Red Faction Armageddon PC Demo is OnLive Exclusive

[Andy Chalk]

Red Faction Armageddon PC Demo is OnLive Exclusive

The Red Faction Armageddon [http://www.amazon.com/Red-Faction-Armageddon-Pc/dp/B003P9C6EQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1306440191&sr=8-3] PC demo is available today, but only if you subscribe to OnLive.

If you want to lay eyeballs on the upcoming PC version of Red Faction Armageddon, you've only got one choice. It's not Steam, it's not Direct2Drive, it's not even THQ. It's OnLive [http://www.onlive.com], the cloud gaming service that offers instant, high-end gaming on just about any broadband-equipped PC or Mac, laptops and netbooks included.

"While OnLive has been releasing new major game titles on the same day and date as PCs and consoles, Red Faction Armageddon marks the beginning of a new era in videogame distribution, where OnLive's ability to provide an instant, frictionless demo on almost any PC, Mac or HDTV (and soon mobile) makes OnLive the universal demo platform of choice," the company said.

The full version of the game will be available from OnLive for $49.95 and will come with a free copy of Red Faction Guerrilla [http://www.amazon.com/Red-Faction-Guerrilla-Pc/dp/B0014UGK4U/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1306440395&sr=8-3] as well as a free OnLive set-top box. It also offers the side bonus of instant playability the moment the game goes live at 9:01 pm PST on June 6, with no downloads or trips to the mall required.

But OnLive is also taking the opportunity to promote itself as the platform of choice for PC demos, regardless of where the full game will actually be purchased. OnLive offers demos as part of its free basic service but noted with a certain languid indifference that gamers can ultimately purchase the full version of the game wherever they want.

"Today marks a milestone for the videogame industry," said OnLive Founder and CEO Steve Perlman. "Not only is this the first time a major game pre-release PC demo is available exclusively from OnLive, but it's the first time a game platform is encouraging gamers to buy a game on their preferred platform, whether or not that is OnLive."

"While we have a rapidly growing base of OnLive-only members, many members game on other platforms in addition to OnLive," added OnLive Vice President John Spinale. "Hassle-free demos, particularly combined with massive spectating, are a great way to check out games before buying them, and OnLive demos are just a click away, be it on PCs, Macs, TVs or mobile devices."

Promoting OnLive as a sort of instant and universally-accessible demo platform is a fantastic idea but this kind of exclusivity is a real kick in the junk for those of us who happen to reside outside the OnLive service area. Console exclusives are irritating enough but telling people who have the right kind of hardware and could otherwise acquire the demo with relative ease that they can't have it because they live in the wrong neighborhood feels dismissive to the point of insult. You won't let me play your demo? I'll remember that when I see your game sitting on the shelf at the mall.

Red Faction Armageddon comes out on June 7 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.


Permalink

 

[Korey Von Doom]

Volition Inc. really does want to express its hate for PC Gamers huh?

 

[Camaranth]

Colour me unhappy...I HATE it when there are stings attached, I don't want to sign up for a service I may never use just to play a demo I should have had access to in the first place!

I feel old saying this was already going out of style when I was a kid but I miss getting a bunch of demos on an actual physical disc...

 

[Waaghpowa]

Oh. this would be great if Onlive was available OUTSIDE the USA. Also if i gave a damn about Onlive.

On a separate note, is Onlive even doing that well? Could it be possible that this is an attempt to get more users?

 

[josemlopes]

I hope that they release it for everyone later on, but this is kind of good because a lot of people still dont know what Onlive actually is about.

Oh. this would be great if Onlive was available OUTSIDE the USA. Also if i gave a damn about Onlive.

On a separate note, is Onlive even doing that well? Could it be possible that this is an attempt to get more users?

I live in Portugal (Europe) and I can play Onlive, I still get some latency but not enough to ruin the game. For the purposes of the demo is more then enough.

Colour me unhappy...I HATE it when there are stings attached, I don't want to sign up for a service I may never use just to play a demo I should have had access to in the first place!

I feel old saying this was already going out of style when I was a kid but I miss getting a bunch of demos on an actual physical disc...

You miss paying the cd that came with demos?

Remember that sometimes nostalgia is a *****.

 

[draythefingerless]

You mean that service that 99.9% of the world cant even remotely use because internet speed and disc transfer rates are still not good enough in this day n age for that kind of service?

no thanks.

 

[Waaghpowa]

I hope that they release it for everyone later on, but this is kind of good because a lot of people still dont know what Onlive actually is about.

Oh. this would be great if Onlive was available OUTSIDE the USA. Also if i gave a damn about Onlive.

On a separate note, is Onlive even doing that well? Could it be possible that this is an attempt to get more users?

I live in Portugal (Europe) and I can play Onlive, I still get some latency but not enough to ruin the game. For the purposes of the demo is more then enough.

Last time I tried to apply it said USA only. I'll check again but there's very little appeal for cloud gaming for me.

 

[Abedeus]

Well screw you too. Last game you released was a laggy pile of trash engine-wise, you probably didn't even bother doing any work this time either.

 

[Snotnarok]

Okay crazy thought here, most PC players put decent money into their computers. Why are we going to put money into someone elses service where they run the game for us?

And holding demos is only the biggest dick move on the planet. Not interested in their shitty service.

 

[nagi]

Oh, Volition.... I still remember when they worked on Freespace, and now they just hate us. Serious dick move.

Last time (about half a year ago) onlive told me to get bent, I doubt that has changed.

 

[Exocet]

Exclusive demo? I take it this guys forgot what a demo is used for?
Oh well, guess that's one lost sale.

 

[Korey Von Doom]

Okay I've gone and played the demo, and so far......OnLive lives up to all the terrible things I've heard, bad graphics, floaty controls, and a 30 minute limit on the demo. They want us to pay $9.99 a month and pay full price for games, that we'd lose if we didn't pay a monthly charge, for this crap?

 

[Worgen]

A. this isnt a pc demo, its a crappy onlive demo and B. it really misses a big point of a pc demo which is seeing how well your setup can run a game

this is crap all around

 

[Waaghpowa]

Okay I've gone and played the demo, and so far......OnLive lives up to all the terrible things I've heard, bad graphics, floaty controls, and a 30 minute limit on the demo. They want us to pay $9.99 a month and pay full price for games, that we'd lose if we didn't pay a monthly charge, for this crap?

Which is why I keep asking if anyone knows how they're doing sales wise. I just tried onlive and I live in Canada. I realize that being so far away from their servers is going to affect the quality of games since it's a direct stream but it raises some issues.

Since we don't own these games, what's the point? As you said, you pay full price for these games while still needing to maintain a subscription for something that we'll ultimately lose if we stop paying. I fail to see how cloud gaming is going to catch on at all. Not to mention it feels totally pointless, for me at least, to use onlive when my hardware has zero affect on how well the game itself runs.

Played the Red Faction demo, I averaged 30 FPS at shitty rez, and the controls felt like I was using Vsync with mouth smoothing, except I couldn't turn it off.

This will obviously be more of a luxury thing for people in the US since you require a fast connection, but it still doesn't change the fact that you don't own these games.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Sorry guys, I should've been clearer on this but it sounds like the RFA demo will be released through conventional channels when the game comes out in June. So you should be able to give it a go eventually, just not until a couple weeks after OnLive subscribers have had a shot at it. Which is still bullshit as far as I'm concerned, but a bit of a bright spot for non-OnLivers who are interested in the game.

 

[Waaghpowa]

Sorry guys, I should've been clearer on this but it sounds like the RFA demo will be released through conventional channels when the game comes out in June. So you should be able to give it a go eventually, just not until a couple weeks after OnLive subscribers have had a shot at it. Which is still bullshit as far as I'm concerned, but a bit of a bright spot for non-OnLivers who are interested in the game.

As I said in my above post, I signed up for Onlive(free) just to try the game after reading this article. Complaints about Onlive aside, it's actually not too bad, interesting enough for me to consider getting (Assuming Duke Nukem and Infamous 2 don't eat up all my time).

Edit: I meant the game wasn't bad, incase there was some confusion.

 

[Baresark]

LoL, between Capcom and these guys... wow.

The point of a demo is to build up some demand for a game. If they took the time to make a demo, why make the majority of PC customers wait till game release? It's like sharpening that knife up really well, just to cut off your foot. Fail... just fail.