OnLive: Raising the Bar, Lowering the Requirements
March 27, 2009
The website <http://www.onlive.com> finally reached zero on its countdown, unveiling a gorgeous, yet simple website (although it was a good 15 minutes more before I could actually view it). OnLive says, “after years of development in stealth mode, we finally expose ourselves to the world.” But maybe you’re asking, just what is OnLive?
OnLive will be an online service that plans to revolutionize the way games are played. In its simplest form, it is a casual gamer’s dream come true. Many students go to school every year with their brand new laptops, only to find that they need a GPU to play just about any game they want. Although older computers may not work with OnLive as well, they claim that any entry-level PC or Mac (yes, that’s right, Mac) will be able to use their service, as long as your internet connection is good enough. There will even be an option to buy a small machine that can hook up to an HDTV, changing the way game consoles may be viewed in the future.
So how does it work? OnLive has the ultimate gaming machines, so you don’t have to. The service streams what’s going on in the game to you, and when you input the controls, it sends them via broadband internet to their servers, which calculate the next move, and send the feedback to you again, and so forth. So basically, you’re playing through their computers. OnLive boasts that you will be able to play on the highest graphics, because their machines can take it. For an HDTV, if you want 720p high definition, you’re going to need at least a 5Mbps connection, whereas at least a 1.5 Mbps connection is needed for standard definition.
There will most likely be a monthly service charged involved, and each game to buy will cost extra (although you can demo them to try them out, or rent them, if you prefer), but it sounds like it could be worth it, since you would not have to spend all your money on a gaming machine. OnLive also promises online gameplay, as well as special features, such as replays. The service is set to launch in Winter 2009, and this summer they will begin choosing for the open beta, so sign up now if you want to try it!
March 28, 2009 at 1:26 pm
I hope you have comments on. As for OnLine, i am going to take a wait-and-see attitude towards it. It is still in beta stage atm, but i can definitely see video lag problems w/ higher definition games due to bandwidth. I think that single player games, like Bioshock, a little video lag wont be a huge issue, but as soon as your in a multiplayer environment those split seconds of lag will be super annoying.
What i do like about this system is that the hardware itself will probably have a lower than average price point, attracting many casual gamers (much like the Wii). I personally do not like subscription services for games, but if it turns into something similar to Netflix online, where you pay a monthly fee and watch/play all the movies/games you want, then I think it will do fine w/ a subscription. If instead they go the Xbox Live route (pay a subscription and pay extra for games) then I will pass on this system.
-Jake