A method of and system for handling latency issues encountered in producing real-time entertainment such as games of skill synchronized with live or taped televised events is described herein. There are multiple situations that are dealt with regarding latencies in receiving a television signal with respect to real-time entertainment based on the unfolding games played along with the telecasts. Systemic delays, arbitrarily imposed delays of a broadcast signal and variances in the precise broadcast times of taped television programs have to be equalized so as to provide fair entertainment.

Methods and systems for executing games are provided. One example method includes executing at a server of the gaming system a first game logic and a second game logic. The first game logic is for a first game stream to a first user and the second game logic is for a second game stream to a second user. The method includes providing a first virtual driver for the first game logic and a second virtual driver for the second game logic. The method includes executing a hardware graphical processing unit (GPU). The hardware GPU having a non-virtual driver that communicates with each of the first and second virtual drivers. The non-virtual driver is configured for receiving data associated with the first game and the second game using the first virtual driver and the second virtual driver, respectively. The hardware GPU is configured for rendering video frames for the first game and the second game. The method includes encoding the video frames for the first game and the second game using an encoder. The encoded video frames including the first and second game streams to devices of the first and second users connected to the gaming system over a network.

Real-time participation within a media presentation is disclosed. A participant overlay includes simulated physics, which may include boundaries of the interactive regions defined in accordance with content in said media presentation. A participant's interaction with said media presentation through the interactive regions may be captured and combined with the media presentation for display on a display. The interaction may comprise a user action upon one or more elements in the media presentation, a user action expressed in the media presentation through an avatar, or a user action in said media presentation in connection with a game element.

A method of and system for handling latency issues encountered in producing real-time entertainment such as games of skill synchronized with live or taped televised events is described herein. There are multiple situations that are dealt with regarding latencies in receiving a television signal with respect to real-time entertainment based on the unfolding games played along with the telecasts. Systemic delays, arbitrarily imposed delays of a broadcast signal and variances in the precise broadcast times of taped television programs have to be equalized so as to provide fair entertainment.

A method of and system for handling latency issues encountered in producing real-time entertainment such as games of skill synchronized with live or taped televised events is described herein. There are multiple situations that are dealt with regarding latencies in receiving a television signal with respect to real-time entertainment based on the unfolding games played along with the telecasts. Systemic delays, arbitrarily imposed delays of a broadcast signal and variances in the precise broadcast times of taped television programs have to be equalized so as to provide fair entertainment.

Methods and systems for providing gaming services are provided. One system embodiment includes an operating system for executing a first and second instance of game logic for defining a game environment for a video game. The first and second instances game logic process game commands for a first and second user, respectively. A hardware GPU is configured for rendering video frames of a first video stream for the first game logic and video frames of a second video stream for the second game logic. Video frames of the first video stream are configured to be rendered on a display associated with the gaming system, and in some embodiments, without being encoded. An encoder of the system encodes the video frames of the second video stream, which are transmitted to a client device of the second user for game play.

A method of and system for handling latency issues encountered in producing real-time entertainment such as games of skill synchronized with live or taped televised events is described herein. There are multiple situations that are dealt with regarding latencies in receiving a television signal with respect to real-time entertainment based on the unfolding games played along with the telecasts. Systemic delays, arbitrarily imposed delays of a broadcast signal and variances in the precise broadcast times of taped television programs have to be equalized so as to provide fair entertainment.

A method of and system for handling latency issues encountered in producing real-time entertainment such as games of skill synchronized with live or taped televised events is described herein. There are multiple situations that are dealt with regarding latencies in receiving a television signal with respect to real-time entertainment based on the unfolding games played along with the telecasts. Systemic delays, arbitrarily imposed delays of a broadcast signal and variances in the precise broadcast times of taped television programs have to be equalized so as to provide fair entertainment.

A system for allowing a user to remotely access a game includes: a game console; a remote console client configured to receive a game control signal; and a remote console server. The remote console server includes an audio and video encoder configured to receive an audio output and a video output from the game console and to convert the audio output and the video output to a network packet. The remote console server also includes: a game controller emulation unit and a network interface configured to send and receive the network packet. The game controller emulation unit is configured to receive a game controller signal from the game console and to send the game controller signal to the remote console client and to receive a game controller input from the remote console client and send the game controller input to the game console.

A video server is configured to provide streaming video to players of computer games over a computing network. The video server can provided video of different games to different players simultaneously. This is accomplished by rendering several video streams in parallel using a single GPU. The output of the GPU is provided to graphics processing pipelines that are each associated with a specific client/player and are dynamically allocated as needed. A client qualifier may be used to assure that only clients capable of presenting the streaming video to a player at a minimum level of quality receive the video stream.