# 2.1 Impossible Triangle for 3D Gaming and the Metaverse

Figure 1 shows the impossible Triangle for 3D Gaming.

![Figure 1. Impossible Triangle for 3D Gaming: AAA Graphics, Any Device compatibility, and Low-cost Delivery.](https://470636846-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2F5fMvsYilVsyhnc0BbgN9%2Fuploads%2FW5iOoDzw0d9BJNRkSadi%2F2022-09-02_164648.png?alt=media\&token=c8427cda-873b-4fe6-b410-233ce410b84c)

In 3D gaming, the very best (AAA Graphics) games are typically playable only on the latest consoles or PC’s with top-of-the-line GPU’s (Graphical Processing Units), and therefore accessible by just a small portion of users (less than 25%).

Recently, with the increasing network bandwidth brought about by the widespread availability of fibre-optic home broadband and 5G cellular networks, it is now possible to stream AAA games directly over WAN (Wide Area Networks) to a device equipped with low-end or integrated GPU, as reflected in the the left edge labeled ‘video streaming’ of the impossible triangle in Figure 1. And this is exactly what cloud gaming does.

Unfortunately, the costs of running a game remotely and streaming it to a player are exorbitant. Firstly, a dedicated remote virtual machine (VM) must be reserved for each player during the game session. Secondly, unlike video streaming, which is one (content) to many (viewers), each game play is different, and incurs its own dedicated network bandwidth that cannot be shared. And that is why global cloud gaming has not really caught on, and the vast majority of the cloud gaming platforms like Nvidia GeForce Now, Google’s Stadia are loosing money. Therefore cloud streaming cannot satisfy the rightmost vertex of “Low-cost Delivery” of the impossible triangle in Figure 1.

The final vertex of the Impossible Triangle is ‘Low-cost Delivery’, which traditionally means time-consuming OTA (Over The Air) downloads and upgrades. Further, as mentioned before, AAA games mostly work on the latest and greatest hardware, and is basically in-accessible to mobile devices unless there are watered-down versions specifically developed for it. And that is why the rightmost ‘Download’ edge of the impossible triangle does not work for ‘Any Device’.

To achieve the most widespread distribution (over most number of end-uers devices), HTML5 3D-games based on Egrets or COCOS engine can be developed. Unfortunately, these HTML5 engines are a few generations behind native 3D engines like Unreal and Unity. And a compromise can be made by playing sub-par (unrealistic) 3D games on HTML5. Even native unreal engine based games such as PUBG running on the most advanced mobile phones (iPhone13 as of August 2022) look crappy compared to their PC counterparts running GPU’s that are 10-1000 times faster. That is why low-cost delivery to any device can only occupy the lowest edge of the impossible triangle in Figure 1.