InstantAction claims their tech will allow ANY game to be played on a browser

[CptStern]

instant-actionInstantAction today officially unveiled its technology platform, which purportedly makes it possible to play any video game in a web browser. Not just 2D casual games, but hardcore 3D games with high-end graphics that would otherwise require a next-gen game console, or a huge client install on the PC.

Even, say, World of Warcraft, played in a browser? Yes, an InstantAction spokesperson assured me, ?Any game.? How about the Microsoft Xbox 360 hit Gears of War? Instant Action Technology V-P Brett Seyler told me last week during a demo that if the company got Microsoft?s approval, his company could convert Gears for web-based play in ?2-3 weeks, max.?

http://gigaom.com/2009/02/24/instantaction-puts-3d-gaming-into-web-browsers/

I'll believe it when I see it.

InstantAction execs tell me they?re in talks with ?pretty much every big [game] publisher,? and to expect deals to be announced this year or 2010. If their technology is as robust as they claim, I expect a number of them. However, it remains to be seen how many 3D game publishers are ready to move away from the retail software sales model and re-package their titles as integrated web experiences. Doing so will probably require them to embrace new revenue models that better suit casual web play, such as advertising and microtransactions.

 

[Asus]

also
"Quake Live is essentially a browser-based port of Quake III: Arena..."

 

[CptStern]

except it didnt take them 2-3 weeks to port as the CEO is claiming his software will do

 

[Iced_Eagle]

except it didnt take them 2-3 weeks to port as the CEO is claiming his software will do

I almost want MS to give them the go-ahead to prove it...

My jaw would hit the floor if it could honestly do what it says it does, and not take like 2 years to load the game and have loading every 3 minutes because your connection sucks.

 

[StardogChampion]

There's loads of browser games with great graphics. They only need a tiny plugin.

Gears of War's graphics are shit, just like UT3.

 

[Gunner]

Sounds like a scam to be honest, I just don't see how it can work, I mean what's the code like? how you go from C++ to xhtml? And maybe they're not being completely honest here: maybe you have to download "parts" of the game first, things like compressed textures, binaries or whatever and the browser processes all that.

How does it work? Seyler wouldn?t elaborate other than to say that the game runs as a separate process from the web browser, via what he called the company?s proprietary ?secret sauce,? which applies API hooks to the code of any game engine.

secret sauce? lies, all of it. Look at their website, doesn't it remind you of the phantom bullshit?

 

[Paulaner]

Sounds like a fairy tale, to me.

 

[Unfocused]

Is it really something that impressive?

Essentially it downloads all components of the game anyway and then runs the game. What difference does it make if it runs via an exe, or via a browser?

It's not like they're promising to make any game run on a netbook.

 

[Paulaner]

Is it really something that impressive?

Yes, it is...

 

[Unfocused]

Could you explain? Technically, what does it accomplish?

Is it OS-independent? If yes, then that would be an accomplishment, though of significance only for those that use systems that don't support some games.

Is there more to it?

 

[mchammer75040]

I call BS, weren't they supposed to have tribes on their services? We've been waiting a hell of a long time for that..

 

[G(ordon)-man]

Please no IE requirement!

 

[CptStern]

Is it really something that impressive?

Essentially it downloads all components of the game anyway and then runs the game. What difference does it make if it runs via an exe, or via a browser?

It's not like they're promising to make any game run on a netbook.

well not a netbook but pretty much anything else:

This process does require a 3D graphics card, but Seyler told me even low-end processors can handle the job.

so in essence they're saying ANY game, even crysis can run on a browser with even a $50 video card. This sounds far too good to be true. What's the use in having high end hardware at all when you can do the same job with something that's a fraction of the cost? If this software is as good as they say it is then hardware companies would pretty much shut down over night because you can just have a set top box set up for < $400 to do the job

 

[PimpinPenguin]

How can a browser make a high spec game run on a low end PC?
The only reason i can think they would want to push this tech is so they can use it as a new form of DRM.
I still can't see any real advantages of playing though a browser rather than using an exe.

 

[Eejit]

TGTBT

capschar

 

[Sainku]

Essentially it downloads all components of the game anyway and then runs the game. What difference does it make if it runs via an exe, or via a browser?

This

I call BS, weren't they supposed to have tribes on their services? We've been waiting a hell of a long time for that..

It's on their website now, its called Fallen Empire: Legions. Its pretty fun but the service itself annoys me and not many people play it.

Games aren't going to run any better on it, they are still hardware dependent.

 

[Unfocused]

so in essence they're saying ANY game, even crysis can run on a browser with even a $50 video card. This sounds far too good to be true. What's the use in having high end hardware at all when you can do the same job with something that's a fraction of the cost? If this software is as good as they say it is then hardware companies would pretty much shut down over night because you can just have a set top box set up for < $400 to do the job

Maybe the guy that said that is there just to handle PR, has little IT knowledge and thought that just because it runs on a browser, means it'll run on any PC that can run a browser.

TGTBT

capschar

You just made that abbreviation up.

 

[Sulkdodds]

Perhaps it just runs the game seperately/normally, and then transfers the visuals of the game into a live movie running in the browser, as well as filtering your control commands through the same window. That would be highly amusing.

 

[Lucid]

I call BS, weren't they supposed to have tribes on their services? We've been waiting a hell of a long time for that..

It's been out for ages, it's called Fallen Empire Legions on their site... it's damn fun too, feels alot like old school Tribes 2.
I personally like these guys and wouldn't doubt their claims at all, they make pretty fun games that have decent graphics as far as web based gaming goes.

edit: Whoops, didn't see Sainku's post.
I'll agree that their services are shitty and buggy as hell, took ages to even download the stuff for their games.
But, the games are fun and usually worth the wait and trouble.

 

[PvtRyan]

I read something interesting a while ago that might actually happen: AMD wants to build a supercomputer that can render your games for you as a sort of cloud computing, after which the rendered images are efficiently compressed and sent down the internet, allowing you to play demanding games with the lightest of hardware and an internet connection.

http://www.betanews.com/article/AMD...percomputer-for-graphics-rendering/1231475506

 

[Paulaner]

I read something interesting a while ago that might actually happen: AMD wants to build a supercomputer that can render your games for you as a sort of cloud computing, after which the rendered images are efficiently compressed and sent down the internet, allowing you to play demanding games with the lightest of hardware and an internet connection.

Games being run server-side, this makes more sense, but it's still a theoretical reasoning since frame rate will depend entirely on internet connection. Some custom plugin can implement compression techniques and optimizations in the transfer of the "screen captures", but games that rely on high frame-rates are not suitable, in my opinion.

EDIT: in a distant future this kind of technology may become accessible. Think about the applications used by companies. They used to be stand-alone, installed on every single machine. Now a lot of programs are delivered as intranet applications, with a client-server approach.

 

[Kadayi]

I'll believe it when I see it.

Seconded.

 

[Solaris]

Hang on; the file you need to download is only 6mb. I remember Q3 coming on a CD so it must have been a few hundred mb.

 

[Solaris]

FUUCK SAKE

spent ages downloading to find out uni block the ports it needs

 

[Kyorisu]

Someone needs to learn how to proxy ports through a http server. Or use a ssh shell, whatever works.