View Full Version : Onlive .... gaming future?
Anyone been following the development of this system?
http://kotaku.com/5181625/see-onlive-in-action
Obviously many many questions need to be answered / tried and tested, but it's hard not to get a little excited by the possibilities.
No wonder some major companies are already backing it, game piracy would be pretty non-existent.
The end of the console? I suppose its the way we'll end up, massive server centers doing all the work and terminal pcs instead of number crunching beasts.
But it's all about the lag isn't it? I can't believe that a button press could fire fown through the internet and send back the reponse 25fps. But I'm ready to be proved wrong.
Certainly for non-action games it would work a treat.
Tony Ferrino
24-03-2009, 09:59
If it works, it's almost the gaming holy grail. The only problem I can foresee outside the manufacturer's sphere of influence is download limits. How much bandwidth will it use streaming HD video constantly? If you're on a limited ISP you'll be over your limit in a couple of hours!
Grandmaster
24-03-2009, 19:10
Unless the servers are hosted by your ISP, there's no way on earth this is going to be in any way as playable as having the console in your home. Also 5mbps is nowhere near enough bandwidth to stream 720p gameplay.
Unless the servers are hosted by your ISP, there's no way on earth this is going to be in any way as playable as having the console in your home. Also 5mbps is nowhere near enough bandwidth to stream 720p gameplay.
even then, most would probably arse it up. I cant see this ever becoming a reality outside a few small pockets of the world.
How can this possibly work? How much hardware will they need to be able to pump out thousands of high def games every second of every day? Its astronomical!
I would love it if it works though as I can't afford to keep upgrading my pc/console every couple years just to play the latest games.
Jedibitch
24-03-2009, 21:54
It's pretty much a dream, as others have said some of the technical problems they need to overcome are staggering!
But if it came true I would be the first in line to order! :thumbs:
lag, download speeds and bandwidth caps will kill it. ISP's are already moaning about the hit iplayer has put on them, constant HD gaming will dwarf what that uses.
brilliant idea though, just five years (at least) ahead of the required infrastructure.
So it's basicaly Real-VNC with the games running in a virtual machine on the server.
I believe it's labelled as DRMs Nuclear option on some sites I read - you'll have no access to your games unless you pay a subscription, you'll have no second hand value (as you've no physical product to hand over), you get the "sorry we decided to not support that game any more as it wasn't profitable for us" permanently hanging over your head etc. etc.
The lag time discussion has been muddied by their press release too - the 1 ms is the encoding time for the screen *NOT* the input and return lag times. Add on the real world lags, provider bandwidth caps and ......
Phantom 2?
I also wonder at the simple size calculation of how much bandwidth *they* would be needing - 5 meg for a HD stream allows for about 8000 connections to an OC-768 flat out.
Though the system does stop piracy doesn't it. Can't think why industry would be interested ;)
I imagine the next marketing strategy will be to target the parents as now they can guarantee their kids cannot use games outside the agreed hours.
How can this possibly work?
A: It won't.
Every year GDC and the like are full of snakeoil operations like this and every year overenthusiastic 'game journalists' fall for it hook, line and sinker.
It's like citrix for games, but as said above pushing 60fps @ 1080p with 7.1 sound and player chat and getting no input lag on button presses is probably do-able in a lab over gigabit switches... but once it's in the wild it's not sustainable.
With our current comms infrastructure in the UK a hybrid solution with a fat client in the home might be achievable... but that’s not too different than today… but thin all the way through? Not today.. but soon...
Nick dVl
25-03-2009, 10:08
With all the capping, traffic-shaping, throttling and government-snooping overhead that the majority of ISPs do, I seriously doubt this is going to fly except in countries where 100Mbps is the norm (Japan and South Korea mainly).
I'm very curious as to the server hardware running this stuff. Kicking out cutting-edge 3D graphics requires some heavy-duty hardware. Multiplying that by a few thousand players...how is it even viable?
MetalGearAl
25-03-2009, 10:18
Going to be great every time you reach a bit of action in the game and it pauses with "Buffering...." up on the screen.
I guess their theory is they'll pump all the money from subscriptions into buying the hardware as required. They won't keep up, it'll all be slow as hell, people won't bother will playing, the money will dry up, the company will fold.
even hosted at your ISP this tech is noticably laggy on old games.
Maybe it will work one day, but not yet.
MetalGearAl
26-03-2009, 19:11
Great article on why this won't work:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/gdc-why-onlive-cant-possibly-work-article
The main problem with this is that it will be a 'closed system'. We start losing control over how we use our games. *If* it worked, how long before consoles / gaming becomes like switching between TV stations.
I foresee a world of extremely dumbed down gaming...
Even if it were possible, why would anyone want it? I can only see an advantage of having less clutter in your home. Sounds like the Phantom 2.
I can't imagine the hardware manufacturers will be too keen on this. The PC market will probably drop by a quarter assuming you won't need to upgrade your thin client STB every 4 years or so.
basegreen
28-03-2009, 06:54
Well I can't say too much, but it's already possible technically to play FPS via the internet like this.
If you are talking about quake live, the code is sent down and the processing is actually done on your computer by your CPU and GPU.
The difference with Onlive is the processing is done at their end.. You send your inputs, they receive them, process them, capture the video out, compress the video out and send it back to you as a screen scrape... It works really well for making normally fat client apps run over limited bandwidth..
I've used Citrix in the past to present applications to large number of offshore users, but that was using a CRM application that wasn't expected to run at 60fps in HD... If it takes 2 seconds to update someones account details on the screen it's not the end of the world.. But in a games like Street Fighter even a miniscule delay would break the whole experience.
Of course you may be talking of something else, but I'm not sure what.
zantarous
28-03-2009, 10:08
And the minute your Internet connection goes down you have no access to your games. No thanks!
degeneration
01-04-2009, 17:17
This actually isn't too far off actually happening and there is already a widely used version of it out there....
Second Life.
OK, it's not a gaming app and it is quite often laggy as hell, but all of your movements and actions happen on the servers, with code processed there and the reactions send back. For course the graphics aren't being rendered on the server (That is on your end) but every avatar, prim, sound, script, texture is rendered at Linden Labs and piped to the client.
Although for EVERYTHING to be done server end, I doubt we'll see this until 2020 at the earliest, mainly due to bandwidth.
kiran_mk2
02-04-2009, 20:15
Probably best to wait and see the real world demos. They seem pretty confident the Eurogamer article is well off the mark (they would though) - it will boil down to the chips they use and their custom compression techniques. Hardware manufacturers would probably love it as instead of selling cheap loss-making products to consumers, they'd get to sell pricey servers to gaming cluster farms.
MetalGearAl
31-12-2009, 00:13
Well, this is still going. There's a 40 minute presentation uploaded of them giving a demo at Columbia University - http://www.gamertagradio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12747
They're very confident about their radical video compression technology. He handles it rather well and answers some questions about it at the end, stating that the compression algorithms are run on dedicated chips they have created, one for each stream.
Still, will believe it when I see it. Which we won't, as it's US only for now!
the_edge30
31-12-2009, 08:43
Just watched that, utterly amazing, honestly couldnt believe what I was watching when he first switched the demo on, I mean it makes sense, but how fast and clear it was running on that Laptop....
Crazy stuff really!!!
internetuser
31-12-2009, 09:31
All I say is look back 10 years and look what we have now !
the internet with out wires ?
the biggest selling camera make being nokia ?
http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/3931/40152829phantoinfinium2.jpg (http://img198.imageshack.us/i/40152829phantoinfinium2.jpg/)
I think the ISP reliability is the one worry for me
Constant speed to stream HD, and no downtime? Hmmm....
Wow! Very exciting prospect - imagine no silly boxes needed or multi-platform delelopment. We all get the very best high end version of every game, using ANY USB control device :D
This must be the future for all of us within a couple of years - quoting a requirement for 5MBps speeds for HD quality.
Though I have a relatively slow BB connection (a bit far from my local exchange) I have very little downtime nowadays and this must only improve.
LeftHandedGuitarist
02-01-2010, 11:12
Very interesting stuff, but you can bet ATI and nVidia won't be too happy about the potential impact on their business!
Great if it works, but if the likes of Citrix can still have bandwidth/latency/speed issues for desktops and basic apps, then I'm quite skeptical that they can maintain the levels of performance in the video in real world environments.
The input latency is the thing that kills this idea stone dead. Then the scalability issue comes along and ****** on its corpse
The input latency is the thing that kills this idea stone dead. Then the scalability issue comes along and ****** on its corpse
Don't hold back, Rich. Tell us what you really think!!
MetalGearAl
02-01-2010, 15:26
Well they reckon they've handled it (though they admit wireless controllers could cause issues). Still remaining as sceptical as always, it really does seem like the stuff of dreams at the moment.
don't see how they could 'handle' lag. well, unless you have servers spread throughout a country. e.g, england has 1 server central somewhere. the US has a couple based on population density.
that might work but having friends lists would be impossible without massive lag
MetalGearAl
02-01-2010, 15:55
They're setting it up across the US only, and have stated players have to be within 1000-miles from their severs. They've also claimed to have struck deals with all the networks out there to ensure routing is as direct as possible.
internetuser
03-01-2010, 10:04
Give it time, everything is going cloud now, it may cost more to start with, but then the isp and the game makers control it all !
no piracy, and charge what they want.
consoles wont die, but more and more will be on demand... on xbox live is already a proof of concept on this... look how much of this has changed over 7 years....
Its still Xbox live but it has evolved alot
MetalGearAl
03-01-2010, 10:36
Trouble is it all looks like it's saving money for everyone except the consumer. Just look at how much the full downloadable titles are on the 360, even for all the old games.
It's great being able to pop to Tesco to pick up a game that they're flogging for a fiver because it isn't selling, whilst it probably stays at £34.99 on the online download sales.
Spooksta
03-01-2010, 11:30
Trouble is it all looks like it's saving money for everyone except the consumer. Just look at how much the full downloadable titles are on the 360, even for all the old games.
It's great being able to pop to Tesco to pick up a game that they're flogging for a fiver because it isn't selling, whilst it probably stays at £34.99 on the online download sales.
If you compare to i tunes i would say its going to work from that perspective. People do still like to touch a feel what they are buying but i tunes is proving that we will change. The difference here is that we dont download the game/song. Its just there to use. Its all depending on how popular it is.
The UK is way behind on internet speeds so there is along way to go for us.
http://www.speedtest.net/global.php
MetalGearAl
03-01-2010, 13:25
Aye, well I don't download stuff via iTunes either :p
There's no way this works in the UK without a major infrastructure overhaul. We just don't have the bandwidth. 9 out of 10 ISPs can't even provide a proper uncapped service for a start. We're decades away from this.
Decades?! I wouldn't have thought so...
LeftHandedGuitarist
03-01-2010, 16:46
I'm quite confused about the state of UK internet services. My distance from the telephone exhange means that the highest possible speed we can receive is around 1.5Mb. Last time we spoke to Sky about the speed of our connection, they informed us a major upgrade of UK telephone lines to fibre optics was underway and to expect the situation to improve in the next few years.
hookbeak
03-01-2010, 16:47
Decades?! I wouldn't have thought so...
more like never.
zantarous
03-01-2010, 16:58
I'm quite confused about the state of UK internet services. My distance from the telephone exhange means that the highest possible speed we can receive is around 1.5Mb. Last time we spoke to Sky about the speed of our connection, they informed us a major upgrade of UK telephone lines to fibre optics was underway and to expect the situation to improve in the next few years.
It depends where you live, at that speed I guess quite a distance form the exchange. There is a BT roll out of fibre to the cabinet happening and then copper the last mile but this will be only in areas where they can claw their investment back. People out in the sticks will have a very long wait.
The current BT roll out os expected to be completed by 2012.
Here is a list of 69 exchanges that were announced last year:
http://www.broadband-finder.co.uk/blog/2009/07/09/bt-earmarks-69-exchanges-for-fibre-upgrade/
the problem is, BT based ISPs will be capped/throttled to hell probably :(
Monkey3000
11-03-2010, 09:31
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8556874.stm going live in the states in June.
Interesting to see what happens over there, assume it will be some way off for UK users.
based on what the hardware costs, either this price isnt enough and will go up if succesful (it wont be), or the clients per cpu will be too high to get a decent experience.
daboy3000
11-03-2010, 09:51
£120 a year and thats before you buy or rent games. And if everything is streamed how can you buy a game. They should just charge £300-400 fee per year and all games are free.
They will still make hardware for this too, how many people have a PC plugged into there TV, people will want the nicest looking box and pad and headset and etc
Jedibitch
11-03-2010, 09:55
£120 a year and thats before you buy or rent games. And if everything is streamed how can you buy a game. They should just charge £300-400 fee per year and all games are free.
Exactly. Pointless charging per year almost what the cost of the console is? This puts them in a very odd place as i don't like to buy a console every year (insert 360 gag here :lol:)
The games would have to be a billy bargain then?
Also have they shown a controller yet?
As much as this 'sounds' good it will be very interesting to see how it fairs!
It's a mental idea until someone finds a way to break the speed of light.
Paying just to access their servers to view prices of games you then have to buy, this is doomed to failure. I wouldnt like to be the one to spend abit of money on building a games collection through these guys, i wouldnt be suprised to see them give up after a year and everyone lose everything they've purchased.
Paying just to access their servers to view prices of games you then have to buy, this is doomed to failure. I wouldnt like to be the one to spend abit of money on building a games collection through these guys, i wouldnt be suprised to see them give up after a year and everyone lose everything they've purchased.
Exactly this, and the drift towards dubious 'cloud' ownership is one that I would hate to see take off.
But this idea is clearly ludicrous and could only run turn based games so I have nothing to worry about!
This will never even launch in the UK.
daboy3000
11-03-2010, 15:44
I just don't see what we as gamers are gaining. We will still need some kind of hardware to use it, we still will have to buy/rent games and when it goes tits up we won't even be able to play offline. And what if you game saves/games get corrupted, will they take responsibilty.
The only people who benifit are the game publishers due to the fact that piracy will be eliminated, if thats the case I want to be paying no more than a score for COD MW6!
scoobyood
11-03-2010, 16:37
On a technical level, as long as the company invests in data centres so that all customers are close enough... you don't need a crazy connection to do this. I have a 6mbit/1mbit connection and I can get a ping of about 50ms to most of the UK. Nearer locations are 20-30ms. The input lag on most good TV's is about 30-40ms.. that's in "game mode", double that for non games mode. And most people probably don't know or care about "game mode"... and they buy super market TV's and which probably has double the input lag again. As long as they do have data centres which are spread out enough.. this will work.
... if thats the case I want to be paying no more than a score for COD MW6!
Fat chance :lol:
This will fail dismally, I have visions of the DVD/games system that never took off...
Just to even things up I'll take the opposite view and say that it'll take off :thumbs:
I like the concept personally, though agree that the pricing model is going to be the toughest nut to crack. Is there no info on the cost per game yet?
I just don't see what we as gamers are gaining. We will still need some kind of hardware to use it, we still will have to buy/rent games and when it goes tits up we won't even be able to play offline. And what if you game saves/games get corrupted, will they take responsibilty.
I think part of the plus side for this is you won't have to upgrade your hardware every few years, as they do that at the back-end.
Jedibitch
12-03-2010, 09:28
I think part of the plus side for this is you won't have to upgrade your hardware every few years, as they do that at the back-end.
But the hardware costs are so minimal nowadays and last a hell of a lot longer than in the old days.
How old is the 360 now?
MarcusUK
12-03-2010, 09:31
You think the current consoles last longer than the old school cartridge based systems?
I think part of the plus side for this is you won't have to upgrade your hardware every few years, as they do that at the back-end.
But then if this really hit off big (i still dont think it stands a chance), would it then stop competition and thus advancement in technology? If no-one is buying consoles and no-one is buying the latest graphics cards, the companies will simply stop making them and we'll be left in a situation were the market will just be frozen in place.
I get that it'd take a huge amount of success for that to happen, but i dont think this business plan benefits gamers at all - we lose all physical media, lose access if the internet goes down and we still dont really "own" a collection, its more of a long term rental until they stop support and it no longer works.
Its an interesting idea, but not something i'd like to see become popular.
daboy3000
12-03-2010, 11:24
I think part of the plus side for this is you won't have to upgrade your hardware every few years, as they do that at the back-end.
Of course you will, They will bring out the first box to control the games, this will then be followed up a year later by a slim version, then a coloured model then a version that will do 2160p and 9.1 Surround sound etc, then you've got pads, mics, camera's etc etc
Jedibitch
12-03-2010, 11:37
You think the current consoles last longer than the old school cartridge based systems?
Gaming terms of course.
$15 a month plus the price of games on top to play mid-level PC games with extra lag. SIGN ME UP!!!
Jedibitch
12-03-2010, 14:25
$15 a month plus the price of games on top to play mid-level PC games with extra lag. SIGN ME UP!!!
:lol: Exactly, can't see many yanks jumping for this as anyone who would buy one already owns the machine that plays the games?
I dont understand, they want me to pay for a console, (well, a box of some sort so half a console) then a subscription fee and then pay for games on top?
:lol:
scoobyood
12-03-2010, 16:47
I dont understand, they want me to pay for a console, (well, a box of some sort so half a console) then a subscription fee and then pay for games on top?
:lol:
But you have an xbox? :thinking: The default payment for xbox live is £5 per month, that's £60 a year. Plus you have to buy xbox currency and, if you've had your console replaced (and who hasn't :razz:), then you have to log into live to play arcade and downloadable games.... which is basically long term rental.
Saying that I agree the cost of this new system has to be super super cheap for it to take off. First they need a trial period to see if it works on your connection. Then the box is free and something like £5 a month gets you access to two games at a time and £10 gives you flat-rate access to everything they have. They need to be the "netflix box" of gaming. If they don't offer something even remotely that attractive... then this system will die on it's arse... technically feasible or not.
But I can just take the xbox offline and not bother with any of the gubbins if I dont want to. All those things are little extra's, not the whole system, and I wouldnt have bothered if it was. They'd need to launch this thing into a world where people dont already have PC's and Sony and MS still just made tellies and operating systems for it to have any chance of success, and even then, I'd expect Atari, Nintendo and Sega to blow them out of the water.
But you have an xbox? :thinking: The default payment for xbox live is £5 per month, that's £60 a year. Plus you have to buy xbox currency and, if you've had your console replaced (and who hasn't :razz:), then you have to log into live to play arcade and downloadable games.... which is basically long term rental.
XBL 12 month codes can be bought for less than £30 if you look around, if you just buy from one of the big retailers or direct, it costs £40 tops. You also dont need to log into live to play DLC, it works offline, so even if the XBL service ever did stop working, only the online side of the dlc would be dead, you'd still have the game. With this you wouldnt, you'd lose everything.
It is a subscription fee to play games online with the xbox (its a good enough service for them to get away with doing that), the arcade games are alot cheaper than regular games also. This you get nothing for the subscription fee other than the ability to view a store front from what i gather? The games are very much long term rentals since you're always at the mercy of them whether they're going to continue to support it, when they dont you lose every aspect of the game, online and offline.
I just dont see how its going to work with the price structure - like you said, the only possible way of it working is to have a similar plan as netflix and offer everything as rentals for a monthly sub fee, but right now they're charging both a fee which gets you nothing and the cost of full priced games. That offers no benefit to anyone long term.
It succeed would have to be...
Cheaper. Nope.
Better. Nope
Play games you have paid for if offline. Nope.
Move along, nothing to see here...
See where we are today though, compared with just a year ago, in terms of online connectivity. Fast forward 6-12 months and a decent proportion of the online population will be almost permanently connected I reckon', and at good speeds.
Obviously quite a few countries, including the UK, need to invest in the data lines - fibre optic please :D
See where we are today though, compared with just a year ago, in terms of online connectivity. Fast forward 6-12 months and a decent proportion of the online population will be almost permanently connected I reckon', and at good speeds.
Obviously quite a few countries, including the UK, need to invest in the data lines - fibre optic please :D
And that's the rub. We've spent the past years using clever technology to eek everything we can out of the copper phone lines and cable TV networks. There's not much more we can do with them. It's going to take a lot more than 6-12 months to re-build the entire UK data network. It'll take ten years at least.
BT reportedly keen to supply us with Onlive goodness
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/gaming/news/a219737/bt-partners-with-onlive-game-streaming.html
basegreen
15-05-2010, 09:42
Great if it works, but if the likes of Citrix can still have bandwidth/latency/speed issues for desktops and basic apps, then I'm quite skeptical that they can maintain the levels of performance in the video in real world environments.
There are no bandwidth issues with Citrix, only bad admins :):lol:
Technology has moved on and a lot of "Citrix" implementations are not using the latest technologies (Branch Repeater, Netscalers etc) which can give you a "local desktop" experience over pretty much any link. XenDesktop is used to give the astronauts in the International Space Station internet access for example. Of course, sitting on a highly latent link will always cause some issues, whatever the technology. Key is to get the application/asset/game close enough to you that latency is a non-issue.
scoobyood
16-06-2010, 23:18
<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1OfSoPcScN0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1OfSoPcScN0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
Running off servers 100 miles away. Quite impressive.
There are no bandwidth issues with Citrix, only bad admins :):lol:
Technology has moved on and a lot of "Citrix" implementations are not using the latest technologies (Branch Repeater, Netscalers etc) which can give you a "local desktop" experience over pretty much any link. XenDesktop is used to give the astronauts in the International Space Station internet access for example. Of course, sitting on a highly latent link will always cause some issues, whatever the technology. Key is to get the application/asset/game close enough to you that latency is a non-issue.
Got to see one of our Implementations guys demoing XenDesktop and VMware's desktop offering to customers a few weeks ago.
Was more impressed than I was expecting to be honest. HD media playback was fairly fantastic.
Still like to see it scaled up to a production environment :)
<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1OfSoPcScN0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1OfSoPcScN0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>
Running off servers 100 miles away. Quite impressive.
I still think this has potential for the future of gaming - if I can pay £15 to hire the game till I finish it, that would should about the right pricing model to me. I tend to buy a game for about £30 then sell it on for about half that once I've completed it and I've no problem not "owning" the physical disk, as long as the availability is 99.99%.
scoobyood
17-06-2010, 18:09
I still think this has potential for the future of gaming - if I can pay £15 to hire the game till I finish it, that would should about the right pricing model to me. I tend to buy a game for about £30 then sell it on for about half that once I've completed it and I've no problem not "owning" the physical disk, as long as the availability is 99.99%.
I get all my xbox 360 games from Lovefilm now. Costs about £3-4 a month to have a game using up one of my rental slots. I had MW2 for 5 or 6 months, cost me less than actually buying it and I got it in the post on release day. :thumbs:
scoobyood
17-06-2010, 19:30
what package are you on?
I'm on the 3 things at once unlimited package. £11.99 a month.
scoobyood
21-06-2010, 12:11
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/gaming/2010/06/21/onlive-rental-pricing-revealed/1
Cloud-based games platform Onlive, which runs games on servers farms and streams inputs and outputs over the internet, was launched in the US late last week, meaning we've finally got a look at the full pricing options.
The prices for Onlive games are shown below, via Eurogamer, and come in three forms - three or five day rental passes or 'unlimited access' passes which last until June 2013. Users also have to pay a subscription to use the Onlive service at all and not all games are available with every type of rental pass.
Users can only access games they have paid for so long as their Onlive subscription remains active - if you cancel your sub then you lose access to games, regardless of whether your rental period has expired or not. Subscriptions cost $14.95 USD per month.
Onlive is set to launch in the UK in late 2011, with BT gaining the exclusive rights to bundle the service with broadband packages.
Demos are available for all of the below games, except for Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands.
Aaaaa!!! A Reckless Disregard for Gravity - $9.99 for unlimited access
Assassin's Creed II - $39.99 for unlimited access
Batman: Arkham Asylum - $6.99 for five days / $4.99 for three days
Borderlands - $29.99 for unlimited access / $8.99 for five days / $5.99 for three days
Brain Challenge - $4.99 for unlimited access
Colin McRae: DiRT 2 - Demo only, for free
Defense Grid Gold - $13.99 for unlimited access / $6.99 for five days
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin - $19.99 for unlimited access
Just Cause 2 - $49.99 for unlimited access
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 - Demo only, for free
Madballs in Babo: Invasion - $9.99 for unlimited access
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands - $9.99 for unlimited access
Puzzle Chronicles - $9.99 for unlimited access / $3.99 for three days
Red Faction: Guerilla - $19.99 for unlimited access
Shatter - $8.99 for unlimited access
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction - $59.99 for unlimited access
Trine - Demo only, for free
Unreal Tournament 3: Titan Pack - $19.99 for unlimited access / $6.99 for five days / $4.99 for three days
World of Goo - $19.99 for unlimited access / $6.99 for five days / $4.99 for three days
:lol: Bwwahahahaha :lol:
I think they missed the point of their product by a million miles. It's meant to be 'cheaper' than a gaming PC or an xbox. :wave:
Jedibitch
21-06-2010, 12:26
Oh well nice fantasy idea i guess.
Imagine £ for $ :eek:
prices alone = fail. £1.99 /month or some such and you can play what you like might do it
BT exclusive though? = total fail.
I dunno, I've sneered at this, but there's a lot of games i'd bother with if I could just pay a few quid for a couple of nights and it stops my lazy ass renting it. Not often though, and probably not often enough to justify a sub. On top of an xbox sub etc.
Fail.
AdsterUK
21-06-2010, 14:13
Not that I expect this service to succeed anyway, but theres some FUD in that article. Checking the original Eurogamer article the pricing isn't quite as insane as it seems.The organisers are currently offering free subscriptions for the first year then reduced rates during the second for "founding members".
scoobyood
21-06-2010, 14:52
Not that I expect this service to succeed anyway, but theres some FUD in that article. Checking the original Eurogamer article the pricing isn't quite as insane as it seems.
Meaning unsuspecting customers will buy some games for cheap in the first year, but then be informed that if they want to keep playing them, they have to pony up for the subscription fees for the last two years of "ownership". It's the crack dealer business model :thumbs:
AdsterUK
21-06-2010, 15:01
Meaning unsuspecting customers will buy some games for cheap in the first year, but then be informed that if they want to keep playing them, they have to pony up for the subscription fees for the last two years of "ownership". It's the crack dealer business model :thumbs:I agree, but it does make them seem slightly less insane with the pricing.
daboy3000
23-06-2010, 10:06
It doesn't come out for another year, why would you pay $60 to play splinter cell, infact in a years time why would you want to play any of those games unless they were free and you happended not to already own/played them.
And don't you need to buy some hardware too, I just don't understand.
Am I missing something?
Don't you get the box and controller as part of the sub?
Paul Raines
17-07-2010, 19:03
Extremely interesting article on eurogamer.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-vs-onlive-article?page=1
I can't say this service would interest me, for one I'm restricted to 20gb per month off my ISP, which I would use very quickly using OnLive and more importantly I want total control over the software that I buy, whether that's DVD, blu-ray of games. I like owning a physical disc that I can play, lend or sell if I choose with no imposed restrictions.
It seems like the OnLive service is still very much a work in progress an interesting concept to be sure, which still has significant hurdles to overcome.
marc_angelus
17-07-2010, 21:20
sorry if this has already been posted, but there's a free virtualisation program at http://spoon.net which is pretty cool. There are a few 3d game demos on there (old games though) so you can see what's possible
I like the idea of onlive, especially the box you can plug in to your tv, but its pricing structure is ridiculous. If you have to pay a sub then it should include the games too. You don't pay lovefilm a monthly fee and then have to pay for each game you rent afterwards.
The "unlimited use" option is also a rip off, only unlimited until you let your monthly sub lapse, then you lose it despite paying as much as the retail price..
It'd also be unusable for Virgin media users because when we download a certain amount, our broadband is capped to 25% speed for the next 5 hours. So you'd be happily playing at 720p (yuck) and then in comes the bandwidth cap and your pc is now only capable of running in "wii resolution" so it either starts lagging like a mofo or changes resolution on the fly, either of which is unacceptable (and i only game in 1080p these days anyway so it'd be a step backwards regardless)
double_cut
05-10-2010, 09:59
OnLive have now dropped their monthly fees (http://www.onlive.com/#1). I had a quick blast this morning and was pleasantly surprised at how well the system works even from the UK. Some stuff was borderline unplayable, DIRT2 for example, but Batman Arkham Asylum and Borderlands both played acceptably for me.
http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/zz30/double_cut/DIRTOnLive.jpg
http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/zz30/double_cut/BorderlandsOnLive.jpg
http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/zz30/double_cut/BatmanOnLive.jpg
I'm on the Virgin 50Mb service which means no throttling for this, responsiveness varied as mentioned above and image quality was quite variable, but considering I'm streaming from the US it was a lot better than I expected in terms of lag and image quality. A UK service might be something I'd be interested in if the price of the games is acceptable over here. I did get a warning about latency but it still allowed me to connect to the service. All the games featured have a 30 minute demo available so well worth trying out if you have a fast enough 'net connection. The service certainly has potential imo.
Just tried it on my laptop here at work and Unreal Tournament worked perfectly! Well impressed!
double_cut
05-10-2010, 11:16
Just tried it on my laptop here at work and Unreal Tournament worked perfectly! Well impressed!
Just had a quick go at work on our 20Mb ADSL connection and a crappy E2140 with integrated graphics and 1GB of memory. Shockingly good if I'm honest. Batman is perfectly playable, just those prices are offputting compared to the physical copies, but the fact that this service can play on pretty much any modern-ish PC opens up a lot of potential users.
Gonna try the wifi beta tonight at my neighbour's (he shares my internet from across the road and gets a reasonable signal), if it works well on that I will be most impressed. This service may actually be usable for slower games, I'm not expecting to play Street Fighter on it for example, but Command & Conquer would be more than playable, maybe even action adventure games. Will try out Darksiders tonight and compare between playing it locally and over OnLive.
The test I just did was over wireless here at work (but that goes off to a quiet 10mbps leased line)
double_cut
05-10-2010, 11:35
The test I just did was over wireless here at work (but that goes off to a quiet 10mbps leased line)
That's impressive stuff! Thanks for the feedback. I was a real disbeliever in this but after trying it...I think it may actually be a viable alternative in some cases as mad as that sounds. :cuckoo:
double_cut
05-10-2010, 15:16
http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/zz30/double_cut/DSC00021.jpg
Phone pic of ASUS EeePC Atom based netbook running Batman AA over wifi. Actually playable and doesn't look bad at all! :|
Technically its very good but also just terminal services for games. Is there enough of a market for this though to lift it out of a niche?
I downloaded the client to give it a try but unfortunately it's detected I'm not exactly 'local' and won't let me have a look at the service due to poor network connection latency. I'm on Virgin 10MB cable in Cardiff for reference.
I downloaded the client to give it a try but unfortunately it's detected I'm not exactly 'local' and won't let me have a look at the service due to poor network connection latency. I'm on Virgin 10MB cable in Cardiff for reference.
I had a load of network errors but it still worked for me.
Also tried this out today, worked fairly well (wasn't the best quality wise but it was ok) - i dont think i'd be willing to throw down $40+ a game though and not actually own anything myself (and be at the mercy of their servers holding up). The rental system seems better suited for their system - i think a subscription service would work quite well aswell if they priced it right and allowed access to their whole catalogue of games, rather than what they planned on doing which was have a subscription ontop of having to buy games.
Unfortuntely that is the big problem for them I noticed, they dont have many games running and its always going to be a case of removing some games to allow for newer ones.
If the US service is currently half decent piped over to the UK, then I'm looking forward to a UK-based service!
Glad they dropped the sub model, but agree that prices have to crash to make game owning competitive.
UK service starts on 22nd Sept:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14481101
http://onlive.co.uk/
MC Rubber Chicken
11-08-2011, 16:47
no pricing yet... i bet they screw us like apple do on itunes compared to the US pricing
My rubbish so called broadband wouldn't cope with this unfortunately...
scoobyood
11-08-2011, 20:35
I made a us account and it looks like if you sign in to the US site you can press the UK sign up button and it puts you in line to be notified for the UK launch. Was thinking I'd have to make another account... not that I'd brought any games in it, just annoying to give them another email address.
Glad they dropped the sub model, but agree that prices have to crash to make game owning competitive.
Its more of a long term rental, as game 'owning' comes with a date of when the game will be available until :brickwall
Its more of a long term rental, as game 'owning' comes with a date of when the game will be available until :brickwall
Why on earth do they expire?! I want my games available for ever (unless it's like a 99 year lease!).
how well can this work for twitch shooters? the whole thing would add more lag surely?
scoobyood
19-09-2011, 10:13
how well can this work for twitch shooters? the whole thing would add more lag surely?
Input lag is more of a problem than player to player lag. I would have thought that is actually better, because the game itself is in a data centre.
Can't really tell until the 22nd, but currently it looks like a game like Call of Duty wouldn't work on this. However for all other games I don't see there would be any problem. I just plugged in my wired 360 controller in and playing dirt and Arkham Asylum was no problem at all. The games had the same controls as on the console. Dirt didn't look as good, but Batman is pretty much the same as the xbox version, with slightly better shadows.
daboy3000
19-09-2011, 11:31
"There's quite a lot of overtime [on a console] you wait for the disk to install or the download then there might be an update to download.
"With Onlive, everything is instant, you just click a button an play the game."
Eh, Updates take 10 secs and I install while doing other things, clutching at straws me thinks especially as a PC takes a lot longer to boot up than an xbox.
I don't see this working, not yet anyway, I just don't see the point.
Edit: also, how on earth do you play with an iPad???
They may be referring to the PS3 there, mandatory installs and their updating sytem is bloody slow and awful
messia09
20-09-2011, 13:09
i bet you this games machine will go the way of the panasonic 3do
double_cut
20-09-2011, 13:47
You get the box free in the US now with certain game purchases, I would really like to see this be a success and while it won't be viable to replace local systems in certain genres, a lot of stuff will be absolutely fine played in the cloud. If I can play Arkham Asylum quite happily from the UK connected to a US server, I'm fairly confident that a UK based server should improve the image quality fairly substantially, even to the point where it might even look better than the PS3/360 version of the game. I'd grab Akrham City on this service if I got a free micro-console and give it to a mate or something, he'd love it just for the free 30 minute trials! :)
degeneration
20-09-2011, 15:40
Eurogamer expo will be giving away OnLive boxes this weekend. Apparently it'll be one for every three tickets.
MetalGearAl
20-09-2011, 19:20
That's quite ironic given that it was Eurogamer who wrote the first major assassination piece about OnLive when it was first announced :D
Barney_Tabasco
22-09-2011, 01:33
Saw it tonight working via iPad - stunning. The micro console version through TV was amazing too - Dirt3 with no lag. Very impressed.
thescrounger
22-09-2011, 07:46
Has there been a lack of publicity for this? I don't think I'd even have known what onlive was if hadn't been for this thread here.
Chivalry
22-09-2011, 08:40
Just got an email last night offering any game for a pound to all those who signed up early.. Or stunting along those lines...not had a chance to look in detail yet..
Am I right in thinking the box/hdmi/console thingy is only available to buy online via their site?
Bit of a silly decision there, surely?
You can buy them from game for £69,99 also
http://www.thesixthaxis.com/2011/09/22/onlive-uk-pricing-announced/
Just noticed that, in the future though, not at launch which is when it needs to be selling well!
Tried it this morning, very impressed - it was as if the games were running locally. Very impressed with Dirt 3's performance.
The dirt 3 demo was fast and the input seemed fine but it looks terrible next to the PC version!
The £1 game offer appears to be on now. Tempted to get Deus Ex - it's not exactly high tech in the graphics department anyway!
hookbeak
22-09-2011, 12:14
Looks interesting - unfortunately the market is down so i can't try anything - bit of a major fail.
For those who can play, do the graphics look like they do if you watch games in the arena ? (ie "soft" and a bit blurry)
The menu's look like you're on a console rather than a PC and the in game in Dirt3 was very blurry. Like a fast moving scene in compressed video. Which is what it is I guess. :D
The dirt 3 demo was fast and the input seemed fine but it looks terrible next to the PC version!
The £1 game offer appears to be on now. Tempted to get Deus Ex - it's not exactly high tech in the graphics department anyway!
+1
Impressive but yeah, its a little blurry. Maybe its just our connections though? (I have 4MB)
I will never pay retail price for a long term rental. What if i want to play a game in 5 years? Its just vapourware.
The rate that PC tech moves forward there isn't any guarantee that a game you buy now will work on the PC you have in 5 years! I personally consider Vistas release date to be more or less a cut-off for my gaming atm.
And yeah, my connection is 4 or 5mb too so could be. Guess with a gaming PC and unimpressive broadband speed I'm kinda the opposite of their target audience.
It's probably a good way for a console gamer to get access to any PC only titles they're interested in without much outlay?
Any chance of them getting arkham city before the 9th I wonder :)
Sent from my Blade using Tapatalk
MC Rubber Chicken
22-09-2011, 14:07
its like playing the game in SD on a HD TV
Scottola
22-09-2011, 16:06
I signed up for it, and pre ordered Saint's Row 3 to get the TV connector for free, as I'm a sucker for trying new weirdy things.
Sadly, I've used the wrong email address, which doesn't belong to me (I forgot the numbers after the main email part). I've sent an email to support, but knowing my luck, whoever it is who received my code for the dongle, will use it.
What an idiot I am.
I signed up for it, and pre ordered Saint's Row 3 to get the TV connector for free, as I'm a sucker for trying new weirdy things.
How do you get it free? I thought you had to be attending some games show to get it free.
[edit]Oh I see. It's an offer with that specific game. :)
Jedibitch
22-09-2011, 16:42
How can this really work? £35 for a game when the shops charge less for it on release or a couple of weeks later, and you have no sell on / trade value.
It's a dead duck.
How can this really work? £35 for a game when the shops charge less for it on release or a couple of weeks later, and you have no sell on / trade value.
It's a dead duck.
Might have legs for the more casual gamer if they drastically reduce that cost.
Jedibitch
22-09-2011, 16:49
Might have legs for the more casual gamer if they drastically reduce that cost.
They'd need to be charging zero for the machine and a game would have to be a tenner for 2 months or £25 for life.
Who ever has invested their money in this has no idea how games drop in value nowadays, it can only survive in my eyes if it offers games from yesteryear like Live and is cheaper than chips.
They have a £7.99 a month for unlimited use on 100+ games. If you normally buy 3 or 4 new games a year that would cover that and let you play a hell of a lot more.
Jedibitch
22-09-2011, 18:29
They have a £7.99 a month for unlimited use on 100+ games. If you normally buy 3 or 4 new games a year that would cover that and let you play a hell of a lot more.
They are old games which you can by for next nothing.
They'd need to be charging zero for the machine and a game would have to be a tenner for 2 months or £25 for life.
Who ever has invested their money in this has no idea how games drop in value nowadays, it can only survive in my eyes if it offers games from yesteryear like Live and is cheaper than chips.
Thinking about it yeah, the machine should deffo be free and people might bite if you pay a subs model for so many games a month or something. I obviously haven't thought it through but my Lovefilm sub was £15 a month and just for games, even when I didn't get the latest releases it worked out quite cost effective.
As it is now the cost model is a non starter for me.
double_cut
22-09-2011, 19:20
Picked up Space Marine for £1 and it's actually pretty decent. Controls well, no lag, image quality isn't perfect by any means but I will take it for £1!
Think I'm going to preorder Saints Row The Third and get the free microconsole. The trailer looks pretty damn cool and £34.99 isn't a terrible price when you factor in a free console and controller.
Saints Row The Third trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csTf2Z7xlQ0)
They'd need to be charging zero for the machine and a game would have to be a tenner for 2 months or £25 for life.
Who ever has invested their money in this has no idea how games drop in value nowadays, it can only survive in my eyes if it offers games from yesteryear like Live and is cheaper than chips.
It's my understanding that you don't HAVE to buy and use a console - most laptops etc can run this as a client. Costs will come down as user base increases and they say it runs well on the average BB speed in the UK. You won't get 1080p60fps until we're over 10MB lines, but hey ho.
They also say they think it'll take about 5 years for them to gain a majority market share over consoles, which sounds like a distinctly possible business plan.
Jedibitch
22-09-2011, 20:34
It's my understanding that you don't HAVE to buy and use a console - most laptops etc can run this as a client. Costs will come down as user base increases and they say it runs well on the average BB speed in the UK. You won't get 1080p60fps until we're over 10MB lines, but hey ho.
They also say they think it'll take about 5 years for them to gain a majority market share over consoles, which sounds like a distinctly possible business plan.
The plan falls apart as they are launching pretty much at the end of this generation of consoles, if they can't match what consoles are doing now then they are ****** come the next ones which will be smack bang in the middle of their plan.
It could work but it would need to be super cheap or have a Nintendo badge on it for the masses to notice it.
The launch has been very low key.
Rubbish so far. First the client installed and didn't work. Re-installed and now the "game service is currently full".
An inauspicious start!
Chivalry
22-09-2011, 22:31
well... what a disappointment..
I have a 5MB internet connection, and after finaly getting on after over 25 mins of waiting for a free space.... i tried the demo of Dirt 3...
The graphics were AWFUL...... i mean really bad... and the car was near impossible to drive due to the very noticable lag each time i made any adjustment on the steering.
In most online games i get a ping of 30ms or so and have never sufferd any kind of lag so i cant see it being anything my end, and if thats the kind of graphics people with a 5mb line or under can expect... theres going to be alot of disappointed people...
Not impressed at all.. dont think i will even bother with the £1 offer for any game.. :0(
On another note.... if this is filling a 5MB line...(or more if you have it) theres not many ISP`s now that offer truly unlimited internet... i dread to think how fast people shall be hitting there Fair usage policy limits.....
Lee Brown
22-09-2011, 22:31
Complete crap. It was using 5Mb of my internet connection, and I just got a low resolution blocky mess
internetuser
22-09-2011, 22:36
This sounds interesting. I have a 18-19meg connection, so should I expect it to look good and work well?
Jedibitch
22-09-2011, 22:39
This sounds interesting. I have a 18-19meg connection, so should I expect it to look good and work well?
nope. it doesn't matter about your speed, they send a crap feed.
well... what a disappointment..
I have a 5MB internet connection, and after finaly getting on after over 25 mins of waiting for a free space.... i tried the demo of Dirt 3...
The graphics were AWFUL...... i mean really bad... and the car was near impossible to drive due to the very noticable lag each time i made any adjustment on the steering.
In most online games i get a ping of 30ms or so and have never sufferd any kind of lag so i cant see it being anything my end, and if thats the kind of graphics people with a 5mb line or under can expect... theres going to be alot of disappointed people...
Not impressed at all.. dont think i will even bother with the £1 offer for any game.. :0(
On another note.... if this is filling a 5MB line...(or more if you have it) theres not many ISP`s now that offer truly unlimited internet... i dread to think how fast people shall be hitting there Fair usage policy limits.....
Yeah it's gonna eat it up quickly. BT are doing 3 months free playpass with no commitment thereafter so I might still try it (once Onlive get it together - they cannot seem to process this offer at the moment) as it costs nowt. BT aren't counting the bandwidth used during the trial towards any limits.
scoobyood
22-09-2011, 23:41
I didn't have to wait in a queue for more than a few seconds. I've just played the trial of Borderlands. There is that half second of lag still present. It's improved from the american servers but not as much as I'd hoped. The picture is okay, if you don't move, it looks like it's rendered at about console quality 720p ish (without AA/AF). Which is okay ish. But once you look around there's the freeview esq pixelation. I think I could adjust to it's shortcomings okay. As a novelty or netbook level gaming solution it's fine and just about playable.
It was actually quite fun playing once this American guy tuned in and started cheering me on, both verbally and with the thumbs thing. He called out where the scags were flying at me from and generally was really helpful :P
That is a weird gaming experience, it would be nice on Call of Duty to get little audiences for when you do something awesome... on the rare occasion that is.
MC Rubber Chicken
22-09-2011, 23:54
nope. it doesn't matter about your speed, they send a crap feed.
worked fine for me no lag what so ever...
Scottola
22-09-2011, 23:54
The Onlive customer support sorting out my email mistake, which was a nice quick test of their customer service.
I've just been playing Dirt 3 on my Atom powered Revo Nettop and it works really well and makes a nice little addition to what is normally my XBMC player.
I've just been playing Dirt 3 on my Atom powered Revo Nettop and it works really well and makes a nice little addition to what is normally my XBMC player.
that's good to hear - didn't think the Revo would be up to it - will try it myself over the weekend.
These later posts are worrying. It wasn't exactly peak time when I tried it! Hopefully it's just a bit overwhelmed by everyone trying out demo's of games to see what it's all about.
The idea of gaming on the netbook is good. I never thought of that!
Playing Dirt 3 on a first gen Atom netbook is awesome! The input is a lot laggier over wifi though. :(
I'm in the USA and have tried Onlive a few times because I love the idea of it but I find it very poor. I have a fast connection (25MB down and 10MB up) and I still only get low resolution graphics with choppy gameplay. It's really noticeable and I'm usually fairly forgiving.
A lot of this depends on where you are in the US and how far you are from the Onlive servers. I'm quite far away so not much hope of improvement for me. That said, if they have dedicated UK servers then I'd hope it would be much better although that doesn't seem to be the case.
Scottola
24-09-2011, 06:58
Playing Dirt 3 on a first gen Atom netbook is awesome! The input is a lot laggier over wifi though. :(
I know, it seems really weird. I was playing Warhammer last night and it just seemed wrong to have that coming out of a single core nettop that normally stutters its way through anything more demanding than World of Goo :)
I've not had a problem with the video looking blocky yet, I'm on Sky and normally my connection is a consistent 13meg. Obviously it doesn't look super crispy as you'd expect on a normal installed game, but for me the compromise is worth it so far.
The interface and branding are also pretty nice, it seems that they've got the look and feel spot on to me, although some of the prices are little too much up there on the new releases.
There's been quite a change in my purchasing habits over the last few years and although I secretly hate the fact I'm heading down a road of no return (and trade ins), a huge amount of my purchases are made digitially, whether PS3, 360, Wii, etc, so Onlive sits quite easily with me.
In fact it actually pains me to go and get a disc from the shelf these days and many a time I've just plopped myself into a download game, just because I can't be bothered to stick the disc in. Super lazy I know, as it was the only exercise I got.
Us PC gamers have it easy - they seem to have evolved beyond CD checks. No retail game I've bought in the past 18 months needs the CD in to play.
I've been playing a bit of the new Deus Ex on it. It's both amazing and crap at the same time. :D
The fact it can even be done is just astonishing. The graphics are less amazing but that'll probably concern a console gamer less than a PC gamer.
It's the controls though. They're far better than I ever expected but they're just not good enough. And I don't see how they ever could be. There are people out there that won't use a wireless mouse for fear of input lag. Sending your input to a far away server is just nuts. The game was much harder to play than the press release copy I tried. You're basically handicapping yourself in the game by playing it on this format. I can't see anyone but the most casual of gamers using it as anything other than a novelty.
so i can play Deus Ex on my ipad/iphone??
just been playing Arkham Asylum on my Samsung netbook over wifi - not bad at all
signed up to the £ 6.99 p/mnth package - not bad value for money considering it's the same amount my 5-year old wants me to part with for the Lego Universe MMORPG
I think it's Ipad only
Ragnarak
24-09-2011, 12:49
so i can play Deus Ex on my ipad/iphone??
I got the error that "games cannot be launched on this platform". Seems like the app just let's you browse their store.
The iPad app for actual gaming is coming in the next few months, along with the blu-tooth controller that'll work with the iPad...Console in your pocket (well, bag)!
Played Virtua Tennis on iPad and controller at the Onlive launch and it was pretty impressive stuff.
degeneration
24-09-2011, 20:51
The free oniive tv adapters went really quickly at Eurogamer. I was in the queue for near on two hours just to get a voucher. £1 + £6 p&p for the box. At the stands the responsiveness seemed ok. Street fighter 4 was a little Laggy and the pads felt cheap and nasty. They had the android app running with a wired controller but said the Bluetooth controller will be out when the app launches later in The Autumn. Ghostbusters played fine, as did Limbo
they had SF4 on it? hahahaha
Just had a quick go playing the demo of Dirt 3. It was ok, no lag, and graphics ok if a little 'soft'. May throw £6.99 at it for 1 month to see what it's really like....
I'm on 20meg cable and I found it blocky and stuttery ?
anyone else had any problems ?
I'm on 20meg cable and I found it blocky and stuttery ?
anyone else had any problems ?
I'm on a 20mb line and it was ok in so far that the game played nice and smooth.
I'm on 20meg cable and I found it blocky and stuttery ?
anyone else had any problems ?
I typically get around 14 / 15 meg on my connection with a ping in the high 20's / low 30's and it simply didnt work for me.
I either get 'server full' , or it conects for a second and starts their demo video then stutters and stops and never starts back up (it gives me a 5 minute countdown while it tries to re-connect).
It might simply be my machine so i will try a different one but even if the other one works if my 'main' machine doesnt then I wouldnt really use it.
Scottola
27-09-2011, 18:12
I received my microconsole today and had a quick go on Warhammer and it performed really well. I couldn't tell that it was a video stream at all and didn't notice any lag. The image quality was better than straight through the PC.
I'll give it a good go tonight, if I get time.
Again, I can't help but be impressed with the way it works and normally I wouldn't say I'm so gushy.
The gamepad I also found to be a lot better than some of the things I'd read about it. It's pretty sturdy and has a nice weight to it. It's not a long way of the 360 pad.
Eurogamer review:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-09-28-onlive-review
The Dude
21-11-2011, 21:49
I got one of the micro consoles the other day when they were giving them away for free if you preordered the new Assasins Creed game and I have to say that I'm impressed with it. It's funny how certain games run very well though and some don't really. For example I've been impressed with say Dirt 3 for example and yet I've played the demo of Saints Row 3 and to be honest with you I wouldn't dream of paying full price for it as it's all a bit too jerky for me.
This has got to be doing well!! Went 2 months without a mention on here lol. I forgot it even existed.
It was kinda doomed from the start, there's a reason we have consoles for gaming
You know what, I'm going to defend Onlive. My experience of the system has been overall positive and was extremely sceptical at first. I would recommend that you give it a try if you haven't already, if you don't like it or it doesn't perform well (although I am only on a 8meg connection without issue), then fine, but you might find yourself surprised as to how well it works.
Is it gaming future? Maybe not just yet, but it is very, very close. My main criticism is that the games available are limited, and I have concerns on their future subscription plans, although it is free at moment. Time will tell..
Scottola
23-11-2011, 19:45
You know what, I'm going to defend Onlive. My experience of the system has been overall positive and was extremely sceptical at first. I would recommend that you give it a try if you haven't already, if you don't like it or it doesn't perform well (although I am only on a 8meg connection without issue), then fine, but you might find yourself surprised as to how well it works.
It's working nicely for me on Saint's Row 3, I've not got very far, but I've forgotten I'm playing in the cloud, so to speak.
The Dude
23-11-2011, 20:11
For 1st time customers you can buy a game from 11:59 tonight for just £1 and this includes titles like : Arkham City, Saint’s Row: The Third and L.A. Noire, and Lord of the Rings: War in the North. The deal is for a few days I think, but I could be wrong I guess. I've been playing quite a bit on my micro console and apart from what I've said in a couple of posts before I think it is overall a very good product.
Well you'll be very happy then, because before this all falls apart on them and no new games get released on their platform I imagine you'll see a ******** of offers like that
Scottola
24-11-2011, 15:34
Well you'll be very happy then, because before this all falls apart on them and no new games get released on their platform I imagine you'll see a ******** of offers like that
Why do you think it will all fall apart? Because the big boys will do the same sort of thing with more muscle in the future or something else?
I do always seem to be attracted to the different stuff (as well as mainstream!).
I remember my Oric, Gizmondo, CD32 & Neo Geo Pocket, to name but a few, with fondness.
You don't go up against Microsoft/Sony and win
Simple as that really
Jedibitch
24-11-2011, 15:55
There problem will be investment over time, they must be losing millions to get this running, one of the big boys will wait until they are in trouble / doing well and swallow them up.
For me it's close but until it's full HD like a normal game it's a no go.
Space Duck
24-11-2011, 15:58
Could you imagine the infrastructure in this country trying to stream HD Gaming?!?!?! BT would have a heart attack and they might actually have to implement high speed broadband somewhere other than london.
Jedibitch
24-11-2011, 16:19
Could you imagine the infrastructure in this country trying to stream HD Gaming?!?!?! BT would have a heart attack and they might actually have to implement high speed broadband somewhere other than london.
Exactly, we are a few years away from that!
When they also implement a trade system for downloads so you can sell to someone else for a price YOU decide then I'm all in.
Why do I feel it's a dream though.....
Jimmyboy
24-11-2011, 17:41
You don't go up against Microsoft/Sony and win
Simple as that really
Unless you're Nintendo.
I've been playing it since launch, and pretty impressed.
With all the discounts/offers they have, it works out quite cheap.
Thw whole 'you never really own the game' doesn't bother me, and I'm hoping they don't fold, but being able to play on TV via the console, or on my netbook or at work on my PC is the main attraction for me.
Scottola
25-11-2011, 08:39
Has anyone found that with digital downloads, they find themselves playing games far longer than if you'd bought a physical disc?
It hasn't happened on Onlive for me yet, but on the PS3 I'm still playing Pain, Wipeout and Super Stardust still, a couple of years after i bought them. I never really do this with physical discs. They are usually sold, swapped or abandoned.
With the slow drip of Pain levels, 3D modes, move modes, it's kept me interested.
I can feel the way I approach games changing, as I get used to not needing anything physical.
Although ultimately more costly, I expect I'm going to get used to this way of playing.
A little off topic from Onlive, I know.
double_cut
23-12-2011, 11:28
Now that Onlive is available on Android I'm giving serious consideration to picking up a Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, recently reduced to £150 on pay as you go, which is something like a £300 price slash.
Onlive have recently updated the Android app to take advantage of the physical control pad on the Xperia Play, this would actually provide an amazing handheld gaming experience in terms of being the most like home consoles. At £150 I'm tempted for the likes of Batman Arkham City, Saints Row The Third, Warhammer 40k Space Marine, SSF4AE, War in the North, etc pretty much any game that can be played with a pad should work.
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