Patent ID: 8118676

Claim:
A method, comprising: at a video game system comprising one or more video game servers to provide interactive video game services to multiple user systems coupled to the video game system by one or more communication networks, the multiple user systems being distinct from the video game system and wherein each of the multiple user systems comprises a video decoder and a respective display: for each respective user system of a plurality of the multiple user systems: receiving from the respective user system a request to initiate a respective instance of a video game; receiving from the respective user system a command corresponding to a respective user action in the video game; in response to the command corresponding to the respective user action in the video game, generating a frame of encoded video corresponding to the respective user action in the video game using a plurality of pre-encoded macro-blocks, wherein the plurality of pre-encoded macro-blocks are pre-encoded prior to receiving the request to initiate the respective instance of the video game; and transmitting the frame of encoded video to the respective user system for decoding by the respective user system and display on the display of the respective user system, wherein the frame of encoded video and the plurality of pre-encoded macro-blocks are compatible with an MPEG compression standard, and wherein the plurality of pre-encoded macro-blocks are shared between the respective instances of the video game.