OnLive Streaming game console

[nathanallan]

Back in the May issue of GameInformer there was a thing on page 28 about this thing that streams games to a set-top console or a computer and you get a controller and a black box. It was supposed to be here this winter, but I haven't heard anything lately.

 

The website is up and running, and I'm all for a cheap console for playing games one. But with no local storage (disk or cart or even ram) I don't see how it can work out. There's a LOT of streaming stuff now, and my DSL and the local cable internet takes a while to download stuff as it is, much less any kind of online gaming that depends totally on the streaming part of it all.

 

The site is here, http://www.onlive.com/ and it seems to be recent. Also a bit surprised it wasn't mentioned here. Well, the time is coming and if something like this can work I'll be all for it. Thoughts?

[Kripto]

Back in the May issue of GameInformer there was a thing on page 28 about this thing that streams games to a set-top console or a computer and you get a controller and a black box. It was supposed to be here this winter, but I haven't heard anything lately.

 

The website is up and running, and I'm all for a cheap console for playing games one. But with no local storage (disk or cart or even ram) I don't see how it can work out. There's a LOT of streaming stuff now, and my DSL and the local cable internet takes a while to download stuff as it is, much less any kind of online gaming that depends totally on the streaming part of it all.

 

The site is here, http://www.onlive.com/ and it seems to be recent. Also a bit surprised it wasn't mentioned here. Well, the time is coming and if something like this can work I'll be all for it. Thoughts?

 

There was a huge thread about it back when it was first announced, complete with some strong opinions as to it's technical aspects, .etc.

[technicaltoast]

You probably need a really fast broadband connection to get anything out of this, but the concept is quite intriguing. I don't think the console makers (Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft) would be extremely happy about it

[nathanallan]

Beta testing seems interesting, I might do that. I have win2k pro here, but XP at work and they require that or Vista or OSX on an Apple, and I don't have an Apple machine right now (sadly) that's up to snuff. I'm supposing that none of the local services would be fast enough to support it.

 

Wonder how i missed the huge thread..? Ah well. I might see if I can beta it from work. There's fast DSL there.

[moycon]

I remember this and I remember thinking that the claims they made were utter BS, but it seems to me folks that had tried the thing out were very impressed. (Hard to say if they were plants though) Certainly something to investigate, but at this point I wouldn't hold my breath much will come out of this.

[MagitekAngel]

Sounds like Gametube ha ha.

I must agree though, the people behind this have been very quiet since the original announcement. Here's hoping they're hard at work rather than going out nightly for drinks with the Duke Nukem Forever dev team. And those guys who were making the Intellivision keyboard, for that matter.

[Kripto]

The main plausibility issue came down to two things in my mind.

 

They have to get an HD signal to the player with a small enough delay to avoid the controls feelbg like mush, and for every subscriber playing Crysis, for example, they would need a machine capable of runnng it, and the hardware to digitize and and out the signal. I feel this may have been a grab for investment cash.

[Reaperman]

I tried signing up for their beta--hell, I think we all did, but no I haven't heard anything.

 

and I still think their claims are total bs. Networking just won't work. unbuffered video in hd quality, my rear. and their latency figures were just plain lies. that's after I've temporarily suspended my disbelief about the processing requirements for each concurrent user.

[godslabrat]

I'm sure OnLive partnered with Infinium Labs on this one...

[Video]

I thought it loaded a game into internal memory and just lost it when you loaded something else (or turned it off) if I was remotely interested in something like this (I'm not, I'm totally against anything giving DDmore of a foothold) then I would NOT want it streaming in realtime online, I'd want it to load, and play on my system.

[nathanallan]

Loading into internal memory would make the most sense, realtime streaming doesn't.

[godslabrat]

Loading into internal memory would make the most sense, realtime streaming doesn't.

 

Agreed, but loading into internal memory would mean that the hardware of the set-top box would need to be able to run any game on the service. That was one of the biggest selling points of OnLive-- you can run any game with a $99 box, because THEIR servers do all the heavy lifting, hence the streaming.

[Classic Pac]

I recall reading something about this first in an issue of EGM almost 10 years ago. This is nothing new and I wonder like all the many times before will any one ever pull it off.

[Kripto]

It actually is doable, just not with HD right now and games that require top of the line machines to play. For example, they could design a machine that would run multiple NES emulators and have each emu create an encoded stream that could be converted into video on the user's end. Their hype machine seems only willing to preach the impossible right now though.

[vdub_bobby]

Did anyone believe this when it was first announced? Besides all the technical issues, which in my ignorant opinion are insurmountable right now, this would require crazy huge amounts of capital: all those $99 boxes would probably have to be sold at a loss, plus a nationwide network of servers etc. etc., and they have to get millions of these boxes into peoples homes to ever hope to make money back on the subscriptions.

 

This is the kind of thing that is launched to great fanfare, falls flat on its face within 6 months, and then 5 years later the worthwhile pieces of the concept will be incorporated into Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo's newest console.

Edited September 29, 2009 by vdub_bobby

[godslabrat]

Did anyone believe this when it was first announced?

 

Oh yeah, there were tons of people saying this thing would be the wave of the future. Most of the gaming forums at the time had a contingent of posters giddy over the idea of subscribing to their video games like they'd subscribe to cable TV. It's yet another example of the "Discs are going bye-bye!" mentality. However, very, very few of the people championing OnLive could actually demonstrate an understanding of the latency issues.

 

Bottom line is, faster processers and slicker video compression are not able increase the speed of electricity travelling though a copper wire. Those pesky laws of physics are at play here.

[Reaperman]

hell, I'm sure there's still enough people who believe this stuff.

 

Just for giggles, I citrixed into my test webserver (in the next state over), called up a web browser, headed to newgrounds and popped up a game of alien hominid. So I'm now playing a game, running entirely on another machine, and a pretty beefy one. Upstream isn't an issue, downstream isn't an issue--just network latency from a to b. (firewall blocks icmp so I don't have decent latency stats) Resolution on the desktop was 1280x800, so it was pretty hd. needless to say, control/video was lagged to hell, and I had lost all my little alien hominids by about the fifth screen in. at least I somehow took about a dozen of those fbi agents out with me. Maybe if the game action was a lot slower--like solitare or checkers, this would be possible, but control would still be so godawful that I wouldn't wish that experience on anybody.

Edited September 29, 2009 by Reaperman

[Video]

That's it exactly. A machine that just acts as a bridge and holds a controller will never work. They will have to have the game load into some internal memory of some kind, or it simply won't work (beyond simpler trivia games, maybe slower puzzles, and strategy games) As for HD, hell, you could do SMB in 1080P if you wanted, that would let you show a huge screen, with lots of stuff, with very little extra processing power over a stock Nintendo.

 

I remember Phantom, from about 5 years ago...I also remember saying "it'll never see the light of day" and guess what? It's still not here.

 

I think honestly, these things are promising something they simply can't deliver, untill you can break a few laws of physics or something, maybe quantim computing or something will break the speed barrier:P

[nathanallan]

OnLive is advertising on Facebook now, I will bet someone a DOLLAR (less paypal fees LOL) that it is in Big Lots after Christmas Ante up!

 

Really, it's a great idea, but not sure how it will work as a service. I could build a set top computer to play games on via the internet for less than the price. There are many reasons to have a set top computer these days.

[Austin]

Nathan, I will bet you $1.25 (after paypal fees) that it is not in liquidation bins nationwide after Christmas.

[SoulBlazer]

I started a thread about this a few weeks ago and linked this article:

 

http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/192-onlive-99-game-system-the-future-of-console-gaming

[nathanallan]

@Austin, you're on! I really want it to work but I think it will be overproduced and underappreciated as well as overpriced.

 

@SoulBlazer I'll check out the link, thanks

 

/edit Okay "in the cloud" gaming service?? The "cloud" has been around since computers, before it was called distributed processing and client-server networking. This "cloud" that is so popular is nothing new.

Edited December 14, 2010 by nathanallan

[Reaperman]

As far as I know, onlive is still doing free demos on PC, and if PC will run it, getting a custom set-top thin client to do the same is no great feat.

 

I'll confess to doing the demo, but between the lag and obvious video compression I wasn't wowed. It did outperform every one of my expectations, but that's not saying much.

 

Actually just this week they had me do a survey about why I haven't been back. The possibility of a free survey-completion ipod has more of my attention than their product ever had.

Edited December 14, 2010 by Reaperman

[Video]

I've heard taht even with relatively fast broad band, the thing can lag, or loose it's connection. That's teh biggest complaint I've seen so far about the thing. They should have had a drive to temp save the game, rather than trying to stream the game from the internet, as advanced as games are now, it simply isn't a viable option.

 

Still, looked interesting, but I'd wait until hearing more from AAers before bothering much with it.

[jd_1138]

I've heard taht even with relatively fast broad band, the thing can lag, or loose it's connection. That's teh biggest complaint I've seen so far about the thing. They should have had a drive to temp save the game, rather than trying to stream the game from the internet, as advanced as games are now, it simply isn't a viable option.

 

Still, looked interesting, but I'd wait until hearing more from AAers before bothering much with it.

 

If they partner with Netflix, so people can just buy this OnLive box and use it to access their Netflix, then OnLive might be more successful. Because if you have a choice between buying a media box that only does media or OnLive which also does games, OnLive is a much more attractive option. If the games are laggy, it might still work with casual gaming, where instant movements aren't as important.