Companies like Sony and Nvidia have tried to make game streaming a thing for years, so gamers can skip the download process entirely and instead stream games from the cloud. But only recently has the tech been good enough to make it feasible. Sony has PS Now, which can stream games over the internet to a PS4 or PC, while Nvidia’s GeForce Now service does the same thing for the
Companies like Sony and Nvidia have tried to make game streaming a thing for years, so gamers can skip the download process entirely and instead stream games from the cloud. But only recently has the tech been good enough to make it feasible. Sony has PS Now, which can stream games over the internet to a PS4 or PC, while Nvidia’s GeForce Now service does the same thing for the company’s Shield devices or a modern computer with an Nvidia GPU.
These services are pretty niche and rely on a relatively expensive console or PC to function. However, a new project from Google called Yeti could break down many of those barriers by allowing users to stream games to Chromecast-compatible devices, or possibly on an all-new Google home console.
Detailed in a report from The Information, Yeti was reportedly scheduled for release in late 2017, but for unknown reasons, the launch date has apparently been pushed back. The idea is that with today’s faster internet speeds, Google could host games on servers in the cloud and send graphical data to an individual, thereby significantly reducing the amount of computing power a person would need to have if they tried to do the same thing locally.
This wouldn’t be the first time Google has experimented with gaming hardware, as both the Nexus Q in 2012 and Nexus Player in 2014 boasted the ability to play games and even came with optional gamepads. However, since these systems were based on less powerful mobile chipsets, they didn’t have the ability to play modern, graphics-heavy AAA titles without a boost from something like Yeti.
Looking past PS Now and GeForce Now, Google’s Yeti would also compete with similar ventures such as GameFly, Liquid Sky, and Parsec, though none of those companies have anywhere near the same resources. For now though, all we can do is sit back and wait for Google to figure out how to bring Yeti into reality.
[ The Information]
