OnLive: Mindfuck

[JaoSming]

The video game world (aka, fanboys) are being rocked right now by OnLive. Pretty much it is a mini console you hook into your TV or a 1mb plugin for your browser on your computer and you play PC games off the internet. They claim that they only have 1ms of lag with their process, normal LCD monitors are 5ms.

At first I was kinda skeptical of it, till I watched the IGN videos of it, then I shit bricks.

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

phpBB [video]

I'm definitely keeping my eye on this

Edit: http://www.gamespot.com/shows/on-the-sp ... ot20090324

So they have a mini console for a TV, or browser plug-ins for PC/MAC. you can watch anyone playing any of the games they have at any time even if you dont own it. You can upload "brag clips" that show the last 15 seconds of gameplay and share it and evidently you can play with mouse n keyboard along with any USB controller.

Seriously, wtf....



I can def see Microsoft, Sony, and nintendo getting in on this with channels on their respective console's menus, but this is fecking amazing.

[benji]

There's nothing remarkable or mindfuck or amazing or even new about this. Your PS3 already has remote play, your PC has remote desktop among other things.

It is going to fail, and everyone should hope it fails rather than take over the industry. You have to subscribe to the service and then buy access to the individual games.

And it's not 1ms of lag, it's they added only 1ms of lag. The problem is that pesky speed of light and the internet infrastructure.

Oh, and the cost. Which will ensure it fails unless they sell it to a cable service.

Phantom existed and worked, their business plan didn't.

[JaoSming]

Well it isn't like everyone is sticking their 360s and PS3s and shit on ebay, it's something to watch and be impressed by but if it fails like you think, nothing changes.

[benji]

The point is no consumers should want this to ever become successful.

[Patr1ck]

Just like Steam. What's going to happen when you want to play Steam games in the future and all of a sudden....no steam? I remain skeptical until I see it in action.

Really, what are they going to do? Just stream video of the game to you while you play it over a network? Oh, I want to play games but their brand new buggy service is temporarily down. My PC and Xbox just need a piece of spinning plastic in order to play the games.

[benji]

Well, Valve has stated they will unlock everything if they're ever shutting down. As is, you don't need to subscribe to Steam, and the games don't require it.

For this service you have to subscribe to the service and then the games. And when you stop paying for the first one, you lose all your games.

Yeah, it streams the video back to you from a computer somewhere that's doing all the work. So you press a button and it sends the command to this computer, which does the input and all the game work, then they send you a compressed version of the video/audio output.

[JaoSming]

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/03/impre ... #continued

Evidently no Pixies hiding anywhere

[JaoSming]

the Pixies do a damn good job

Just played OnLive and I am quite impressed to say the least.

I did watch a bunch of people playing different games at first, which was pretty cool, saw a naked lady in a cutscene in Assassin's Creed 2. Then browsed the "Brag Clips" and didn't see anything worth a shit in there.

Started the demo for Dirt 2, which is a game I regularly play on my computer with the 360 controller and was able to come in first on the difficulty I usually have some challenge with. There is a slight lag, no doubt about that, but nothing that took me out of the moment or hindered my gameplay. I dont think I'll be getting Crysis or any other Mouse/Keyboard shooters for it because of the lag, but for console games it is no problem.

They've given me a free year and a free game. Games can evidently be shut off from your library in 3 years. Games cost "normal" costs, AC2 is 40, Borderlands was 30, and they can be "rented" for 9 bucks for 5 days and 6 bucks for 3.

The Brag Clips is awesome, since what you are playing is a video you can save the last 10 seconds of gameplay for future viewing. Did that twice.

If anyone else got in, I'm JaoSming on there, add me as a friend. This could prove to be a nice alternative to upgrading PC components to some people, but I get PC games to mod them, soooooo this won't be replacing my PS360ii anytime soon.

phpBB [video]

[NovU]

Intriguing. I'm a PC only gamer, so missed out on X-Box Live or PS3 online stuffz. Perhaps this should succeed for folks like me as I don't plan to own consoles.

[shadowgrin]

I'm a PC only gamer, so missed out on X-Box Live or PS3 online stuffz.

So true, we PC gamers haven't had the joys of online play since the dawn of videogames or the internet. Oh the inhumanity of it all!

[NovU]

Still PC online gaming experience is sorta weak compariably. You don't see all kinds of newest downloadable games and news, not to mention so-easy-to-use interface right away, but you have to do all of those manually, through searching and going through many craps procedure that follows. Many of my friends own consoles, and I could see why they turned back from PC gaming. With online game experience being no more of PC's strength over those consoles, I think this OnLive idea is kinda like an approach the consoles did even though Steam's been doing that for their own games.

[JaoSming]

IMO this shouldn't replace PC gaming, this should replace console gaming.

They are releasing that mini-console later in the year that is nothing more than a HDMI slot and an ethernet slot for TVs

[Patr1ck]

This shouldn't replace anything. It's not a bad idea, and I will probably try the mini-console version out, but I don't see the point in paying full price to lease a game when I can just buy a retail copy. I love the clip grabbing idea, and the social networking possibilities with the ability to spectate other people playing and possibly join a multiplayer session after watching for a few minutes.

So, how is the image quality? How noticeable is the lag(try an fps demo)? Any connection breaks or pixelation while playing?

[JaoSming]

Image quality was no worse than youtube 720p. Lag is noticeable but you can compensate easily. I havent ran into any breaks or pixelation.

Thinking I'm going to redeem for AC2, so when I get a chance to sit down and play that I'll be able to pick out more flaws.

[Patr1ck]

I thought we got a free game or something? I got invited so I tried out Dirt 2 and F.E.A.R. 2 to see how the lag is, and there wasn't a lot, but there were some parts where the games became really choppy and of course increased input delay. Image quality is pretty good but there is something different. It's looks like it is not as crisp as I am used to playing.

The interface is amazing. I am mostly talking about the arena, where you can just watch a small screen and jump right into watching someone play. Sports games need to incorporate something like that so people can join a game already in progress, especially after getting disconnected or something.

[JaoSming]

there should be a code in your activation email, goto the game you want, hit buy and then redeem code

Got assassins creed 2, looks like they went "medium" on some of the settings cause it doesnt look like a game that was heralded for its graphics.

NBA 2k10 has a section in its media area for OnLive users now
http://community.2ksports.com/community ... leid=20492

Being able to spectate games would be awesome...