A cloud gaming system comprising: a controller ; a storage device coupled to the controller; a plurality of game computers coupled to the controller by a network, each one of the plurality of game computers including: a hardware layer ; an operating system layer configured for interacting with the hardware layer, the operating system layer including a state manager client ; and an application layer configured for interacting with at least a portion of the operating system layer and a portion of the hardware layer, the application layer including a gaming application, the game computer being configured to execute the gaming application for a client device assigned to the game computer, the state manager client configured to capture game state data when the execution of the gaming application by the game computer is paused at a selected pause point, wherein the selected paused point is not a predefined stopping point, wherein the storage device is configured to store the game state data, the game state data including at least hardware state data, wherein the stored game state data is used by the game computer or another of the plurality game computers to recreate an executable state for the gaming application capable of resuming at the selected pause point. a controller ; a storage device coupled to the controller; a plurality of game computers coupled to the controller by a network, each one of the plurality of game computers including: a hardware layer ; an operating system layer configured for interacting with the hardware layer, the operating system layer including a state manager client ; and an application layer configured for interacting with at least a portion of the operating system layer and a portion of the hardware layer, the application layer including a gaming application, the game computer being configured to execute the gaming application for a client device assigned to the game computer, the state manager client configured to capture game state data when the execution of the gaming application by the game computer is paused at a selected pause point, wherein the selected paused point is not a predefined stopping point, wherein the storage device is configured to store the game state data, the game state data including at least hardware state data, wherein the stored game state data is used by the game computer or another of the plurality game computers to recreate an executable state for the gaming application capable of resuming at the selected pause point. a hardware layer ; an operating system layer configured for interacting with the hardware layer, the operating system layer including a state manager client ; and an application layer configured for interacting with at least a portion of the operating system layer and a portion of the hardware layer, the application layer including a gaming application, the game computer being configured to execute the gaming application for a client device assigned to the game computer, the state manager client configured to capture game state data when the execution of the gaming application by the game computer is paused at a selected pause point, wherein the selected paused point is not a predefined stopping point, wherein the storage device is configured to store the game state data, the game state data including at least hardware state data, wherein the stored game state data is used by the game computer or another of the plurality game computers to recreate an executable state for the gaming application capable of resuming at the selected pause point. <EOS>