Could your home broadband support game streaming?
Ofcom and games streaming specialist OnLive believe UK broadband speeds are “ready for game streaming” services.
UK regulator Ofcom and OnLive believe the UK’s fibre optic broadband will open up game streaming for more people.
The declaration comes following the PlayStation Now announcement at CES 2014, which allows US gamers stream PlayStation titles on the PS4, PS Vita, smart TVs, tablets and other devices.
Sony stated that the service would need a broadband speed of 5mb for a “good experience” for the game streaming service.
Ofcom and OnLive believe the UK’s broadband is easily sufficient to support such a service.
“In May 2013, the UK average peak-time download speed was 14.2Mbps”, said an Ofcom spokesperson. “Our panel is selected so it is representative of the UK population as a whole and our test results are weighted to make them fully representative.”
We’re not so sure about Ofcom’s claimed average broadband speed and tend to support Netflix’s claim that our average speed is just 2.48Mbps across the country.
OnLive claims the average UK broadband speed is rising all the time, and although not everyone could currently support game streaming, the majority would be capable.
“Back when Onlive was first announced, there was scepticism around whether game streaming could even work,” said Bruce Grove, GM of OnLive. “We will always be dependent on network infrastructure and broadband speeds being able to support the platform.”
“Not everyone has the infrastructure, but clearly many people now do. Over the last few years we’ve seen increased fibre deployments and people now routinely have 20Mbps, many can get 100Mbps or greater.”
Based on Gaikai game streaming technology, the PlayStation Now service offers PlayStation titles outside the boundary of their associated consoles.
All the games will be stored in the cloud, up to date and ready to pick up and play on any compatible device.
Unfortunately it’s only available in the US for now, but hopefully Sony will expand the service to more countries in the future.
“Sony has clearly seen the importance of game streaming as one of the ways players will want to access gaming libraries, and that in itself is an important validation of this sector”, added Grove.
Via: MCV
