Reactions: OnLive Announced, New Cloud Computing Powered Gaming Service Makes Your Gaming PC Obsolete

OnLive

Today at GDC a new video games on demand service was announced. OnLive promises to bring high-end PC gaming to even the most modest of platforms. All that is necessary to play games through OnLive is any low end PC with an internet connection, or the Micro Console that will cost “significantly less” than any other gaming system on the market today.

Said "Micro Console" with accompanying controller

How, exactly, is it possible for me to play Crysis on my $300 Netbook, or 5 year old PC? OnLive is going to utilize the power of cloud computing to make sure that all the heavy lifting is done by their servers. So when you push a button on the USB or bluetooth enabled controller that action is then sent to OnLive’s servers where it is processed, and is then sent back to your TV or monitor. Sound complicated? Probably because I’m not very good at explaining it, but the point is, you’re not really playing these games on your device. You’re playing them on OnLive’s servers and the video is then streamed to your monitor.

Reference this handy diagram if you're confused by my explanation.

So then the question becomes about lag. If my button presses have to be sent all the way across the internets before ending up back on my TV, won’t that take significantly longer than the traditional method? Rearden Studios, creators of OnLive, promise, according to Kotaku at least, that their “servers will deliver video feeds that have a ping of less than one millisecond. Its patented video compression technique is also advertised as blazing fast, with video compression taking about one millisecond to process.”

“All right, well, that’s all well and fine, but what kind of games are coming out on this thing?” you so perceptibly ask. This, in my opinion is one of the best announcements about the service. It has actual publisher support. EA, THQ, Codemasters, Ubisoft, Atari, Warner Bros., Take-Two, and Epic Games, are all on board with the service. There will be a subscription fee, as is to be expected with an on demand service such as this.

Look at all of the actual games!

OnLive would seem to have the potential to revolutionize the video game industry, and with actual publisher support, it may be set to do just that. It really all depends on your bandwidth. Although OnLive subscribers within a 1,000 mile radius of their server clusters should experience lag free gameplay.

And here are some announcement interview videos explaining how it works, in case the diagram and my wonderfully succinct description were not enough.

OnLive Makes PC Upgrades Extinct, Lets You Play Crysis On Your TV [Kotaku.com]

Author: Ryan