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Xbox not worried about Gaikai, OnLive

Something for "longer term", says Microsoft.

Microsoft reckons we'll be waiting a while before streaming services like Gaikai and OnLive are the norm. The good old DVD-plus-DLC model, said European Xbox Live boss Jerry Johnson, will continue for "the foreseeable future".

"Streaming technology is something that the industry is betting on longer term," he told a BAFTA audience at the London Games Conference, reported by TechRadar (via VG247). "Right now I don't believe that technology can scale out against the experience we can offer on a local machine."

"The technology will continue to improve. As an industry we'll have to accept that and move with it - but I don't think it's on an accelerated timeline for the foreseeable future."

Cloud services like Gaikai and OnLive use 'clouds' of computers to power games that you can control remotely over the internet. This does away with the need to keep up with the PC and perhaps console hardware rat-race - hence Microsoft's interest.

We delved into David Perry's Gaikai - now in public beta - earlier this year. OnLive, a more balls-out, gaming-focused platform, is also open for the public to test.