Intel technology research may lead to mobile WoW
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Jun 16th 2008 at 2:00PM
The idea of mobile MMORPGs has come up before. Blizzard is on board with the idea of a mobile WoW interface of some sort, and have even hired mobile engineers and designers. Second Life has started down the path too. Still, for all the promise of being able to run Deadmines while you're stuck in the back of a car on a cross country drive, or churning out Netherweave Bags while you're waiting at the clinic for your semi-annual medical checkup, it seems like there's hurdles yet to overcome. The biggest one, of course, is getting a mobile device to pack enough power to render WoW's graphics and keep track of all the information that WoW needs to run.
Luckily, it looks like Intel and Comverse are on the case for us. The two companies have worked together to create a 3D streaming system that compiles and renders all the graphics and data of an MMORPG on a central server, then sends it to the mobile device. You can read their researcher's post about it on the Intel blog site. You can also see the process demonstrated with Second Life in the video above, although there's not really a good shot of the mobile device screen to show us how well it actually works, unfortunately.
Still, if they can get the technology working feasibly, it should definitely put us one giant step closer to a relatively full fledged mobile WoW client. When the day comes that we can grind dailies on our iPhones, it may be that we'll have Intel to thank.
[Thanks to Bitterzoet for the tip!]
Filed under: News items, Hardware
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Rubin Jun 16th 2008 2:29PM
Seems really promising, although I'd rather play Wow on a computer it can come handy when you have free time and don't have a computer nearby.
Lynn Jun 16th 2008 2:30PM
From what I understand about these news bits about Mobile WoW, the price is still restrictive for Blizzard. I know that sounds funny considering how much that company rakes in quarterly, but Engadget knows all.
http://www.engadget.com/2008/06/15/intel-wastes-our-time-and-yours-with-sl-and-wow-clients-for-mids/
Wired220 Jun 16th 2008 2:33PM
Umm cool idea but gessh couldn't they find someone that could speak english.
Malyfactian Jun 16th 2008 2:52PM
Will never get any work done if this happens.
Danny Jun 16th 2008 2:58PM
Interesting, but I can't see myself playing WoW or any other videogame on one of those small things.
Doc X Jun 16th 2008 2:58PM
"Still, for all the promise of being able to run Deadmines while you're stuck in the back of a car on a cross country drive, or churning out Netherweave Bags while you're waiting at the clinic for your semi-annual medical checkup, it seems like there's hurdles yet to overcome."
Uh. . . I can do this already. I've got an EVDO modem and a MacBook Pro. There are latency issues that make it not my preferred connection method, especially for healing, but for farming, dailies, fishing, playing the AH and any other number of things it's perfectly servicable.
Lynn Jun 16th 2008 3:44PM
"Uh. . . I can do this already. I've got an EVDO modem and a MacBook Pro."
A Mac Book isn't the type of mobile device they are talking about. iPhones are pretty good examples. They are talking small, back pocket-type devices that have internal internet capabilities. Your EVDO modem doesn't count as an example here.
foodle Jun 16th 2008 3:51PM
Better read the terms of service for your EVDO card (Sprint? Verizon? Non-US?). Most plans, even the "unlimited" 5GB ones, prohibit gaming. It has caused people to have their contracts cancelled in the past.
Doc X Jun 16th 2008 5:32PM
@Lynn, yeah, I understand the OP was talking about phones, but just wanted to say the possibility of driving in a car and playing WoW is achievable right now. I'm all about extending this functionality to mobile devices.
@foodle I just looked at Verizon's terms of use for their BroadbandAccess (aka EVDO) service. It does not prohibit gaming explicitly or implicitly. It does say things to the effect of "Don't do illegal stuff or stuff that's going to put undue stress on the network" but there's nothing there saying Gaming is verboten.
bradv10 Jun 16th 2008 4:24PM
did any one else think that was a mike myers skit when they started watching the video?
Zarzuur Jun 16th 2008 4:49PM
I can see how basically they are simplifying it into a streaming video thing, YouTube appears on iPhones already!
But with millions of players, it would be a serious lag at high resolutions to run it all centrally (without any user-installed program or P2P to lighten the load).
Lynn Jun 16th 2008 5:28PM
I imagine this will run more like Citrix/Terminal Server applications. All of the processes will happen on the servers, allowing high-end performance without bogging down the mobile device. The handheld would receive screenshots at a high rate to view the game in real-time. It's like streaming video but it would need a client-end application.
This would have to be something Blizzard installs on their servers and they would have to carefully load balance. The logistics, at this point, are scary.
uncaringbear Jun 16th 2008 6:33PM
These seems like a glorified bespoke VNC terminal for mobiles. Latency will likely be a major stumbling block. While I'm all for making WoW and other games playable on mobiles, my experience with the PSP has shown me that playing complex desktop-style games on a tiny screen is not as enjoyable as it seems. Plus I don't like the thought of having to pay an additional monthly fee for another service to stream WoW onto my mobile.
Daryl Jun 17th 2008 8:01AM
I'm not interested in playing wow except on a computer but would like to access guild chat (or other chats) from a mobile device.