There’s something almost reasonable about the idea that the large cable companies, like Verizon and Time Warner, are looking to get a slice of console gaming pie. After all, those rigs need a television, right? Seems only natural for cable to try to expand into the market. Unfortunately, the technology required to stream games to a television, bypassing a console, just isn’t there to support them yet, especially with Gaikai and OnLive being either owned in whole by Sony or requiring a box of its own. In short, it’s going to be a long time before this ever happens in any meaningful way.
According to Bloomberg, and their undisclosed sources, the companies are still going to go through with it:
AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Time Warner Cable Inc. are gearing up for a push to deliver video games directly to televisions, said people with knowledge of the matter, a strategy shift that poses a threat to traditional consoles such as the PlayStation, Wii and Xbox.
Trials of cloud-gaming services are likely to start later this year so carriers can test and tweak the technology before wider deployments that may begin as early as 2013, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private. Other carriers are aiming for 2014, the people said.
If this actually comes to pass, chances are it won’t move forward for at least a year. This isn’t some space you just suddenly occupy; there’s a lot of things for cable companies to learn before they ever actually make any kind of dent in the market.
(via Bloomberg)
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