State of The Industry: Cloud Computing.

Throughout history, there have been countless cases of individuals proclaiming that new technology or technological movements were a 'fad' and would never take off. You can look back at quotes from 30 years ago about how the internet will never be a large factor in peoples lives or how video games consoles would never be mainstream. 30 years later both the internet and consoles are billion dollar industries and in many cases go hand in hand with each other since the advent of online multiplayer. And now it seems 'Cloud Computing' is the next contender when it comes to standing the test of time.

Essentially, cloud computing is the ability to store data in a virtual "cloud" for later use. Whether you want to make back-ups of a file or share with someone without needing to physically give them a storage device, cloud computing allows you to do so.

So what does this have to do with video games? Well, if you've been following the slow stream of post-E3 info about the Xbox One and PS4 you're probably aware of Microsoft's family share plan that allows you to share one game at a time with one of 10 of your "family members". The family share plan utilizes a cloud system in which you store entire games in Microsofts cloud to distribute to your family members. Unfortunately, Microsoft seems insistent on using this as an excuse to shoehorn ridiculous DRM into their game system. So what will gamers potentially have to sacrifice for Cloud Computing?

DRM

In the past few years, the video game industry have been on fire with the debate of DRM. Specifically, the most intrusive DRM is the "Always-online" breed where the game in question needs to be connected to the internet every time you play it. This was implemented most likely to combat piracy, regardless of how

Blizzard devs tried to pass it off as anti-hacking measures (although, to be fair, they couldn't have Diablo 3s auction house without). Regardless of the specific reasons, DRM is a way for companies to make more money which is why I don't buy Microsoft's excuse for more intrusive DRM. I don't believe that in order to share your game over the internet, you need to "check in" with the internet every 24 hours.

We've seen a successful cloud computing system implemented without intrusive DRM with Valve's Steam service. DRM is, will and will forever be a way for companies to stop gamers from pirating games. And if that's the reason, fine. But don't stand there and pretend like I have to put up with more DRM for the sake of "The Future".

Server stability.

Remember back to the recent Simcity launch debacle. Remember the hundreds of thousands of players attempting to log into EAs servers just so they can play a watered down version of Sim City 4 plus better graphics. Not only could players not log in to play the game, the servers were so flooded with people that many couldn't even download the game to begin with.

What's to say these issues can't persist into the cloud computing world? Assuming Microsoft sells as many Xbox One's as they did Xbox 360 (70 million) were looking at tens of millions of players bombarding the Xbox Live servers at once. Should the unthinkable happen and the Xbox Ones servers be forced to shut down, Microsoft is looking at some 40 plus million people with no access to any games or online Xbox services for potentially hours. This, of course, doesn't take into account the possibility of player losing access to the internet for varies reasons.

Security

Where there is internet, there are hackers, and were there is valuable data, someone is going to want in. I was hesitant to store my backup data on Google Drive, Googles new clous data service. There are things I don't necessarily want everyone seeing. My class projects, art assets, writing. The same goes for the Xbox One. I doubt the Xbox Live service will simply stop at video games; there is potential to upload videos and music, art work, pictures and countless other bits of data you would rather keep to yourself. We have seen in the past with Sony's massive security breach that these systems are not impregnable and should a cloud network as massive as Xbox Live get breached, Microsoft will not only be looking at millions of customers data at risk, but also looking at hundreds of millions in lawsuit damages.

In addition to a security breach from a hacker, what about the NSA? Humor me for a moment, put on your tinfoil hat and dive down the rabbit hole. Microsoft was recently under scrutiny for potentially releasing user data to government entities.They released information showing that they shared minimal data with the NSA, which was great until we learned that the NSA has a nasty habit of not asking. Who's the say that the NSA will not data mine Xbox Live's cloud service? Especially considering that the Kinect, a camera AND microphone device can not be disconnected from the always-online Xbox One. Xbox users could be looking at one of the largest breaches of privacy in history if the NSA decides to snoop around the cloud.

Personally I can't wait to see the river of tears when the first story about the NSA breaching the Xbox Live service surfaces.

The not-so-bad news

Are there numerous issues with cloud data storage? Of course.  But there are undoubtedly a lot of benefits to cloud computing. The family share plan will certainly be convenient for people who like sharing there games with family and friends. Having online backups makes it significantly harder to lose data than simply misplacing your external drive or having a hard drive die out. But as was discussed above, gamers will have to weigh these benefits against sacrificing true game ownership and replacing it with ridiculous DRM measures and whether the risk of a privacy breach is worth the convenience of being able to store data on-line.

Cloud computing may very well be the future of video games, but with recent revelations and uncertainty, it's going to take a lot of convincing for hard-core gamers to jump on-board and hope for the best.