 --> 00:07:28,920 Speaker 1: just the one that's made the biggest splash as of 133 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: the recording of this podcast. Yeah, it's made quite a 134 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 1: few recent headlines, right and we're talking about the on 135 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: Live system, which was unveiled at the Game Developers Conference 136 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:43,280 Speaker 1: in San Francisco in March two thousand nine. And this 137 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: is sort of the brainchild of Steve Pearlman, who you 138 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: may know from such wonderful uh projects as web TV 139 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: and quick Time. So so not a non unknown no, 140 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: not not in the least his uh. His company reared 141 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: in UM I believe a reference to uh Atlas Shrugged, Yes, 142 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:08,160 Speaker 1: got Old and rand Um and if if one thing 143 00:08:08,200 --> 00:08:10,440 Speaker 1: can make me matter than e T for the ay 144 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: it's an rand all right then let um. Yeah, it's 145 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: At one point the company was named Reard and Steele 146 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:20,000 Speaker 1: and uh that was about the time that the Maxi 147 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 1: Digital video recorder was part of the company and is 148 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,080 Speaker 1: now spun off. It is part of Digio. UM but 149 00:08:26,200 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: you know, these are these are some serious projects. This 150 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: is not an unknown quantity in the least and by 151 00:08:32,240 --> 00:08:35,000 Speaker 1: night operation. And if you look at the console, it's 152 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: very very simple. Actually it's not even tiny, not even 153 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:40,679 Speaker 1: necessarily a console. It depends on which version you're looking at. 154 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 1: A micro console. Yeah, um, and that's again just one 155 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:47,679 Speaker 1: version of it. So here's the thing, uh, he introduced 156 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,960 Speaker 1: on Live UM at the Game Developers Conference UH and 157 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:55,080 Speaker 1: said that it's been in development for UM for for 158 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:59,560 Speaker 1: seven years. So there are three different versions of this thing. 159 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: There's one that connects to your television. Then there is 160 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: a software that you would have on your PC or 161 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: software you would have on your Mac. Thank you. So 162 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,680 Speaker 1: for once, Mac users are not left out of the game. However, 163 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: I should point out only for max that have Intel processors. Well, 164 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: it's for all intents and purposes, the modern map, right, 165 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:25,720 Speaker 1: If you don't if you own it, if you own 166 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: an old, old Mac, then you may not be able 167 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 1: to run this well work on my power book. Yeah, 168 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: you're gonna need an Intel based Mac running a current 169 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:37,320 Speaker 1: version of the operating system. But otherwise you can run 170 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:40,600 Speaker 1: this software on a PC or a Mac. And for 171 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: the TV because you can't run software on a TV. 172 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: Yet they have this little mini console. Yeah, it looks 173 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:50,920 Speaker 1: about the size of a like an iPhone really, I 174 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,200 Speaker 1: mean it's tiny. Well, it doesn't have any of the 175 00:09:53,240 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: parts that you would associate with a traditional console, with 176 00:09:56,559 --> 00:09:59,680 Speaker 1: traditional the modern console, so it's not It doesn't have 177 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:03,080 Speaker 1: a hard on it. It doesn't have any moving parts. 178 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:04,559 Speaker 1: Well I don't think there are any moving parts. It 179 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: doesn't have a hard doesn't have a disc player in it. Uh, 180 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:09,599 Speaker 1: so you know you're not gonna be looking at a 181 00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:13,080 Speaker 1: Blu ray player. But then again, it's supposed to be 182 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 1: a lot cheaper, although they haven't really announced a lot 183 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:17,960 Speaker 1: of pricing for the thing yet. Right so, right now, 184 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,400 Speaker 1: it's got what what it does have the console that 185 00:10:20,559 --> 00:10:23,840 Speaker 1: is it um it has support for up to four 186 00:10:23,880 --> 00:10:29,920 Speaker 1: wireless controllers, Bluetooth, Bluetooth support for four headsets. Um it 187 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:34,600 Speaker 1: has two USB ports for physical connections to a controller, 188 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,800 Speaker 1: a keyboard or mouse or whatever. Um It's got U 189 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:41,680 Speaker 1: an S optical output Ethernet port. That's of course, where 190 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:44,280 Speaker 1: you would plug it up to your high speed Internet 191 00:10:44,640 --> 00:10:48,240 Speaker 1: UH connection, because like the Phantom, this requires an Internet 192 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:52,280 Speaker 1: connection UH as a video audio outport, and a micro 193 00:10:52,440 --> 00:10:56,760 Speaker 1: USB power port. That's it. That's that, this little bitty box, 194 00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:58,719 Speaker 1: that's all it has on it. And then you if 195 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:00,000 Speaker 1: you plug all that up and you hook it up 196 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,320 Speaker 1: to your TV, you got hooked up to your internet 197 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,000 Speaker 1: broadband service. Uh. Theoretically, you would then have access to 198 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 1: all the games that are on its system, and you 199 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:10,679 Speaker 1: would purchase games the way you normally would accept. Of course, 200 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:13,559 Speaker 1: you wouldn't own a physical copy of the game. You 201 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:17,120 Speaker 1: would essentially own Yeah, you would own access to the 202 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: game really because you wouldn't have They wouldn't send you 203 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:23,160 Speaker 1: any files. They wouldn't send you a CD or anything. 204 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:26,160 Speaker 1: You would log into the system and you would access 205 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:29,559 Speaker 1: the game that exists on these servers in the cloud, 206 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:31,600 Speaker 1: and then you could play the game through that. And 207 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:35,240 Speaker 1: all the graphics processing, all of the number crunching, all 208 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:38,240 Speaker 1: of that goes on in the cloud. So it doesn't 209 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:41,520 Speaker 1: matter how powerful a machine you have. If you have 210 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: a PC or a MAC that meets the minimum specifications, 211 00:11:45,160 --> 00:11:49,000 Speaker 1: which are really low, really minimal. I mean, if you 212 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:52,199 Speaker 1: have just an old Windows machine that's running Windows XP, 213 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,480 Speaker 1: you can use this. You don't supporting to on live. 214 00:11:55,640 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 1: You don't even have to, sorry, you don't even have 215 00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:02,079 Speaker 1: to have the latest Apple operating system. I believe it 216 00:12:02,160 --> 00:12:04,120 Speaker 1: runs on ten point four and and maybe even ten 217 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:06,079 Speaker 1: point three. It does run on ten point three, so 218 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:08,520 Speaker 1: I mean, we're not these are operating systems that are 219 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 1: several years old. Yes, So it's it's you know, it 220 00:12:11,679 --> 00:12:14,200 Speaker 1: doesn't have to have bleeding edge hardware for it to work. 221 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:16,600 Speaker 1: And for for a lot of gamers, this is, um 222 00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:18,319 Speaker 1: this is kind of a dream come true. I mean, 223 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:20,679 Speaker 1: I don't know about you, Chris, but I was a 224 00:12:20,679 --> 00:12:25,280 Speaker 1: big computer gamer when during the eighties and early nineties. Okay, 225 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:27,679 Speaker 1: I really loved computer games. But right around the time 226 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 1: of the early nineties, that's when games started coming out 227 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 1: that required um uh a more um powerful video processor. Right, 228 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:40,120 Speaker 1: so it started to feel like if you didn't go 229 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:42,520 Speaker 1: out and buy a new video card every six months 230 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: or so, you couldn't play the latest games. And video 231 00:12:45,559 --> 00:12:48,640 Speaker 1: cards cost around two hundred bucks. So you're talking about Okay, 232 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:50,760 Speaker 1: I'm going to spend two d sixty dollars to play 233 00:12:50,760 --> 00:12:52,680 Speaker 1: the sixty dollar game, because before I can play it, 234 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:54,960 Speaker 1: I have to get a new video card. I was 235 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:57,120 Speaker 1: not willing to do that. I that is the point 236 00:12:57,120 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: where I dropped out of playing computer games. So for 237 00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:03,600 Speaker 1: the last fifteen years or so, I haven't really been 238 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 1: playing computer games that often, at least not ones that 239 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:11,040 Speaker 1: required a you know, high powered video card. So I 240 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:13,680 Speaker 1: switched back to consoles, and a lot of people did 241 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 1: because console you know, you knew it was good for 242 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 1: a few years. Then you didn't have to worry about 243 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: upgrades and things like the the Xbox that we the 244 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,280 Speaker 1: PS two and three, you can connect us to the 245 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: network and actually get patches through the network. So if 246 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:30,280 Speaker 1: even in that case, you know your your machine is 247 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,679 Speaker 1: getting upgraded, but you don't have to buy new components 248 00:13:32,760 --> 00:13:35,440 Speaker 1: for it to make it so, so that stays in 249 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:39,720 Speaker 1: working condition. Right, So this thing with theoretically pull that 250 00:13:39,760 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 1: out completely because it doesn't. All it does is function 251 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 1: as a you know, I go between a proxy between 252 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: you and the cloud. It doesn't have to be updated 253 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:50,400 Speaker 1: and at least, you know, maybe a little firmware every 254 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,120 Speaker 1: once in a wheah. It's all. It's all updated on 255 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,079 Speaker 1: the back end, like to say, and occasionally might get 256 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: a patch to whatever the software you're running on your 257 00:13:57,360 --> 00:13:59,600 Speaker 1: machine to in order to access this. I assume it's 258 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,679 Speaker 1: something like a browser. Um, the thing is this has 259 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:05,600 Speaker 1: This is right now, it's in internal beta. It's supposed 260 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: to go to a wider beta this summer, and then 261 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: according to on Live, it should be ready for for 262 00:14:12,760 --> 00:14:16,840 Speaker 1: consumers by winner of two thousand nine, which I'm really 263 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:18,719 Speaker 1: excited about. I mean, the idea of being able to 264 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:21,840 Speaker 1: play this on my television or on a computer. I 265 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:27,760 Speaker 1: really like this idea. And and it supports networked games, 266 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 1: so you can play with or against other people online. Uh. 267 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: You know, all of this sounds great. They've got some 268 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,680 Speaker 1: great partners. They've got e A Games, Ubisoft, Take Two, Interactive, 269 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:43,640 Speaker 1: um Boy, Leaders of World of Google, Atari th h Q, 270 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:46,160 Speaker 1: which by the way produced one of my favorite pro 271 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:49,440 Speaker 1: wrestling video games of all time, WrestleMania two thousand and 272 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: uh for the sixty four and Um that's not that 273 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: I'm biased. Those were awesome video games. Okay. Anyone who 274 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 1: ever played any of those old in sixty four wrestling 275 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:03,520 Speaker 1: games will agree with me anyway. So they have these 276 00:15:03,560 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 1: great partners there, and more will will surely join them. 277 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:10,280 Speaker 1: Because think about this, guys. When you build a video game, 278 00:15:10,520 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: the expense of building it isn't just in the development, 279 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: it's in the production. I mean, you have to produce boxes. 280 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: You have to produce you know, whatever media you're going 281 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:21,960 Speaker 1: to you know, encode the game on, whether it's a 282 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,840 Speaker 1: cartridge and disc whatever, to pay for distribution. You have 283 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,040 Speaker 1: to pay for distribution. Yet, yeah, exactly, there are all 284 00:15:27,080 --> 00:15:29,720 Speaker 1: these things you have to pay for. There's extra marketing costs. 285 00:15:30,600 --> 00:15:33,800 Speaker 1: This cuts out a lot of those considerations. So now 286 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 1: developers now they're like, well, this is great because now 287 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 1: we won't have to pay for all this this production. 288 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:43,520 Speaker 1: We can get a larger return our investment. I wouldn't 289 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:47,920 Speaker 1: necessarily expect this to make video games cheaper, because if 290 00:15:47,960 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: the market is going to bear a fifty dollar or 291 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:52,880 Speaker 1: sixty dollar video game, there's no reason for them to 292 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,920 Speaker 1: charge less. That's true, although they may do what some 293 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:00,680 Speaker 1: of the other digital distribution markets have done in trim 294 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 1: the price a little bit. Uh, you know, because there 295 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: is still the matter of having to pay the developers. Developers, developers, 296 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 1: um and um. You know, there are there are a 297 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 1: lot of other costs overhead. You know, if you've got 298 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: a lot of people in one building developing, they require 299 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 1: a lot of mountain dew. Um, So there tabin mountain 300 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:28,560 Speaker 1: dew and Frito's. Uh so. Um, so you know there 301 00:16:28,560 --> 00:16:30,920 Speaker 1: are some serious costs that that do have to be 302 00:16:31,640 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 1: taking care of, and of course then there's that whole 303 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:37,080 Speaker 1: profit motive. Um, but you know they might trim that. 304 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 1: There is one neat advantage though, that this will have 305 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:43,400 Speaker 1: that other game consoles don't unless of course, you're you know, 306 00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,680 Speaker 1: going to rent the video games, and that is that 307 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:48,120 Speaker 1: they're going to let you try this out on the website. 308 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 1: It actually says, hey, you'll be able to try some 309 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:52,400 Speaker 1: of these out and if you like to keep going 310 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: with that, you could purchase the game. Yeah, which is 311 00:16:56,840 --> 00:16:59,680 Speaker 1: which is great because you know, other than renting, until 312 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 1: renting became popular, and that was that was a real 313 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:05,320 Speaker 1: pain in the neck. You found you spent fiftys in 314 00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:07,640 Speaker 1: a game and went, man, this thing is junk right. 315 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:09,359 Speaker 1: And there are a couple of other really cool things 316 00:17:09,359 --> 00:17:13,639 Speaker 1: for developers too, if you think about it. For one, um, 317 00:17:13,680 --> 00:17:16,880 Speaker 1: you don't have to worry about resale. That's a big 318 00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,919 Speaker 1: thorn and computer game company sides right now is the 319 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:22,480 Speaker 1: fact that people get tired of games, they can go 320 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:24,359 Speaker 1: and trade them in for other games, and then those 321 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:27,200 Speaker 1: those old games can be sold again. While the game 322 00:17:27,200 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 1: company doesn't see any of that money. You know, they 323 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:32,120 Speaker 1: would rather sell a new game every single time. Well, 324 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:34,680 Speaker 1: if it's all you know, you're accessing, If you're buying 325 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:40,920 Speaker 1: access to a game, you can't resale, resale, resell that resale. Sorry, 326 00:17:40,960 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: I am from the South and occasionally looks through, um 327 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: and uh, you know it's the other nice thing is 328 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,399 Speaker 1: that you only developed for one platform. You know, you 329 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,479 Speaker 1: don't have to develop for the If you have a 330 00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:56,720 Speaker 1: game and you want to make it available to every 331 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:59,159 Speaker 1: single console, that means you have to go through the 332 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,520 Speaker 1: development process us well essentially three times if we're talking 333 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:06,960 Speaker 1: about the three major consoles right right, that costs money exactly, 334 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,000 Speaker 1: and that costs That costs money, and it takes time 335 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:13,160 Speaker 1: and uh, you know you think about it, that divides 336 00:18:13,200 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: your resources by three or four amounts. You know. This way, 337 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:20,320 Speaker 1: you're developing for one platform. Anyone who's using a PC, 338 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 1: Mac or television can access it. I mean there, that's 339 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,560 Speaker 1: almost a no brainer. Plus you might be able to 340 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: uh go back and release older titles and continue to 341 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: you know, long tail it stuff over. Yeah, you might 342 00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: even be able to find I mean our partner maybe 343 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:39,080 Speaker 1: they'll release e t now why do you do this 344 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:44,479 Speaker 1: to me? There's um, there are some problems. The biggest 345 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: problem is that if you do not have a reliable 346 00:18:47,320 --> 00:18:52,040 Speaker 1: internet broadband connection, you could experience what is called latency. Yes, 347 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,600 Speaker 1: that's when you Latency is very bad. That's when you 348 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:57,720 Speaker 1: try and do something in the game, and then a 349 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,720 Speaker 1: second or two later, your character's movement reflect what you 350 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:02,920 Speaker 1: just did. So, like you pressed the jump button and 351 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: then when one Mississippi to Mississippi Mario jumps. That's not good. Um. 352 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:11,200 Speaker 1: It does not make for a fun gaming experience. You're 353 00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:14,560 Speaker 1: almost guaranteed to fail miserably every time you game. Um. 354 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:16,880 Speaker 1: There are other problems as well. Some first person shooters, 355 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,320 Speaker 1: when you have latency issues, the computer itself will allow 356 00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 1: your character to keep running in whatever direction he she 357 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,160 Speaker 1: was running in at the time, and then when you reconnect, 358 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:29,080 Speaker 1: it will suddenly say, oops, he's actually across the map 359 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:31,359 Speaker 1: on the other side, which immediately makes everyone on the 360 00:19:31,680 --> 00:19:35,600 Speaker 1: opposing team think that you cheated. Hey, what happened? Hey 361 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: what happened? Yeah? That uh, that happened to me. Actually, 362 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:42,399 Speaker 1: that's how I stopped playing Xbox Life because my internet 363 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:46,440 Speaker 1: broadband connection was so poor I couldn't maintain a game, 364 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:48,359 Speaker 1: and uh, I had a lot of people accusing me 365 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:51,720 Speaker 1: of cheating using standby, and I was not. I will 366 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: have I want to go on the record, it was 367 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:57,439 Speaker 1: my lousy internet connection. So at any rate, if I 368 00:19:57,480 --> 00:19:59,840 Speaker 1: had this system, if I had the system at home 369 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,240 Speaker 1: and my internet connection was acting up, then my experience 370 00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:06,560 Speaker 1: would not be very pleasant. The other big problem is 371 00:20:06,600 --> 00:20:10,240 Speaker 1: if anything major happens to on Live, like the company 372 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:13,520 Speaker 1: goes out of business, Uh, you've lost all those games. 373 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:18,200 Speaker 1: If somehow Sony went out of business tomorrow, you would 374 00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:21,160 Speaker 1: still have your Sony PS two or p S three 375 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:23,000 Speaker 1: and all the games you had bought, and you could 376 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: play those for as long as the machine would run 377 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:27,919 Speaker 1: and as long as those disks could could. You know, 378 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: we're in good shape. But if on Live goes belly up, 379 00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:35,919 Speaker 1: then you have no more games. So there are some risks, 380 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: and those are common throughout all cloud computing applications, not 381 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:42,840 Speaker 1: just gaming. It also is a is bad news for 382 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:48,840 Speaker 1: the PC market because, um, what you know, gaming rigs, 383 00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:52,040 Speaker 1: that's what some of the highest end computer systems that 384 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:55,920 Speaker 1: that are that are available for personal computers. Right. Um, 385 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,800 Speaker 1: if suddenly the demand for that drops through the ground, Uh, 386 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:03,120 Speaker 1: companies aren't don't have the incentive to develop these really 387 00:21:03,119 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: super fast processors. Um, and so we might actually see 388 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,159 Speaker 1: Moore's law come to an end. Yeah, because you think 389 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:11,480 Speaker 1: about it, like, if all the computing is being done 390 00:21:11,480 --> 00:21:13,360 Speaker 1: on the cloud and I don't need a powerful computer, 391 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:17,600 Speaker 1: you stop fueling into that cycle of let's develop even 392 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: faster processors. There would be no financial incentive for them 393 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:23,040 Speaker 1: to do so. And then cats and dogs living together 394 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:27,600 Speaker 1: mass hysteria. How many more movie quotes are we gonna 395 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:29,880 Speaker 1: squeeze into this post? That's gonna be it, because I'm 396 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: gonna I'm gonna move on to listener mail. Okay, totally 397 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:39,680 Speaker 1: caught in one. That one. Okay, So today's listener mail 398 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,879 Speaker 1: comes from Sonny, and Sonny says, I recently subscribe to 399 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:44,879 Speaker 1: your podcast and have just caught up with all of 400 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,160 Speaker 1: the episodes. In the recent episode on how nanotechnology works, 401 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:50,399 Speaker 1: a listener asked if either of you had run Lennox 402 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 1: or BSc. One of the concerns you had in regards 403 00:21:53,119 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: to partitioning was in regards to partitioning and the subsequent 404 00:21:57,040 --> 00:21:59,880 Speaker 1: difficulties that one might encounter when doing so if you're 405 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,280 Speaker 1: not already familiar with it. Ubuntu comes with an installer 406 00:22:03,320 --> 00:22:07,960 Speaker 1: called Wooby that will install Ubuntu alongside your Windows installation 407 00:22:08,040 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: without the need for partitioning, and it gives a link 408 00:22:11,119 --> 00:22:14,880 Speaker 1: and is tossed by being very simple and straightforward. And um, 409 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:17,760 Speaker 1: you know one of us has used a Buntu actually 410 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,640 Speaker 1: uh yeah, And as a matter of sin sence your 411 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: send your email. UM, we acquired a test computer, UM 412 00:22:26,880 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: from the the ranks of the um hobbled old machines 413 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: here the bowels of how storks dot com. Yeah. Yeah, 414 00:22:34,640 --> 00:22:38,040 Speaker 1: we had to fight off some rog Yeah I was 415 00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: gonna see it works, but yeah, that's fine. UM anyway, 416 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,680 Speaker 1: and uh yeah, we installed actually we installed a copy 417 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:47,320 Speaker 1: of Windows seven the data and I said, you know what, 418 00:22:47,359 --> 00:22:48,840 Speaker 1: this is a brand new installation. I'm not going to 419 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:51,399 Speaker 1: mess it up. I'm gonna go ahead and install the 420 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:54,399 Speaker 1: latest version of Ubuntu. And you're right. It worked. It 421 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:56,560 Speaker 1: was smooth as glass. And as a matter of fact, 422 00:22:56,560 --> 00:22:59,160 Speaker 1: that old beat up PC I had at home, UM, 423 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:01,480 Speaker 1: I did the same thing. And uh you know, I 424 00:23:01,520 --> 00:23:03,199 Speaker 1: had it had some information on there that I was 425 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,199 Speaker 1: a little nervous about. But it did fine, and it 426 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: works perfectly, and it just it goes where you you 427 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:13,080 Speaker 1: wanted to go and installs alongside beautifully and it works great. Yeah, 428 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,040 Speaker 1: thanks a lot, Sunny. So if you want to check 429 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 1: that out, you can go and search for Ubuntu and 430 00:23:17,359 --> 00:23:19,600 Speaker 1: and it's free, you know, so it's want to get 431 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:22,600 Speaker 1: get your hands on a on a free operating system. 432 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:25,760 Speaker 1: It's got all the essentials in it, you know. Definitely 433 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:28,240 Speaker 1: check that out. Excellent. So if any of you have 434 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:33,120 Speaker 1: any further questions, concerns, comments, you know, corrections for those 435 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 1: few times we get something wrong, send it to us 436 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:38,800 Speaker 1: tech Stuff at how stuff works dot com. Remember, we 437 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:41,440 Speaker 1: also have the blog tech stuff Live. You can find 438 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:43,800 Speaker 1: access to that at our home page at how stuff 439 00:23:43,800 --> 00:23:46,399 Speaker 1: works dot com, as well as articles about everything from 440 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:49,639 Speaker 1: cloud computing to video gaming. And we will talk to 441 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:53,600 Speaker 1: you again really soon for more on this and thousands 442 00:23:53,640 --> 00:24:00,000 Speaker 1: of other topics. Is it how stuff works dot com 443 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:03,399 Speaker 1: brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve Camry. 444 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:04,800 Speaker 1: It's ready, are you