Onlive announced : sell your consoles!

[Guest Dave7g]

The future is here, and the future is good:

 

http://www.onlive.com/

Imagine playing a computer game without any hassles. Drivers, troubleshooting, installations, compatibility, performance--all thrown out the window. Upgrading? A thing of the past. All you have to do is click on the game, and seconds later, you're playing. That's what OnLive claims to deliver. Should it work half as well as advertised, expect to see the gaming world thrown into upheaval by a box no bigger than a deck of playing cards. The story gets even more unbelievable when you factor in price. According to company reps, OnLive intends to significantly undercut every existing console on the market.

 

At its core, OnLive is a subscription service similar to cable TV or Netflix. In other respects, OnLive is what you get when you pump something like YouTube full of steroids. Instead of just watching a pile of videos, you're streaming gameplay at HDTV resolutions and controlling your character in real time. You get Crysis on your HDTV at the highest-quality settings--run by a computer that's hundreds of miles from your doorstep. It's really no wonder Rearden Labs spent the better part of a decade perfecting and designing OnLive.

 

Greatest gaming invention ever?

Edited March 26, 2009 by Dave7g

[Guest Anime Otaku]

I read something about this earlier. I think it sounds good but I doubt it will work as well as they hope. Lag will probably be a major issue unless they can afford to have loads of servers all over the place.

[Guest Dave7g]

They have a sick amount of servers ready for it, the lag is 1 millisecond on SDTV and 5 for HDTV, neither detectible by the human eye.

[Guest Jaycey Baby]

That sounds fantastic. I'll believe it when I see it, though...

[Guest Nemesis Enforcer]

That sounds fantastic. I'll believe it when I see it, though...

This

 

To be honest it sounds way too good to be true in the way they speak about it

[Guest Fiona]

So does this mean that we can play Halo and Metal Gear Solid on it or will it have it's own games? I can't see getting it if you can't play your favourite games on it to be truthful.

 

Can someone supply a list of games that will be available when the unit comes out? I've looked and can't see one anywhere.

[Guest Nemesis Enforcer]

(Reuters) - A new video game distribution system by U.S.-based startup OnLive represents a "material threat" to Game Group Plc's retail model, said KBC's Peel Hunt, which rated the British company "sell."

 

OnLive, which expects to launch its service in the winter of 2009, will deliver games run on servers in the "cloud" with no lag time, rather than locally on a PC or a console.

 

"In other words, users will be able to play the latest PS3 or Xbox games without needing to own the console itself or buy physical game software in a direct distribution model to rent or purchase the games," analyst John Stevenson said.

 

Whether OnLive's initial foray is successful or not, the threat of online distribution has become much more tangible, he said. "The genie is now out of the bottle."

 

(Reporting by Purwa Naveen Raman in Bangalore; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

Credit: Reuters

 

So going by that Fi, they will be giving out PS3 and other console games on it

[Guest Fiona]

Cheers Nem. That will piss Microsoft and Sony off completely as they make a ton of money on selling their consoles and gaming equipment. But I'll go for it.:xyx

[Guest Nemesis Enforcer]

I suspect Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo etc will have something to say about it and probably try and mount some legal action if they feel they can make a case

[Guest Dave7g]

They would have by now. Onlive have signed with EA, Ubisoft, Warner etc. to play those games. If Onlive are playing GTA4, it has nothing to do with Sony or Microsoft it has to do with Rockstar, who have signed on as a part of the service.

 

It's been kept a secret for 7 years, probably out of fear by the big three, because if this works right, then there is no way developers would be bothered wasting time on "console exclusives".

[Guest Anime Otaku]

Hmmm. Dave's comment has got me thinking. Onlive may actually be an extremely BAD thing for everyone. Especially the consumer because if (big if admittedly) they do get to the point where it's easier to not bother with exclusives and put everything into Onlive (provided they get a good market share) then it could make Sony and MS decide to leave the console market and in turn Onlive would have very little competition since Nintendo isn't in good shape.

[Guest Fiona]

Hmmm. Dave's comment has got me thinking. Onlive may actually be an extremely BAD thing for everyone. Especially the consumer because if (big if admittedly) they do get to the point where it's easier to not bother with exclusives and put everything into Onlive (provided they get a good market share) then it could make Sony and MS decide to leave the console market and in turn Onlive would have very little competition since Nintendo isn't in good shape.

 

I don't think it would be a bad thing. Look at it realistically, right now if you want to play Halo you need an Xbox, if you want to play Metal Gear Solid you need the PS/3. Not a lot of families can afford to buy both units. If you can get all the games on one unit then most people would go for it, I would.

 

Game developers would definitely go for it if everyone else jumps on the bandwagon.

Edited March 26, 2009 by Fiona

[Guest Anime Otaku]

You say not many people can afford both units, which is true enough, but what do you think would happen to prices if Onlive does manage to knock Sony and MS out of the console market? They'd be able to set any price they wanted to a certain extent, case in point, when Take 2 had their NFL game it and EAs Madden games were no more than $30 US and the prices fell fairly fast. Since EA got the exclusive deal Madden games have just about doubled in price and they get discounted much more slowly. If Onlive does too well it could be bad for the consumers.

[ShaolinHandLock 73]

As a collector of Video Games & Consoles, I find this to be a very stupid idea. Plus I like having the physical product for whatever it is that I'm buying. So I don't like this idea.

[Guest Fiona]

You say not many people can afford both units, which is true enough, but what do you think would happen to prices if Onlive does manage to knock Sony and MS out of the console market? They'd be able to set any price they wanted to a certain extent, case in point, when Take 2 had their NFL game it and EAs Madden games were no more than $30 US and the prices fell fairly fast. Since EA got the exclusive deal Madden games have just about doubled in price and they get discounted much more slowly. If Onlive does too well it could be bad for the consumers.

 

I don't think it will knock them out of the market. Hopefully it will force Sony and Xbox to lower the prices of their units and maybe games.

 

I have a kid who has to have the latest and greatest and he costs me a fortune so I wouldn't mind something like this. I know I'm not the only parent in the same boat. Not every parent will go for this as it may be hard to regulate what their kids are doing so you will still have those who want to buy the units and games. If it brings the prices down then great. Some people might also use this to test out games before actually going out and buying them.

[Guest Saz]

Sony and Microsoft will make their own onlives, Nintendo are already doing it with the new DS.

 

It's more a way to attempt to stop software piracy and I think that you'll get the same thing with branding and exclusives when everyone releases their own version of the technology.

 

My issue is that it is all virtual software and you pay for the download and use, so, once your hard drive is full, you'll have to remove stuff, will they make you pay for the download again?

 

It's all about making money and ensuring that people don't get games for free.

 

Interesting concept, I'm just wondering if the consumer market will go for it?

[Guest Anime Otaku]

Currently redownloading content from XBL and VC are both free I think, I think they'd be stupid to change that. Although, unless I misunderstood, which is possible, this sounds more like a rental service so you'll need to pay each time you play but it will be a relatively small amount.

[Guest Dave7g]

There would be no downloading at all for Onlive, so no hard drive, no re-downloads, just the little box sending you the video of you playing your game. It's the future really.

[Guest Fiona]

Kind of makes you wonder why Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo didn't see something like this coming.

[Guest big pau hoolinator]

Not all type of games will work in this format and it sounds like hassle, would rather use a console