Pre-E3 Rumour Mill: Sony buying Gaikai?

Rik wrote::shock:

This could have massive implications for dedicated PC hardware.

Rik wrote::shock:

This could have massive implications for dedicated PC hardware.

Sony's rumoured cloud gaming deal with Gaikai is to allow current-generation hardware to play PlayStation 2 and PSone games via a streaming solution, GamesIndustry International understands.

According to sources, the service will offer first-party games and be open to third-party publishers to sell back catalogue to players. The partnership is likely to be announced at E3 next week as part of Sony's conference on Monday.

Gaikai already has an extensive portfolio of video game partners that have been on board with CEO David Perry's vision since the service first went live, including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and Capcom, but all titles so far have been for the PC format.

The appetite for PlayStation 2 games has been proven with collected HD releases of titles including Silent Hill, God of War, Devil May Cry and Ico and Shadow of the Colossus.

The streaming games company has also signed up retailers like GAME and Best Buy, services such as YouTube, TV manufacturer LG and social network Facebook, and is expected to announce further partnerships next week.

It's not yet clear which Sony devices beyond the PlayStation 3 would get a Gaikai-supported game streaming service, but it could extend to Sony branded TVs and tablets.

A backwards compatibility offering at this stage in the PS3's lifecycle would also allow Sony to test streaming games before it goes fully next-gen with the release of the PlayStation 4.

Sony's history with backwards compatibility is patchy. The PlayStation 3 originally allowed gamers to play older PlayStation 2 and PSone games, but support for PS2 games was dropped as the PS3 went through a number of different iterations. PSone games are available for download on the PlayStation Store but there's not currently any PlayStation 2 titles on offer.

PSone games are available for download on the PlayStation Store but there's not currently any PlayStation 2 titles on offer.

The last couple of weeks leading up to E3 have been good for anyone that loves insider information. Today’s leak is the largest one yet, and comes from Microsoft. The people behind "Xbox" and "Xbox Live" will be revealing the Xbox Smart Glass tablet behind closed doors to a select group of people. In the official “Microsoft Confidential” presentation, they specifically noted this:

Xbox Smart Glass is a companion application for Xbox LIVE that will allow users to control their Xbox (e.g., transport controls, content discovery and search). The Xbox Smart Glass companion application will be optimized for Windows Tablets and Phones and also made available to iOS/Android Tablets and Phones.

Activities will be made available within the Xbox Smart Glass companion application. Activities will be tied to existing and new applications on Xbox (e.g., Zune Music will have an activity). We will demo Xbox Smart Glass experiences for nearly all of our major brand partners at E3 (existing plus new partners).

The Xbox Smart Glass companion application will have the ability to play video on Tablets/Phones and send the videos to Xbox to play on the TV.

Additionally, we will demo Xbox Smart Glass capabilities (see slide 12) but at no time will we show any video content playing on a Tablet/Phone device.

A deal between cloud gaming company Gaikai and Sony Computer Entertainment does not exist, Gaikai boss David Perry told Eurogamer at E3 today.

It was rumoured Sony would announce a partnership with Gaikai at E3. This would enable PlayStation 3 and maybe PlayStation Vita to stream-play PS2 and PS1 games, it was believed.

But no such announcement ever happened - although Sony separately announced PS1 Classics for Vita.

"I wasn't even at the Sony press conference," Perry told Eurogamer. "I was sitting in my hotel room, and I know everyone was like, 'Oh my god, are they going to announce cloud gaming?' And I was like, 'No, they're not going to announce cloud gaming.' I wasn't even there!"

Perry believes that "a bunch of random events" combined to make people jump to conclusions. The big announcement Gaikai did make was a a Samsung deal to integrate Gaikai in new top-range Samsung TVs. "Effectively a new first party is showing up," Perry declared.

"I honestly can't think of a future for the console companies that don't include cloud gaming at some point."

David Perry, Gaikai

But E3 aside, does a deal between Gaikai and Sony exist?

"No, no," Perry answered.

"To give you my real take on it, I honestly can't think of a future for the console companies that don't include cloud gaming at some point. They can hold out as long as they want to, but at some point, you don't want to be the console that can't do this. To some extent, I expect all three of them will have this."

Perry said he's been talking to the platform holders "from the very beginning" about Gaikai.

"I've been meeting with them constantly, evangelising how far we've come - 'you really should take this seriously'," he said. "Let's just say they're listening, and always have been. You see them when you go to conferences, we see them listening very intently - 'how's this going, where's this going?'"

"I want to be very clear," he added. "I don't think physical media is going to go away really quickly."

But he said that once people commit mentally to the idea of cloud gaming, in the same way they did MP3s and the same way they did digital photos, "then boom - you're in".

Game-streaming is tipped to be a key feature of next-generation games consoles. Will Gaikai be on those machines?

"If I get my way, yes," said Perry.

"We're trying to be Switzerland in all of this, so we're not competing with anyone. Samsung and LG are using our service, too. We're just like, to some extent, the arms dealer. But we have to stay Switzerland - we can't end up competing with anyone. I would like to see all of them use Gaikai, that's my fantasy, right? It would be cool."

Sign-ups for the Gaikai Samsung beta will begin next month in the US. Those accepted will get a Logitech controller in the post to play the Gaikai games with. Any USB controller will work, though.

When Gaikai-featured Samsung TVs will arrive in Europe is TBA, we were told by Samsung at E3 today. But the plan is to roll them out "well beyond the US".