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Topic: OnLive

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Bankai

http://www.onlive.com/

It launches fairly soon - is anyone else interested in how this will turn out?

There's a good list of big publishers supporting the service, and the billing vs ownership model is one that works well in buisiness, and I think it'll work well in gaming too - giving you greater access to more games at a cheaper price overall (monthly bill vs buying each and every individual game).

The way I see myself using this is like this - I see a game I'm interested in on OnLive, and I use that console as an extended demo. If I really, really like the game, then I can purchase a hard copy for PS3/ Wii. If I don't, then I don't need to go to the hassle of either trading it in or taking it back.

It's also further proof that the whole gaming industry is making the shift to that ownership model, which is fine by me. We use cloud computing at work, and it's way, way better than having to carry hard drives, CDs and so on everywhere.

Magi

I'm really intrigued by it, especially it's claims of being (near?) lag-free. I'm on the fence about it and am taking a "wait and see" stance.

Magi

Chucko

Huh. Sounds alot like steam. Looks interesting, though.

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, would you kindly?

V8_Ninja

So let me get this straight; the service allows you to "Stream" games to a computer that might not be able to even play the game. Am I right?

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Slapshot

@V8..... no actually for your TV the reciever streams it and its supposively lag free and if you buy it, then it doesnt download onto the system at all, it actually is your and you access throught the box to play your game. Its a PC, X360, PS3 all-in-one.

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Magi

V8+Ninja wrote:

So let me get this straight; the service allows you to "Stream" games to a computer that might not be able to even play the game. Am I right?

As I understand it, the game is totally housed and run on the OnLive servers.
Maybe this analogy works:
Normally, you take your Wii, a pair of cables, and a television and hook them all together in the same room to play a game. But with OnLive, the Wii is chilling back at OnLive headquarters, and the video signal is sent to your home via internet, and it's displayed on your tv (via the little black box sitting on your tv).

Magi

Percentful

Wait, so you can play wii, ps3, 360, and pc games through this?

Just let it happen.

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Magi

110percentful wrote:

Wait, so you can play wii, ps3, 360, and pc games through this?

potentially. It all depends on what companies sign-on to the service as a provider.

Magi

V8_Ninja

@Magi Thanks for the analogy! My only question left is that how will it all work out. Wouldn't you need a single Wii for every person that was playing a Wii with the Onlive box, which would result in thousands of Wiis? The logistics of this make no sense.

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Percentful

Magi wrote:

110percentful wrote:

Wait, so you can play wii, ps3, 360, and pc games through this?

potentially. It all depends on what companies sign-on to the service as a provider.

Interesting. I would also want to know if you could use original controllers, and if you could permanently download a game.

Just let it happen.

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Magi

@V8 Ninja: The facilities that house these "game systems" are huge rooms with many blade servers in network racks. Servers can generally handle quite a few unique connections so there will be multiple people playing games on each server. I'm positive there will not be stacks and stacks of Wii's, Xbox's, PS3's, etc. The games will be entirely on computers which will probably run emulation software and/or the games themselves will be re-coded to work with OnLive's software/hardware requirements. I suspect emulation will be at work here, at least initially until games are unveiled that are only designed to work with the OnLive service.

@110percentful: OnLive will use it's own proprietary controller which will be very configurable so you can program the buttons to do things that the normal systems controllers would have done. The initial question that comes to my mind is: how do you emulate a motion-controlled controller scheme like the WiiMote on a device that looks very to a PS3/360 controller/Gamecube/etc controller. I don't know enough about the system to speculate on that, but I'm a bit doubtful that there will be any games that rely on motion controls being offered on the OnLive service. I need to do some more researching on this matter I guess.

edit: I also don't believe there will be any downloadable games. That kind of thing would screw up their business model. I also don't think the hardware that will be used on the player-side will have that type of storage capacity anyway.

Edited on by Magi

Magi

Bankai

Magi's right. OnLive uses cloud technology: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

It's good technology - it's a massive buzzword in the business world, with a whole bunch of enterprises moving their IT infrastructure from on-site premises to "the cloud"

A gaming console that runs the same way would be good. You don't "own" anything in your house, as such - you're just accessing it from the Internet. With the right bandwidth, virtually any computer and the weakest of consoles would be able to play the games on the service.

Ravage

Its basically a PC platform, but they will be looking for ways to extend it to people's TV's like a console. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo will not like it at all and will try to block them out of the console network as much as they can. Its going to be expensive too. They're not going to be able to sell the games at less than retail, so you're going to be buying an already too expensive game ($70 is a rip off) and then pay monthly fees...I'm guessing around the $50 mark. So by the time the year is up, you've spent $600 plus games, you could easily upgrade your PC and then get your games cheaper for that cost...

Plus you have to have a constantly stable internet connection, not even most (**cough**Ubisoft**cough**) makes you have a constant connection. Sure a constant internet connection makes sense for a multiplayer only game, but for single-player only...? Ubisoft's DRM was cracked quickly too... I'm not one to promote piracy, but why put yourself through that nonsense?

And there ends my rant...

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Bankai

No, you're just guessing at the cost. It quite clearly states that OnLive will be a $15/ month access fee. We don't know how much the games themselves will cost to rent or buy.

They're not going to be able to sell the games at less than retail,

Why? Every other download service does.

You also don't seem to understand the benefits, or reasons behind cloud computing. It's not, as you suggest, a DRM-control attempt. It's about providing a different (and in many cases, better) way of accessing content. All you need is a good bandwidth connection. You need very minimal hardware, and unlike other consoles or PCs, you'll be able to stream through your notebook, anywhere in the world. It's perfect for people that want PC or Console quality gaming, but travel a lot.

As a service, it's also easier for OnLive to provide support and resolve problems in real time.

Once again, I would like to point out there's a reason that enterprises are moving away from owning their own infrastructure, to adopting cloud models. In the long run, it actually ends up being cheaper and more convenient.

Edited on by Bankai

Ravage

I'm not saying anything about DRM control, just ranting about Ubisoft. Places like Steam cannot sell much below RRSP because of pressure from retailers. Once the stores don't care (ie. the game is a couple years old) then they are cheaper (and sometimes much cheaper) other places. Its like people always asking on forums why these games are so expensive, etc. Also, who has control over settings? I want to know if we're going to be able to play these games to their fullest or if they are going to undercut us whenever they want more server space. I don't know how its going to work out, but I find that it doesn't seem much worth it... I also don't know that many people with stable enough connections for this to even work out here.

Sean Aaron ~ "The secret is out: I'm really an American cat-girl."
Q: How many physicists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two, one to hold the light bulb, the other to rotate the universe.

Bankai

Swiket wrote:

I remember when everyone asked "Wait, isn't this impossible with modern compression technology?" and their response was "yeah but we have REALLY GOOD new compression tech we've been working on for years Untitled"

There's far more data-heavy stuff being sent back and forth amongst enterprises using cloud solutions. I'm not tech-savvy enough to know how it's done, but I know it is done.

Raylax

The highest spec game my computer can run is Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, and then only at 'medium' graphical settings (still complete with some juddering), so I guess I won't be using this. My internet connection is pretty poor too.

Raylax

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Bankai

Raylax wrote:

The highest spec game my computer can run is Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, and then only at 'medium' graphical settings (still complete with some juddering), so I guess I won't be using this. My internet connection is pretty poor too.

The game specs don't mean much when it comes to cloud computing. The actual processing of the game is done on the host server. All your computer is doing is streaming it. If you can operate a browser on your computer, you can play cloud-based games

Rhansley64

OnLive sounds good on paper but not everything on paper can be executed well. There are 3 simple obstacles the Company faces:

1. Online Digital distribution such as Steam since you can actually buy games for your PC (And MAC coming soon) on select titles plus Direct Drive and other Online Digital distribution already exist so unless you like paying fees for rental much like Netflix (yeah this server is the video game version of Netflix) then i can see it might work but if SEGA, EA, Activision, Square-Enix, Ubisoft, CAPCOM, Konami just to name a few see a degrees in sales Onlive is dead then.
2. Micro Console faces Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii as competitors no matter how you see it it's a competitor if they introduced it on TV but besides that this is actually the hardest challenge since History has shown only 3 Game Console can exist more then 3 well the weakest in sales will die (sadly the Dreamcast is an example). And because Nintendo, Microsoft and SONY are strong brands already Onlive seem to have no chance in this market.
3. Game Piracy it's a problem for every gaming manufacturer and Onlive is no deferent if it's hackable Pirates will buy the hardware just to hack it and basicly played games on it without a care if it destroyed a company it happen to the PS1 and Dreamcast it can happen to them the only upside is the hardware but that upside comes with the biggest downside no third party support and just like in the History of Video Games lack of third party support = you will lose your audience for sure it happen to Nintendo, it happen to SEGA and it happen to SONY and might happen to Microsoft in the near future.

So unless Onlive can dodge these bullets it might have a shot.

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/episode-107-pach-attack/63343

Rhansley64

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