OnLive: The Future of Gaming?

hyrulian · Mar 25, 2009

OnLive announced yesterday that it plans to launch a new service that takes advantage of cloud computing to deliver a high-definition gaming service to computers and TVs. The service, which has been in development for the last seven years, promises to deliver games in full visual quality over Internet connections as low as 1.5Mbps; high-definition video at 720p resolution will require a 5Mbps connection. Gamers will be able to use virtually any computer--even a netbook--running Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Intel-based Mac OS X. The service will be available through a web browser using a plugin; no other downloads will be required. Games will also be playable on a TV using their "MicroConsole" set-top box. Among the companies who are supporting this service are Epic Games, Ubisoft, and Electronic Arts. The service is expected to be launched by the end of 2009, although pricing and other details have yet to be released.

OnLive is currently accepting sign-ups to become a beta tester, although no information has been given as to when the beta-testing stage will begin.

Shacknews, DigitalTechNews, and Gamasutra have all reported on OnLive's announcement; Engadget has also posted a video--nearly an hour long--featuring a demonstration and Q&A session. We also have a thread on our forums where members have been discussing this service.

shoptroll · Mar 25, 2009

Curious product, but I don't know if this is going to get the adoption they want. Smells eerily like the Phantom.

hyrulian · Mar 25, 2009

shoptroll said:
Smells eerily like the Phantom.

That was the first thing that came to my mind when I first heard about it. After that incident, I'm pretty much like "I won't believe it until I can actually play it".

Choel · Mar 25, 2009

even if it does manage to exist. I will pray that people stay far away from it. It strips the user of any control! It would truly in the end be no different then pluging your head into the matrix. I'd like to try and mod a game that is nothing more then a glorified browser plug in, no content stored on my machine. Can't you just see in the future where EA pays a little extra in a back-room deal to have epic's game be denied entrance in OnLive?

yea, I'm pretty passionate about not letting this thing exist.

Alhanalem · Mar 25, 2009

This sounds like a glorified remote desktop with much faster video.

Ektophase · Mar 25, 2009

I have to agree with you Choel, plus whats to stop them from jacking up the fee or monthly service once they have the good games on there. This kinda remind me of what internet 2 is all about, where it takes away the freedom of the internet and turns it into a corporate controlled money maker.

shoptroll · Mar 25, 2009

Ektophase said:
I have to agree with you Choel, plus whats to stop them from jacking up the fee or monthly service once they have the good games on there. This kinda remind me of what internet 2 is all about, where it takes away the freedom of the internet and turns it into a corporate controlled money maker.

Wait... what?

Internet2 is purely academic and research focused. Maybe you're thinking of how the existing Internet arose from the ARPAnet which was originally academic and military research focused?

Jackal · Mar 25, 2009

http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=184647

hyrulian · Mar 25, 2009

Jackal said:
http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=184647

Yeah, I know... I originally saw the news yesterday on Slashdot but didn't end up reporting on it till today. I did give the OT thread a mention in the news post, though.

hyrulian · Mar 25, 2009

SirTahngarth said:
This sounds like a glorified remote desktop with much faster video.

Speaking of which, I tried playing an MMORPG over VNC once. It didn't work out too well. Fortunately, I never left the town, or else I would've died for sure.

That attempt was over the Internet; I'd imagine over the LAN would've been a bit better. Still, I'm skeptical about this OnLive thing...

hal · Mar 25, 2009

Jackal said:
http://forums.beyondunreal.com/showthread.php?t=184647

news@beyondunreal.com

Sir_Brizz · Mar 25, 2009

I wonder if the ideas behind Phantom were exactly the same as they are for OnLive. It would only make sense, theoretically there is no reason they couldn't push console games the exact same way.

NeoNight · Mar 26, 2009

So if you lose your internet connection then what? I'll tell you what. All the games you've purchased on the service go bye bye. Also, if you pay a monthly or yearly payment that cash goes down the drain too.

hyrulian · Mar 26, 2009

Sir_Brizz said:
I wonder if the ideas behind Phantom were exactly the same as they are for OnLive. It would only make sense, theoretically there is no reason they couldn't push console games the exact same way.

Actually, now that I think about it, the Phantom was different in that the processing was still local...the service looked like it would've been more like Steam than OnLive.

MaestroMaus · Mar 26, 2009

NeoNight said:
So if you lose your internet connection then what? I'll tell you what. All the games you've purchased on the service go bye bye. Also, if you pay a monthly or yearly payment that cash goes down the drain too.

You know yourself that this is not how it is going to work.
But if you really don't: it works with an online account.

Sir_Brizz · Mar 26, 2009

I think he means that, sans an internet connection, you are even more SOL than with something like Steam.

Entr0p1cLqd · Mar 26, 2009

If they get the right licensing deals and the right price-points then I see no reason why it wouldn't take off.

How many 360 users are fed-up with the Red Ring of Death? I bet plenty. If they adopt a true subscription model where a monthly payment gives you access to all of the available games/content then it would probably cost in for a lot of people.

If they can get a big enough library of films then there's no reason why they couldn't actually have a true "video on demand" service going as well. And again, they could include the whole music/concert video route as well giving them even more content.

It all depends on how many years subscription you can get for the price of a 360 and a bunch of games.

Ultimately though, the thing that will kill this service is available bandwidth. I don't believe the reliability or consistency is in-place for them to be able to deliver a good service.

KaiserWarrior · Mar 26, 2009

Yeah, this stuff will go down real well after the ISPs start charging people by the byte instead of their flat monthly rates (it's been in discussion for a while to start doing bandwidth tiers). There's no reason a sufficiently speedy service with good compression can't pipe the images to your screen, and it's a method that's been tossed around hypothetically for a while.

Problem is, everything's on their servers. You no longer own your games in any sense of the word whatsoever. And modding is right out, which is sort of the whole point of PC games.

Phopojijo · Mar 26, 2009

Nah... even if they hammer out the infrastructure problems:

1) Closed and proprietary
2) No independent games
3) No mods
4) No competition

NeoNight · Mar 27, 2009

MaestroMaus said:
You know yourself that this is not how it is going to work.
But if you really don't: it works with an online account.

What I really meant is if you lose your internet connection (meaning you can't get back online for a long period of time) you can't play the games! They aren't stored on your machine!

OnLive: The Future of Gaming?

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