The game is the best point of cloud computing cloud technology won soft silver 2 million dollar investment

Facing more and more clients, demanding more and more high hardware configuration, the answer may have no choice-online games users can only continue to upgrade, upgrade and upgrade.

If someone tells you they can get you to do all kinds of big games without downloading, installing, not requiring hardware configuration, or even playing a variety of large game on a hundreds of-piece set-top box, would you like to pay for it?

A company called Cloud technology in Beijing is making such an attempt. The founder of Dundee told reporters, after several years of technology research and development, cloud-linked background engine architecture has been built, this year will focus on IPTV, ordinary PC users to promote two aspects.

Dundee thinks the game is the best starting point for "cloud computing" because the game itself requires a high demand for hardware, and gaming users generally have a pay habit.

Cloud-linked technology has won 2 million of dollars in investment from SoftBank last year, according to the Cloud's angel investor Wang Hai. At present, the second round of financing is underway.

"High quality" and "low latency" dilemma

All game processing is done by the cloud server, only the video screen to the user

"We are starting from 2008 to do relevant technical research and development, 2009 formally incorporated into the company." Dundee told reporters that at present the cloud has more than 60 core research and development staff, located in Beijing and Hunan respectively.

Dundee before the founding of the cloud has had two startups, one is video site, one is the game platform. Cloud games can actually be seen as a combination of the two technologies, he said.

Realize the principle of cloud game is very good understanding, can be simply summed up as: all the game processing by the cloud server, and then through video compression and network transmission technology, only to the video screen to the user, the user's operation instructions through the network back to the server, so cycle.

However, unlike a simple online video or a game platform, the dual requirements of cloud games for "high quality" and "low latency" make it necessary for manufacturers to balance the seemingly contradictory ends.

As a game player, you must want to press the mouse or the handle, the role of the game to react instantaneously. But the problem with cloud gaming is that the response is instantaneous between the user and a server that is thousands of miles away, and if the delay is too high or the screen is interrupted, the user is absolutely impatient.

Wang Hai told reporters that the game delay and picture quality dilemma is a technical difficulty, but it is not impossible to solve. According to his introduction, the current technology level of the cloud has done a delay within 40 milliseconds, such a delay play the market mainstream games are no problem.

Wang said that over the past few years, the cloud has about one-third of the investment spent on research and development, "such as compression technology, delay technology, network transmission technology."

In fact, the concept of "cloud game" has been a pioneer overseas. In the March 2009, American OnLive Company first announced their technology, and at the MIT 6 months after the world's emerging Technology summit, the world's players to show their "Cloud Game" program.

A year later, in June 2010, the OnLive gaming platform officially debuted in 48 U.S. states and was supported by U.S. telecoms operator At&t, officially starting a one-year free public test.

Signed Hangzhou Hua number

Through cloud services, IPTV operators solve the problem of the content of the game, on the other hand, also can stimulate users to use IPTV high bandwidth

The official launch of the cloud-linked products is slightly slower than onlive. In July 2009, at the ChinaJoy Fair in China, cloud-linked technology launched its first "cloud game" technology to the outside world, which can be implemented on netbooks and general-configured computers, running the latest high-end games that only high-end computers can run through a smooth Web page.

But it was not until this March that the Cloud Alliance officially launched its first PC-side version. "The initial company didn't do any propaganda. Wang Hai told reporters, because of the fear of the server pressure is too large, the current number of active users around 25,000.

In addition to the initial cost of research and development, server cost is the biggest problem for current cloud-linked. "There are now about 100 servers, distributed in Beijing, Hunan, Zhejiang and other locations." "According to Dundee, because the cloud service is to reduce the user side of the calculation, the corresponding calculation pressure will be transferred to the server side, in order to support more users, you need to constantly increase server resources."

"I hope to increase the size of 2000 servers next year to support 200,000 paid users." "The task of the Cloud Alliance this year is to formalize the promotion and to make the user volume," says Dundee.

Single from the user needs, the configuration is not high general PC, TV, mobile phone and flat terminal three categories of users are cloud game potential customers. However, in Wang Hai's view, due to network speed and ease of operation of the problem, mobile phone terminal is not the first step in the consideration, but the future is certainly a huge market.

Wang told reporters that the second half of the cloud will focus on IPTV and ordinary PCs. The current number of IPTV operators in Hangzhou has reached an agreement with the cloud, the fastest three quarters of this year will be in the number of IPTV in China to provide "cloud game" channel.

"The number is actually very happy to cooperate with us." "Because for IPTV operators, they have to match 200 set-top boxes," said Dundee, "and the set-top boxes that can run a simple application are thousands of dollars and can't play big games."

Dundee believes that through cloud services, IPTV operators solve the problem of the content of the game on the one hand, but also stimulate users to use the high bandwidth of IPTV.

From stand-alone to online games

Initially will help online gaming companies to do demo promotion, after the cost to low enough to consider the cooperative operation

"At present our platform mainly provides large-scale stand-alone game." "Dundee told reporters that now they have access to more than 60 games at home and abroad licensing, in the future they also want to build similar to the Apple App store like the game store, game makers or individual developers can be in their" cloud game "platform to publish products, and then split between the two sides.

In China because of the existence of piracy, single game publishers are generally weak, and "cloud game" may change this situation. In the case of IPTV cooperation model, the cloud game is as one of the pay channels or packaged into the package, directly from the user to pay the split.

Dundee told reporters that they will step into the online game of this larger market, but initially will help online gaming companies to do a demo promotion. After the cost is reduced to low enough, the cooperative operation will be considered and divided into the model.

Currently, the cost of the server is the general online gaming companies can not imagine. Because of the different games, the online game company a server can support the same time the number of people on the line are not the same, but most of them up and down 1000. At present, the cloud can support only 10 users per server.

Entertainment Spring Vice President Zhang Xinjin told reporters that their company has a game is considered through the "cloud game" platform to promote, "the advantages of the client online games can not be replaced in the short term, at present, the demo mode or there will be some market."

Zhang Xinjin said that her most important "cloud game" advantage is not without the installation of clients, but "can significantly reduce end-user pressure, some game configuration is very low users play a lot of resource consumption of the game will be much less affected."