Microsoft researching game streaming technologies

A new paper published by Microsoft Research (uncovered by Ars Technica) details new technology the company has been developing to improve the reactiveness of game streaming technology. According to the abstract published on Microsoft's site, the new technology, codenamed "DeLorean," can mask up to 250ms of network latency, by combining a variety of techniques. The company has been testing DeLorean with Doom 3. "Through user studies and performance benchmarks, we find that players overwhelmingly prefer DeLorean to traditional thin-client gaming where the network RTT is fully visible, and that DeLorean successfully mimics playing across a low-latency network," the Microsoft researchers assert. Notably, the paper says that cloud gaming "is especially appealing for devices such as down- and mid-market phones, basic tablets, TVs and other displays lacking high-end GPUs," which doesn't imply a service for the Xbox One -- though it's obviously too early to predict anything. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently said his company plans to stick by the Xbox brand with plans to "invest in our core console gaming and Xbox Live with a view towards the broader PC and mobile opportunity." Sony recently put its own streaming service, PlayStation Now, into open beta. It is enabled on both PlayStation devices and some of Sony's Bravia TVs.