Onlive?

[happysock]

Hey can someone tell me what onlive is i'm really confused I read an article on it and went to their website but still can't get my head around it.

 

[D_987]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnLive
http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/965/965535p1.html

Just announced at this year's GDC, OnLive is an on-demand gaming service. It's essentially the gaming version of cloud computing - everything is computed, rendered and housed online. In its simplest description, your controller inputs are uploaded, a high-end server takes your inputs and plays the game, and then a video stream of the output is sent back to your computer. Think of it as something like Youtube or Hulu for games.

 

[Nimbus]

Basically, they send you a video feed of the game you are playing over the Internet, while you send them mouse, keyboard or controller commands, all in real time.

 

[bodyklok]

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/gdc-2009/638-OnLive

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/conferences/e3_2009/6153-OnLive-at-E3-It-Works

Should sum it up.

 

[happysock]

Argh I sort of get it now, So you pay for the game and like download it (like games on demand with the 360) then you can play it as long as you are connected to the internet and they have a funky console you can connect to your tv and you can play it through that?

Couple of questions though is it brand new games you can play on it?

 

[bodyklok]

Argh I sort of get it now, So you pay for the game and like download it (like games on demand with the 360) then you can play it as long as you are connected to the internet and they have a funky console you can connect to your tv and you can play it through that?

That's pretty much it for the consumer aspect, theres a bit more when you get into it though.

Couple of questions though, is it brand new games you can play on it?

Assuming there are any developers that want to release games for OnLive, and I really doubt there won't, the good thing about OnLive and releases is you don't have to cue up for them outside Game all night, they just appear instantaneously at the store and you can start playing them straight away.

EDIT: You'll also probably be able to play a bunch of old games on it as well, no doubt someone will want to make some more money by releasing an old popular game like FF7 for it

 

[Emphraim]

Problem with this whole service is that you need to have very high speed internet to actually be able to play. After all, you are streaming the game as you play it and you are uploading your instructions(the commands you input using your controller or mouse and keyboard) to their servers with at most several milliseconds lag.

 

[happysock]

Couple of questions though, is it brand new games you can play on it?

Assuming there are any developers that want to release games for OnLive, and I really doubt there won't, the good thing about OnLive and releases is you don't have to cue up for them outside Game all night, they just appear instantaneously at the store and you can start playing them straight away.

EDIT: You'll also probably be able to play a bunch of old games on it as well, no doubt someone will want to make some more money by releasing an old popular game like FF7 for it

Yeah the old games would be cool but surely theres the chance that it could put a few places out of business.

 

[Kermi]

You pay for a box to connect to your TV, then pay a subscription fee to play streaming games in realtime. So you don't own the game or any physical media, and you have to always be connected to the internet to play. You're completely reliant on the servers remaining active and stable if you want to play your game, which you'll do so with constant latency.

I totally can see how OnLive is going to destroy the console market.

 

[bodyklok]

Couple of questions though, is it brand new games you can play on it?

Assuming there are any developers that want to release games for OnLive, and I really doubt there won't, the good thing about OnLive and releases is you don't have to cue up for them outside Game all night, they just appear instantaneously at the store and you can start playing them straight away.

EDIT: You'll also probably be able to play a bunch of old games on it as well, no doubt someone will want to make some more money by releasing an old popular game like FF7 for it

Yeah the old games would be cool but surely theres the chance that it could put a few places out of business.

What, like Gamestop? I personally count that as a plus, buying video games in a store has always been a pain for me, the same can go for getting them online from eBay or Amazon.

 

[j0z]

I seriously doubt OnLive will work, the internet infrastructure just isn't there for many people. And a few milliseconds of lag could cripple it, and server maintenance. I am signed up for the beta program, so I will soon see myself.

 

[Kermi]

I'd prefer to use Steam or Impulse, before resorting to OnLive. And I still prefer actual consoles.