I'm not so comfortable with the idea of having my video games and save files being stored on a server somewhere in the world. I would just rather have my save files and games be stored on my own hardware so I know it's there. I would also rather have physical copies of the games I own rather than online downloads, but that's just me. I can tell this is where the future of gaming is headed, where everything is accessed through online distribution, but is everyone okay with this?

It's not a terrible thing, some people like this idea I'm sure. It's just not for me. What do you guys think?

Your cloud saves are stored on your hard drive, they're just synced with the server so that if you happen to use a different console or pc it checks if the folders are identical or not, if not it updates the local copy of the files to the newer version. If you've used cloud saves on the 360 it shows a pretty decent visual that it has allocated 512MB of your own hard drive space for syncing with the cloud. You don't have to have a constant internet connection to use those cloud saves, they'll simply sync at a later point when you are connected to the internet. You always have a copy of the files locally and you can use them at any time.

I'm so-so on the idea. I'm actually in the process of moving over some of my older xbox save files to the cloud service so I can make more room on my hard drive but I too am a guy who likes physical copies of games. Unfortunately it's going to happen sooner rather than later whether we like it or not.

Shows what I know about this. Well that's good I suppose. I still would rather own physical copies of my games rather than downloads.

It's got me thinking though, there are more than enough modern games and retro games to keep me busy till I get so old that I ultimately give up on the hobby or, can't even hold a controller properly due to arthritis. I don't even need to play the next generation of video games, I can just catch up on all of the games that I missed out with this generation and also a shit ton of retro games. I don't play video games a lot to tell you the truth, and I don't like the idea of being in a virtual reality type simulation, which is also my idea of gaming in the far far future. By that point I think it might either be to expensive or require too much space and setting up?... who knows. It's just an interesting idea to think what video games will be 10 or 20 years in the future. My point is, I can see myself just catching up on all of the games of this generation and that would keep me busy until I eventually stop video games for whatever reason.

I'm loving cloud service in general. I can do stuff at home and it syncs up at work. Same with gaming, I'm a pretty big steam user now and my 360 has a tiny hard drive so it pretty much eases up the costs. We're headed to the point where it don't matter who's console you're playing on as long as you log in you get your saves and at some point games.

I'm getting to the point that I don't hoard my games anymore, or sometimes I just trade them in after a week of play (or gamefly). I still have the classics but all the new shit are either steam based or temporary.

I used up Christmas money to buy a year of Playstation+ solely so I can use their cloud saving. I have a backwards compatible PS3 with an 80Gb hard drive and it's been full for the past year (mostly because DCU takes up 15Gbs alone). I was able to free up something like 25Gbs from transferring stuff to the cloud and getting rid of some install files.

I was a little wary about the whole idea when it was first introduced but I'd rather do this then have to go out and buy a new PS3 than can't play PS2 games, doesn't have SD card slots and, if I'm not mistaken, less USB ports just because I need more memory.

Cloud services are only going to work best in CONJUNCTION with other solutions. Having a pure cloud service is an absolutely horrible idea.

Sure, it works reasonably well, even now in the infancy stages, when everything is up and running and working.

But ... have you ever tried to use Netflix streaming during peak hours? Or tried updating TF2 when there's a sale on steam? It's not fun. It's not reliable. The bandwidth is just not there yet ... and the service is a limited time only.

If you take the example of OnLive, it's a cool idea ... but you pay for limited time access to a title. (Those licenses won't last forever) The issue there is ... it's the same exact price.

If you want to go ... 10 years down the line ... hell even 3, There's absolutely no guarantee you'd ever be able to play that game again. That to me, is a very large problem.

The idea from the distributors point of view is, of course, they get more money than traditional distribution. But they want to give you less for your money so you have to spend more. They're pushing this digital revolution before the industry is ready for it. Shifting the retail model 1:1 to a digital model, is an entirely disastrous idea; people are going to be very sorry if they're too quick to embrace it before these regulations and proper systems are hacked out.

At least with a retro game cart. you can replace the battery so you don't lose the game content. ... If an online service goes down ... you're boned. If it's from the company going under ... which happens almost on a daily basis in the games industry ... you're S.O.L. And outside of that, there's draconian restrictions, currently that do silly things that mimic music distribution ... like tying the digital game to the hardware you bought it on. Yeah ... great idea

In general we need a more open approach to hardware, gaming, distribution, and software, before any of these systems could work better than a retail model. Not to mention the entire planet needs to increase internet infrastructure. (If you think the United State's internet infrastructure is ready for media to be even 20% distributed digitally, you should prepare for the biggest kick in the pants ever)

SheepCanon ... you can change the hard drive in a PS3 ... it doesn't void the warranty, it's made to do it. It takes a 2.5" Sata HDD. You can transfer everything over through various utilities too. RTFM.

Like always Crono, many valid points. I'd like to point out though that Steam lets you burn backups of your content. So if you're worried about their service going down you can have everything saved. As for server issues and sales. A few days a year Valve struggles keeping their service running. But if you ad up the time it would take you to go to a store or wait for a package in the mail their service still comes out as a huge timesaver in the end. Another huge benifit with Steam that you'd never get with retail (with the exception of a few Blizzard games) is that you get a game for all available platforms for no additional cost.

Personally I have only used one platform that utilizes nothing but digital distribution, iOS. It's far from perfect. But honestly, I have few complaints so far. I can definitely see myself using more services like it in the future. What I would change about it though would mainly be the number of installs I get. At the moment you get to install a purchased item on up to five iOS devices (you can unregister devices if you want to switch around apps though). So more installs, just like with retail copies.

I loved when they introduced it on the xbox 360. Since I used to carry a memory stick with me with my gamertag and all my game saves. When ever I would go to a buddy's now I can download my profile in less than what it usually would take. Since my profile is huge it would take depending on the internet connection almost 2 hours or so. I don't know if the cloud has anything to do with gamertags being able to download faster to your friends 360 or not. The idea you can access all your saves via the cloud service on someone else's 360 is great.

Now I did see that your saves can take space up on your friends 360 hard drive. Now say if they were to delete your stuff on their hard drive would that affect your saves? I hope not that's a good way to screw someone over big time. I'm all for the cloud service on the xbox 360 can't say the same about the other devices it's available on. Hate that poor silver members can't use it only those with gold can use the cloud service. Good thing I have a year of live other wise I'll be screwed.