In the 18th June 2020 issue of Famitsu, Nishikawa Zenji’s column reveals that Sega is currently in research and development for Fog Gaming, a next-generation technology that would use specially-developed arcade boards as cloud computers to turn arcades into data centers serving users in their vicinity.
Read the facts: Full details on Fog Gaming can be found in Frontline Gaming Japan’s article Lag Reduced to Under 1ms: Sega’s Fog Gaming Solution
Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation regarding Fog Gaming online, and Frontline Gaming Japan has performed a fact check on several prevalent examples below:
1: Fog Gaming is a cloud gaming service that streams arcade games to players’ homes
This is FALSE. There is no mention of streaming arcade games in the column: The data centers are described as being applied to cloud gaming and other cloud-based uses in general. Fog Gaming is described not as a service but as a technology.
2: This would involve renovating existing arcade machines
This is FALSE. The column explicitly says the opposite: That it would be difficult to make existing cabinets adapt to this, which is why the next-generation boards are being developed.
3: Arcade machines will be powered by cloud computing, meaning that arcade owners would no longer have to swap out machines, or that all the software can be consolidated on one machine with others merely being terminals
This is FALSE. The column says nothing of this sort. If anything, it says that owners will have to obtain machines using the next-generation boards in order to use Fog Gaming.
Latency is a result of the cloud being too far away from users: In other words, the physical distance between players and data centers is the problem. The solution to this would be to have clouds within players’ service areas, but this would lead to the business side problem of the cost of setting up and running data centers. Sega’s Fog Gaming is a simple and low-cost solution to both of these problems: By repurposing game arcades into data centers.
Sega is considering developing next-generation arcade system boards to be able to adapt to this purpose, which would mean installing new machines in arcades would be synonymous with installing cloud machines. This would also give arcades more purpose as cloud data centers when closed or when there are few customers.
Sega is planning on extending Fog Gaming to other game companies and industries as well. This would not just mean reduced lag for cloud gaming for other game companies, but also the ability for game arcades to be used as data centers for other purposes, with examples such as virtual machines for businesses, render farms for video production studios or VR/AR listed in the column.
Read the facts: Full details on Fog Gaming can be found in Frontline Gaming Japan’s article Lag Reduced to Under 1ms: Sega’s Fog Gaming Solution
