og:image: cloud processing, xbox one

Cloud processing! It's the future! Or so we're told in the most ambiguous ways possible. The 'Cloud' has been a media buzzword for awhile now, but it's only since talk of the Xbox One has really started going that Microsoft has done everything but print it on a giant flag and carry it toward the front lines of the console war.

To that end, it has been reported that Microsoft has recently invested $700 million dollars into expanding its West Des Moines, Iowa data center, pushing the overall investment to nearly a billion dollars. What was that about video game development being too expensive? The data center will support Xbox Live and Microsofts Office 365 software. In addition, Microsoft’s Christian Belady stated,”The expansion supports the growing demand for Microsoft’s cloud services.”

The issue, of course, is that no one really knows exactly what that means. Microsoft has not exactly been detail forthcoming when telling us exactly how the cloud would be used, and as Bob Webb described on last nights Cocktail Time LIVE, the term “cloud” has been horrible misused and misconstrued. While the cloud could be used to spin up things like multiplayer servers, how would latency effect things like AI processing which has been mentioned could be offloaded onto the cloud as well? Microsoft has stated that the cloud would allow for more “living worlds” but has declined to say exactly how that would be done.

Personally, I don't think Microsoft even knows the details themselves. They know they have this tech, and they know they can do something with it, but everything else seems like grandiose bluster at this point. I'm still waiting to see how any of this will come together. 

Comments

  • Avatar
    Bob Webb
    10 years, 9 months ago

    The "cloud" is just a term for all of the cocaine these marketing guys are going to buy from selling technology using bullshit buzzwords.

  • Jeremy Flower Avatar
    Jeremy Flower
    10 years, 9 months ago

    There's a Chrome extension that replaces "Cloud" with "Butt" and "The Cloud" with "My butt". Sounds accurate in the case of Xbone's magical MMO-builder.

  • theottomatic91 Avatar
    theottomatic91
    10 years, 9 months ago

    Reminds me of the gaikai deal with Sony only difference is that we already know the service we are getting with the ps4

  • HurlockHolmes Avatar
    HurlockHolmes
    10 years, 9 months ago

    I have a chrome extension that replaces the word "cloud" with "butt", and I can still perfectly understand the context the words are being used.
    http://i.imgur.com/AAtSzmR.png

  • Avatar
    WubWub
    10 years, 9 months ago

    What about the rest of the world? I cant imagine it to be practical or efficient to offload AI processing etc all the way to USA when you are playing a game in Europe. We need servers worldwide for this to even be feasible otherwise the feature will only be available in the US

  • inthenameofharmon Avatar
    inthenameofharmon
    10 years, 9 months ago

    It seems like Microsoft has got their heads in the cloud