Google is working on their own video game console to compete against Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo according to a recent Kotaku article. A lot of Google’s past decisions seemed to indicate that they were interested in moving into the video game console market, but none of these moves led to anything concrete. The Kotaku article states that apparently this time, Google is more serious than ever, as the company is aggressively hiring some of the top industry executives to join their team.
What we know so far can be broken down into three main ideas:
1. Google will unveil some sort of game streaming service currently code-named “Yeti.”
2. They will release some sort of device that will most likely connect to this streaming service to provide games to players.
3. They are attempting to recruit many game developers into their fold.
Based upon this information, it might be hard for some consumers to get hyped for a possible Google system.. It appears as though Google wants to release a console “light” of sorts, that basically is a low spec system that has most of the more resource intensive processes done remotely through the cloud. Sounds cool… except for the fact that it just won’t work in most places in the world. How many countries/cities/towns have a strong enough internet infrastructure that can support such a huge demand? You’re talking about not only having very fast speeds, but also extremely reliable and stable connections. You need
While the Google office may enjoy speedy, super smooth internet connections, most of the world doesn’t. With many huge regions and markets not having access to speedy Internet connections, and even the US lagging behind leading Internet speed countries, this could pose a challenge. Maybe the numbers still warrant the investment, but in my opinion, it seems a bit risky creating a product that only a few can actually enjoy. Alienating a huge chunk of the gaming market doesn’t exactly increase your odds of success.
Are Google’s ambitions realistic? Hard to say at this point and it would be easy to have some skepticism. According to Kotaku, Xbox boss Phil Spencer believes that this kind of streaming environment is the future. He noted, “Our focus is on bringing console quality games that you see on TV or PC to any device.” So apparently, Microsoft is also putting serious resources into this concept.
If Google thinks that we’re ready for a console that operates entirely by streaming games, maybe they’re right – they are Google after all.
