Nvidia GM: Next-gen consoles will be the last

If cloud computing is indeed the future of gaming, it might be a future without consoles. Speaking with VentureBeat, Nvidia's GeForce Grid Cloud Gaming general manager Phil Eisler said as much, suggesting experiences that are beyond the capability of cloud gaming in the near future (like 4K resolution) might be more than consumers are interested in (or given the price of compatible displays, prepared to take advantage of).

"They say this is the last console, and I am certainly a believer in that," Eisler said. "The last one is almost 10 years old now in terms of the technology. As we go through time, the good thing about cloud gaming is it's going to get better every year. One of the reasons we're investing in it is we see that there are some issues today, but they're all solvable and they're all moving in the right direction. Bandwidth is going up. The cost of server rooms is going down. We're bringing latency down. The experience will just get better and better every year, to the point where I think it will become the predominant way that people play games."

Eisler also touched on the recent news surrounding cloud gaming services OnLive (which declared insolvency last month, laid off half its staffers, and sold its operations to a venture capital firm) and Gaikai (which was acquired by Sony for $380 million). He noted that cloud "naysayers certainly had a field day" with the OnLive debacle, but sees its troubles as self-inflicted more than an indictment of cloud gaming's potential. As for Gaikai, Eisler said, "Clearly Sony believes in it enough to put their $380 million dollars into it. That was equally supportive for those people that are pro-cloud gaming. Anybody who's in the game console business is clearly awakened to the potential of streaming games to TVs."