Sony buys Gaikai for next-gen PlayStation cloud gaming

Troubled Japanese tech and gaming behemoth Sony has splurged the dregs of its once-mighty piggy bank on Internet gaming service Gaikai. The $380m acquisition allows Sony to use a plethora of resources to set up a new cloud service, with the mouth-watering prospect of streaming Sony's vast library games from the cloud direct to a variety of devices.

"By combining Gaikai's resources including its technological strength and engineering talent with SCE's extensive game platform knowledge and experience, SCE will provide users with unparalleled cloud entertainment experiences," bragged Andrew House, Sony Computer Entertainment's president and group CEO.

Despite Gaikai publicly looking for a buyer to plop down in excess of $500m, according to The Verge, Sony has managed to wangle the company for just $380m. 

Neither Sony nor Gaikai have disclosed how their technology will be used, what devices the service will be available on, or what content will be included. So let's speculate! I hope it'll bring a more unified experience to the next PlayStation compared to the current network, which is slow, badly organised, and goes down every other day. 

Very few original PlayStation or PlayStation 2 games are playable through the network -- as a PS3 user, I'd dearly love to see older games supported through the new cloud service, allowing users to play older games without the need to go on eBay and buy an outdated console. Basically, I really want to play Spyro.

"SCE will deliver a world-class cloud-streaming service that allows users to instantly enjoy a broad array of content ranging from immersive core games with rich graphics to casual content anytime, anywhere on a variety of internet-connected devices," House added.

David Perry, CEO of Gaikai (and erstwhile creator of British gross-out platform classic Earthworm Jim), cha-chinged: "SCE has built an incredible brand with PlayStation and has earned the respect of countless millions of gamers worldwide.

"We're honored to be able to help SCE rapidly harness the power of the interactive cloud and to continue to grow their ecosystem, to empower developers with new capabilities, to dramatically improve the reach of exciting content and to bring breathtaking new experiences to users worldwide."

What do you want to see from a future cloud gaming service? Are you worried Sony will stop supporting physical disc-based games? Drop a comment below, or head to our Facebook page.