This debate between @davidscottjaffe and @hard8_times has been on my brain since I listened to it and I wanted to capture some thoughts on Game Streaming and what I heard. 🧵

Disclaimer: I work on Gears at Microsoft, but I'm not involved w/Cloud Gaming or GamePass.
1. There is a huge difference between what *I/YOU* want, and what "most people" want. Compartmentalize your personal preferences and think about what the vast majority of people value.
I think the success of Mobile Gaming, <$400 TVs, and Netflix, proves that most people are ok with sub-par audio/visuals/input. Even if they would PREFER HD, when Streaming comes to a $25 HDMI stick, *most people* will take that over a $500 console.
It's been proven in Music (Spotify over CD), and Video (Netflix over Bluray). But obviously the interactive part of gaming is a possible derailing of that...
2. Input lag IS a major factor that even the most casual person will have a breaking point on. However, there are cities TODAY where this is not a problem. I game almost exclusively via Streaming (Vancouver, Canada). 3 months ago it was unplayable to me due to latency.
So if we know that it is POSSIBLE to have low enough input lag that the experience is good, the question is simply: Can that scale to a large amount of people? I think it is likely given that internet speeds/data centers are increasing not decreasing, but I don't know for sure.
3. Streaming doesn't need to REPLACE physical/digitial/consoles. It can be additive. I'd love to see a world where, while I am downloading a 100GB game, I can play it via Streaming until it is ready. Even if that's not perfect, it probably beats waiting hours/days to play it.
Or play a demo of a game via Streaming rather than download 10-20GB.

Or hop in a game with friends for a game night even though I forgot to install the game ahead of time.

It doesn't have to be a one and only way to play for EVERYONE.
Rather than thinking about how "this will never replace how I want to play", maybe think about how it could improve some of the poor parts of the current experience.
4. Digital Ownership and Streaming are 2 separate things. Stadia/Nvidia allow you to buy games. xCloud doesn't. Different services will pop up offering different experiences.
That's it. 👍 Loving talking about this topic. I'm a little worried this is turning into tribes/camps of us vs them, when it can really improve gaming for everyone!

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