Cloud gaming gets mainstream boost with Walmart demo launch

Walmart is partnering with game streaming company Gaikai to offer online gaming to website visitors, direct to site-users' web browsers in the same way that YouTube streams videos.

The deal, as discovered by VentureBeat, will mean that "when people see a video game on TV and want to try it out," they can head to the Walmart site for a taster.

"It's an exciting time and you'll see more sites around the world doing these stealth launches with us," said Gaikai co-founder David Perry.

Just as with Gaikai's own site, Walmart's Gamecenter invites visitors to try a game demo if their net connections are deemed fast enough.

Perry has a background in video game programming, having worked on 1990s computer and console hits such as Smash TV, Supremacy, and Earthworm Jim.

Now Gaikai is one of several companies poised to make cloud gaming mainstream, having already partnered with Electronic Arts to stream demos of their games like Mass Effect 2 and Dead Space 2.

Where Gaikai concentrates on streaming games to net-enabled devices, OnLive also offers an optional micro-console and controller for TV setups.

And while Intel is partially funding Gaikai's exploits, rival chip manufacturer AMD has an interest in OTOY, another cloud gaming company preparing to launch.

http://see.walmart.com/gamecenter