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Asus Accessories Gaming Series: Cloud Gaming
How Does Cloud Gaming Work?
If you enjoy gaming at all, no doubt you’ve heard talk about Cloud Gaming in recent years. This innovative technology is essentially a streaming service for gaming. Conventional gaming requires the player to run their games locally from dedicated hardware, meaning the games have to be downloaded onto that device. Now, with such advancements in Internet connectivity, it is possible to actively stream games as videos directly to a player's device from a remote server.
The potential benefits of cloud gaming are far-reaching. The most obvious advantage is the fact that the “cloud” can be accessed from nearly any connected device (laptops, smart TVs, tablets and even smartphones!). This accessibility can help even out the playing field, as you would not necessarily need an expensive PC to game at a professional level; this means anyone that has the skills and internet access can participate in esports. Another plus for this new era of gaming is that players have access to all their games, instantly, from anywhere they're connected. With cloud gaming, there's no downloads and no waiting on system updates. However, we say potential benefits because there are still a few challenges cloud gaming services must overcome before this format becomes fully mainstream.
Current Challenges of Cloud Gaming
Presently, the number one limitation of cloud gaming is the need for high quality internet connection. If players' connection is subpar, games will not be as responsive and have lesser quality graphics. One reason widespread cloud gaming is not yet a reality in the United States for example, is because this country relies on outdated internet infrastructure combined with a very limited choice of internet providers. Fun fact: the US is not even in the top ten countries with the fastest Internet speeds. In addition, cloud gaming can also experience slowdowns due to heavy user traffic, however we are indeed on our way to resolving these issues.
Another obstacle to overcome is the need for dedicated cloud gaming data centers. Because this format is relatively new and facing heavy pressure to develop quickly, cloud gaming services are struggling to create dedicated centers for running their remote servers.
Despite these hurdles, experts foresee the success of cloud gaming in the near future. In Newzoo’s Global Cloud Gaming Report, they report that cloud gaming is well on its way to becoming a billion dollar market by the end of this year. With Internet access becoming more advanced and affordable, and huge companies investing millions into cloud gaming, it definitely will become the norm sooner rather than later.
Who currently offers cloud gaming services &
how is Asus Involved?
Nvidia GeForce Now, Google Stadia, Boosteroid, Amazon Luna, Shadow, Playstation Now, and Xbox Cloud Gaming are some of the main players in the cloud gaming arena at the moment. Each of these competitors offer different experiences that appeal to different groups of consumers, as well as their own respective pros and cons lists. For example, Luna has the advantage of already having Amazon’s cloud network, but it's library lacks several in-demand games as does Stadia. On the other hand, Nvidia seems to be pioneering in their advancement of mobile cloud gaming by optimizing touch controls and even figuring out how to bring back Fortnite (which would be best experienced on a high quality gaming phone like the ROG Phone for example). As for Boosteroid, we are closely watching this contender as they are backed by none other than Asus! Launched in 2019, Boosteroid is based in Europe and renowned for being one of the most affordable and highest quality options thanks to their collaboration with Intel and Asus technology. This collaboration allows Boosteroid to have highly optimized, low latency servers chosen by Asus engineers.
Overall, the future of cloud gaming is bright, and we expect only the best from Asus! Check out all our ROG spare parts and accessories to get the most out of your gaming experience.
