Having your head in the cloud may no longer just be a figure of speech. In fact, the oft-associated idiom for daydreaming is actually more apropos than ever before. Virtual reality gaming is a ticking time bomb set to explode in 2016, with the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR being two of the biggest headsets set for release this year. Official dates are sketchy at best, but the Oculus Rift has an expected shipping date of late March, with Sony’s version likely to be not far behind.

As the speed and flexibility of cloud servers is already becoming well-known in the business world, with many hosting requirements now available for websites to commence using, cloud-based tech is rapidly becoming something to be taken advantage of.

With so much state of the art technology currently available in our lives, it’s no surprise that virtual reality gaming and the cloud are merging together. As for what this entails exactly, Techcrunch.com succinctly described the emerging phenomenon:

"Virtual reality cloud gaming is the concept of rendering games in data centers, then video streaming the rendered output directly to the user’s headset. By outsourcing to distant server farms the computational power necessary to render games, consumers will not need to buy a PC. This cuts the initial cost of virtual reality to about a third of its current price, making virtual reality much more attainable for the average consumer."

In fact, the cost of VR gaming will undoubtedly cause hesitation for many interested parties. The Oculus Rift headset alone will set you back $600, however, an Oculus Ready PC and headset bundle is also available at $1,500. This bundle may well be very attractive to many VR gamers new to the scene, as the requirements to run the Oculus Rift are listed as:

  • Graphics card: NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD R9 290 equivalent or greater
  • Processor: Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
  • Memory: 8GB+ RAM
  • Output: Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
  • Input: 3x USB 3.0 ports plus 1x USB 2.0 port
  • Operating system: Windows 7 SP1 64 bit or newer

Even though cloud gaming can remove the need for a PC, games run via the cloud will have to perform at incredible standards to eliminate low frame rates and poor graphics, which would result in a frustrating experience and possibly even motion sickness.

"In gaming, buffering doesn't work, because it has to remain responsive 100% of the time in both directions, or the user will be able to tell," says Adrian Sanabria, analyst at 451 Research. "Trying to do the same across the Internet where conditions are more unpredictable gets tricky and this is where most of the failures have been. It is one thing if you're Netflix - you can just buffer a bit and be fine within certain parameters."

Yet, as Sony has shown with their PlayStation Now cloud gaming service, the tech is there and ready to be implemented within virtual reality gaming. However, with the hefty price tags and relatively uncharted waters, the question remains: will people be there to play it?


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Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

James, a lifelong gamer, is a freelance writer who occasionally contributes to Ten Ton Hammer.

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