Amazon revealed its new cloud gaming service, officially called Luna , at its annual Alexa hardware event today . That makes it an immediate competitor to Google's Stadia, Microsoft's xCloud, Sony's PlayStation Now, and a number of other services from major game publishers all eager to try the code on how to stream video games over the internet.
But more generally, why wouldn't publishers be excited? Luna's format sounds like a lucrative format for cloud gaming, mostly because it's structured similarly to the current streaming TV landscape. Just like how Amazon Prime gives you access to Prime Video for free with your monthly or annual payment, Luna Plus will give you access to whatever games Amazon can acquire the cloud gaming rights to in exchange for its monthly fee, which it may raise after the early access period.
In case you are keeping track:
Former Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime starts new game publisher - The Washington Post
That was in 1991, when he and two college friends started a little studio that became known as Blizzard Entertainment. Morhaime ran Blizzard for most of three decades as the company generated billions of dollars, delighted millions of people and became one of the world's most popular and successful purveyors of fun.
Blizzard created one blockbuster franchise after another — "Warcraft," "Diablo," "StarCraft," "Hearthstone," "Overwatch" — while being passed around by a succession of corporate owners. That's because Morhaime and his original partner sold the company back in 1994 for $6.75 million. All those years, no one at Blizzard — Morhaime included — owned the games they were working on. (The company is now a division of publicly-traded Activision Blizzard.
Coronavirus may just sink the world's video game museums - The Washington Post
Handy began the year hoping to expand the MADE's budget by several percent. Now, the museum is highly unlikely to continue in its current form. Though the MADE was originally envisioned with an all-volunteer staff, it has eight paid employees who are all on furlough while Handy seeks additional funding through online channels. In the past, the MADE has secured capital through crowdfunding campaigns on platforms like Kickstarter.
The current coronavirus crunch is not specific to video game museums; it threatens the existence of many small nonprofits and cultural institutions. However, as the crisis has deepened, and states have begun to reopen (and summarily re-close) in a patchwork fashion, the future of these museums remains shaky. The most famous active video game exhibit is at The Strong in New York, which remained closed even as the state entered "phase two" of its ambitious reopening plan in late June.
Bank: Covid continues to benefit video games sector |
Despite Europeans youths returning to schools, colleges and universities, the new widespread adoption of tighter lockdown rules is likely good news for the video games sector.
A report from investment bank Jefferies says: "In demand terms, we believe that surveys support a significant and lasting increase in the market for games.
"Our earlier concerns," says Jefferies, "that a lockdown boost would be followed by a recession hit to holiday spending now seems wrong: the recession impact is cushioned by state support, and far outweighed by the shift in spend from holiday/out of home entertainment to video games and home entertainment. Add four force multipliers, starting with 1) dark winter nights. 2) I already have Netflix, Prime, Disney and AppleTV: in games, there is great scope to buy more this year.
Quite a lot has been going on:
Video gaming as a child related to improvements in memory
Video games can be a contentious topic, particularly among parents or caregivers who may be concerned about the effects of spending hours in front of the console.
The new study found that people who played video games as children showed greater improvements in their working memory than those who did not, suggesting that video games can have long lasting benefits for cognition.
The researchers behind the new study wanted to find out whether combining video game training and TMS could enhance cognitive function more than either element alone.
Microsoft's Xbox boss: Video games undergoing the 'same transformation' as TV and music did
Microsoft's VP of gaming Phil Spencer told Yahoo Finance's On the Move that, with cloud gaming, the game industry is undergoing the same kind of transition that Netflix created for the TV and movie industries.
"My TV is with me wherever I go. My music is with me wherever I go. I'm in control of the experience, and I think gaming is going through that same transformation," he said on Thursday.
Cloud gaming could eliminate the need for new, pricey game consoles, as it enables gamers to stream games over the internet to devices like their smartphones, smart TVs, and laptops. But Spencer says, while cloud gaming will eventually be huge for gamers, Microsoft has no plans to stop making Xbox consoles.
Tribeca Film Festival Adds Video Games As Official Selections In 2021 – Deadline
The Tribeca Film Festival, which has set its 20th anniversary edition for next June, is adding video games as official selections for the first time.
“For years, video games have been a one-of-a-kind medium for storytelling, art, and innovation,” organizers said in an announcement.
The festival, which will happen next year from June 9 to 20 (a later slot than usual) has welcomed games for the past 10 years. It has showcased titles like League of Legends , God of War , Shadow of the Tomb Raider , Beyond Two Souls , Firewatch , and What Remains of Edith Finch .
Spelunky 2 video game review: Blazingly difficult and completely addictive - The Washington Post
Can you be enamored with a game and downright horrible at it? I'm talking about being so bad that it's a struggle to get past its opening set of levels? If "Spelunky 2" has convinced me of anything, it's that the answer is a perverse "yes." Over the past few days, I've barely made a dent in this blazingly-difficult platformer that is designed from top to bottom to end play sessions as quickly and mercilessly as an old-school quarter-chomping, arcade game designed by a scourgy misanthrope.
Happening on Twitter
Amazon's new Luna streaming service is already well-positioned to beat Google Stadia by charging a single monthly s… https://t.co/FHL4bYeirV jasonschreier (from NYC) Thu Sep 24 18:10:56 +0000 2020
Amazon（アマゾン）がアメリカでクラウドゲーム市場に参入します。多数のゲームで遊べる新サービス「Luna（ルナ）」をまず招待制で始め、2021年に一般提供を開始。先行するGoogle（グーグル）などに対抗します。 https://t.co/zUln7k22zp nikkei Thu Sep 24 22:30:04 +0000 2020
Amazon has confirmed its new Luna game streaming service is powered by Windows software and Nvidia hardware. This i… https://t.co/eUdJievpIE tomwarren (from LONDON) Fri Sep 25 09:38:43 +0000 2020
Amazon confirmed in a roundtable today that Luna runs a Windows environment. Developers just need to get their Wind… https://t.co/dKsnRdTxRm JeffGrubb (from Colorado, USA) Thu Sep 24 23:19:32 +0000 2020
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