Microsoft working on streaming service that will put Xbox games on your PHONE
MICROSOFT has revealed it's working on a new game streaming service that will put console titles on your smartphone.
The unnamed project will let you play your Xbox games on "any device", by beaming video games over the internet via the cloud.
Part of the problem with video gaming on difference devices is that generating computer graphics is really tough.
That's why gaming PCs often produce better-looking video game graphics than consoles – because they're packed with expensive and powerful hardware.
It's also why video games on your smartphone often look significantly worse than on your Xbox or PS4. Handsets simply don't have the same computing power.
But a relatively new technology called game streaming makes it possible to play games on any device – but generate the visuals you see elsewhere.
That's exactly what Microsoft announced during its press conference at this week's E3 2018 game show in Los Angeles.
Microsoft's gaming chief Phil Spencer explained: "Our cloud engineers are building a game streaming network to unlock console gaming on any device."
He added that it would work across Xbox, PCs and even smartphones.
There's no word just yet on when Microsoft's game streaming project will be available, sadly.
But once it goes live, it could be a major boon to Xbox fans who want to play their video games out and about.
How does video game cloud streaming work?
When you watch a movie, the images you see are already prepared.
That's why very unsophisticated computers inside your TV, DVD player, or computer can playback film footage.
But video games render the visuals in real-time, because a game never knows what you'll do next.
That means you need much more computing heft to produce game visuals, compared to a standard movie.
So if you want amazing 4K PC-style graphics, you'll need to fork out for an expensive computer.
Alternatively, you could use game streaming technology.
The idea is that a company like Microsoft would handle the generation of the visuals on powerful computers at its own HQ.
Then it would send what's effectively a video of that game to your smartphone.
You tap and play, and those commands get sent back to Microsoft, which then inputs them into the game, and sends you the visuals again.
Because modern internet connections are so fast, this all happens in milliseconds.
The resulting effect is 4K PC-style graphics on a smartphone – which is only possible because it's not the phone itself rendering the graphics.
It also means that you could potentially be playing an Xbox game on your console, and then leave the house and carry on playing using your iPhone.
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This sort of technology could eventually kill off gaming consoles for good, because all you'd need is a TV with game-streaming tech built in, and a controller to play with.
But game streaming hasn't had any great successes thus far.
Sony bought a game-streaming called OnLive, but shut it down in 2015.
And Nvidia has its own game-streaming service, but laggy performance has prevented it from becoming a mainstream choice.
Would you ditch your Xbox for console-style games on your iPhone? Let us know in the comments!
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