Onlive

[pulse2]

Have you used it yet? What do you think of it? Think it's the sort of thing you could get used to?

I personally love it, but I am weary of buying games on it, purely for the fact that the games won't be in my hand or on a drive that I can visually see them on, this somehow turns me off :/

What is Onlive?:

- http://www.onlive.com/#2
- http://news.cnet.com/onlive-could-threaten-xbox-ps3-and-wii/
- http://www.joystiq.com/search/?q=onlive&invocationType=wl-joystiq
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onlive

 

[BENZOOKA]

You sure are putting up threads like mushrooms after rain.

I have no idea what Onlive is. Perhaps you could apply a bit more effort and elaborate on the subject at hand.

 

[GiantRaven]

When I buy things, I want to actually own them. Suffice to say, I don't think I'll ever be using Onlive.

A question though; how is the latency between a controller action and the response within the game?

 

[RatRace123]

When I buy things, I want to actually own them. Suffice to say, I don't think I'll ever be using Onlive.

Same here, whenever I get games I like to hold them in my hand, makes me feel like I actually own it.

The same pleasure is not had with downloaded games, I never feel like I own it, I feel like I'm just renting it.

 

[pulse2]

You sure are putting up threads like mushrooms after rain.

I have no idea what Onlive is. Perhaps you could apply a bit more effort and elaborate on the subject at hand.

Haha, yeah, thats because I come up with an array of topics I'd like to discuss on the escapist all at the same time, I do try to leave an interval between them, not long, but long enough, then I dissappear for about a week, maybe two with nothing more to discuss Just the way I roll. Besides, if they promote conversation and aren't just spam, I don't see what the problem is. I like debate.

Sorry, I assumed everyone knew what Onlive was, but I'll edit the original topic so that it's clearer, basically its a game streaming service, you download the client on PC or buy the hardware that released late last year that runs the client on any TV. It basically enables you to play retail games over an internet connection, however, while it is convenenient, it's not without its array of turn offs for some gamers which is what I came here to discuss.

 

[Fr]anc[is]

When I buy things, I want to actually own them. Suffice to say, I don't think I'll ever be using Onlive.

Same here, whenever I get games I like to hold them in my hand, makes me feel like I actually own it.

The same pleasure is not had with downloaded games, I never feel like I own it, I feel like I'm just renting it.

I couldn't help but read that in Zevran's voice, and it fits far to well

I also agree, although steam sales are good also

 

[Kermi]

I won't use OnLive.

You still have to buy the box to plug into your TV.

You still have to buy the games.

When your internet is out or if OnLive goes down, all you have is a paperweight.

Once the OnLive service ends (and let's face it, it probably will at some point) you lose everything.

It's all cons and no pros as far as I'm concerned. And personally, with the substandard broadband internet we have in Australia, and lag issues are going to be ten times worse for us than anyone in the US.

 

[Tenky]

Onlive is like the Phantom... it's going to gather the dust soon enough!

 

[veloper]

You sure are putting up threads like mushrooms after rain.

I have no idea what Onlive is. Perhaps you could apply a bit more effort and elaborate on the subject at hand.

It's an expensive service where, if you have excellent broadband and you also live close to their server, you can play PC games at low resolution, streamed to your PC at 30 FPS.

Ofcourse if you have a great connection, you prolly also have a decent rig that can play PC games at high resolution and 60+ fps. You can get the games cheaper through Steam special sales.

 

[redisforever]

It doesn't work for me, my internet sucks, and I'm in Canada, and the companies here are slowing everything down.

I'm also too far from the servers, so, yeah, too slow.

I did try, and when it worked, I quite liked it.

The game library is a bit too small for now, but it is growing. It won't replace Steam for me though.

 

[Rokar333]

I feel that Onlive fails as a digital distribution store. However, I feel people are vastly underestimating the ability to demo games or even "rent" PC games for 3-5 days, even games which would not normally work on your machine.OnLive fails as a competitor to services such as Steam. However it's a fuckton better than Gamefly, and if it focuses on that as it's strength it could evolve into a great service.

EDIT: I think that what OnLive really needs right now are MOAR GAMES. The selection, while decent, is still quite small. I think if they could get more developers behind the Playpack Subscription ($10 a month for unlimited access to a percentage of the games available on OnLive) then it could be really awesome. I'd pay $10 a month for unlimited access to games, even if I didn't technically have ownership over them. Hell if OnLive just re-branded themselves as a rental service where you could buy the occasional game, they'd be a lot better off.

 

[Amishdemon]

When I buy things, I want to actually own them. Suffice to say, I don't think I'll ever be using Onlive.

Same here, whenever I get games I like to hold them in my hand, makes me feel like I actually own it.

The same pleasure is not had with downloaded games, I never feel like I own it, I feel like I'm just renting it.

with steam i feel as though i own it because i can use it anywhere.

 

[BENZOOKA]

You sure are putting up threads like mushrooms after rain.

I have no idea what Onlive is. Perhaps you could apply a bit more effort and elaborate on the subject at hand.

It's an expensive service where, if you have excellent broadband and you also live close to their server, you can play PC games at low resolution, streamed to your PC at 30 FPS.

With an obvious unbearable latency, no matter how fast the connection is.

That concept sounds so ridiculous that it doesn't even make sense.

I'd be as excited to play that way, as I would be to look a friend play a game through a choppy webcam stream, while telling him what to do over the phone. Assuming that he would question every command, as well.

 

[migo]

I use OnLive, and quite enjoy it. It's nice for the games my system can't handle well, although since I can run Unreal Tournament 2004 on my Netbook, OnLive for UT3 is rather redundant. Still, pretty cool, I like the spectating aspect too.

I've bought a couple games, Indie titles on sale, so I've spent right around $4 on them, which I'm going to use to get a better feeler for the service.

Biggest problem is bandwidth usage. My ISP gives a 125GB upload and 125GB download cap, which is generous for torrents, but I'd rather have a full 250GB for streaming Netflix and OnLive. It seems to use data at a rate of 1GB every 25 minutes, which can be pretty crippling, so I've decided for the time being I'm best off just signing in on UT3 and FEAR2 multiplayer nights on Free Trial and playing for 30 minutes. It's about the playtime that my bandwidth limits can support.

That's one of the cool things, you get a free trial of the full game, rather than an overly restricted one. If the game is MP focused, you can play a lot without paying a thing.

What they really need to do is offer an ED 16:9 stream instead of just HD. That'd support people with slower internet connections and lower bandwidth limits.

When I started with my ISP it was 110/110 Up/Down, and it moved to 125/125 automatically, so I figure over time it'll creep up more, and eventually it'll be at the point where it's more usable.

 

[migo]

You sure are putting up threads like mushrooms after rain.

I have no idea what Onlive is. Perhaps you could apply a bit more effort and elaborate on the subject at hand.

It's an expensive service where, if you have excellent broadband and you also live close to their server, you can play PC games at low resolution, streamed to your PC at 30 FPS.

Ofcourse if you have a great connection, you prolly also have a decent rig that can play PC games at high resolution and 60+ fps. You can get the games cheaper through Steam special sales.

OnLive has special sales too, so that's not really true. And I'd rather have games that I don't own on OnLive, because they work if they're on the service. If a game doesn't work on Steam they just tell you you're SOL.