What do you think about OnLive?

[Alex]

Haven't heard of it yet?
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2009/03/26/gdc09-onlive/

That might be the best idea ever, and if it works and comes out next year, i might cry over how much i spent on my pc and laptop.

[Tadhg]

I don't think you'll have to cry. Quick and dirty math makes their claims seem infeasible from just the bandwidth standpoint, nevermind latency, encoding, and infrastructure requirements. They might have a magic rabbit they can pull from a hat, but I don't think so. 720p60fps on a 5mbit line would look pretty terrible with pretty much any codec available and the need to encode in realtime even more so. At the very least, it'll be interesting to see more technical information come out.

[Gaastra]

"The way of the future." If this is gaming of the future i'll stay in the past. I don't mind getting old nes games for 500 points but if it's a game like lego batman and i pay for it a want a "real" copy. One i can put on my bookself. I won't pay $50 for something that i can't hold for real.

[Agent Helix]

Right now, it seems like little more than smoke and mirrors and impossible claims. I don't know a whole lot about tech, but everyone that I know that DOES work in the field is saying that unless they've secretly revolutionized several different forms of distribution and server technology, this is impossible.

[jessecuster3]

"The way of the future." If this is gaming of the future i'll stay in the past. I don't mind getting old nes games for 500 points but if it's a game like lego batman and i pay for it a want a "real" copy. One i can put on my bookself. I won't pay $50 for something that i can't hold for real.

I am pretty sure Steam, XBLA, and PSN are disagreeing with you.

[4thHorseman]

As great as this sounds, I am definately a little weary. If it works, it will definately be amazing especially if the price is down and the server is wonderful. Doubtful, but interested to see how this ends up.

[monitoring]

I think that is great................

[Calvin Government]

From the way they described it, this is vastly different than Steam or X-Box Live, because, if I understand it correctly, you don't own anything with OnLive. You're basically setting up a rental service. Should the service discontinue, fold, or have severe technical difficulties, you will be completely unable to play any of the games you've been playing, or access your save data, or anything along those lines. You could not lend games to friends to let them try it out, and you'd need a pretty solid connection to the net, which means that college students in dorms - which is a pretty huge market - would be off limits or at least risky.

And the pricing structure would be interesting - if it truly does 'kill' consoles, the only money developers would make would be, essentially, off this or Mac/PC downloads. Instead of selling games, companies would be licensing software - and licensing costs traditionally SKYROCKET when faced with worldwide streaming digital distribution. They'd have to, given that this intends to supplant console gaming.

It's interesting, but until they say a whole lot more about pricing and how it works, I'm not so sure about it.

[jessecuster3]

From the way they described it, this is vastly different than Steam or X-Box Live, because, if I understand it correctly, you don't own anything with OnLive. You're basically setting up a rental service. Should the service discontinue, fold, or have severe technical difficulties, you will be completely unable to play any of the games you've been playing, or access your save data, or anything along those lines. You could not lend games to friends to let them try it out, and you'd need a pretty solid connection to the net, which means that college students in dorms - which is a pretty huge market - would be off limits or at least risky.


Oh yeah I wasn't saying it was. I was merely commenting on the physicality of the software from Steam, XBLA ,or PSN.


And frankly, if your Xbox or PS3 dies, you no longer have any of those games, either.

[Calvin Government]

Oh yeah I wasn't saying it was. I was merely commenting on the physicality of the software from Steam, XBLA ,or PSN.


And frankly, if your Xbox or PS3 dies, you no longer have any of those games, either.

I don't know how XBLA or PSN works, because I can't afford a good enough connection or the monthly fee, but on Steam, if your computer dies, you still have access to everything you bought - you can reinstall the client and it tracks what you're bought, correct?

[Agent Helix]

XBLA and PSN work the same way. If you delete something you buy, you can download it again without having to re-purchase it. They store your information on their servers, not on your PC/console.

[Calvin Government]

Nonetheless, I see his point - should the XBL or PSN or Steam services discontinue, it'll have the same effect. I wonder, do you actually BUY anything with those services, or is it again merely a licensing thing?

Looking at the Kindle, this is what I have serious issues with...


Use of Digital Content. Upon your payment of the applicable fees set by Amazon, Amazon grants you the non-exclusive right to keep a permanent copy of the applicable Digital Content and to view, use, and display such Digital Content an unlimited number of times, solely on the Device or as authorized by Amazon as part of the Service and solely for your personal, non-commercial use. Digital Content will be deemed licensed to you by Amazon under this Agreement unless otherwise expressly provided by Amazon.

Restrictions. Unless specifically indicated otherwise, you may not sell, rent, lease, distribute, broadcast, sublicense or otherwise assign any rights to the Digital Content or any portion of it to any third party, and you may not remove any proprietary notices or labels on the Digital Content. In addition, you may not, and you will not encourage, assist or authorize any other person to, bypass, modify, defeat or circumvent security features that protect the Digital Content.

Previously, if I bought a book, I owned the book. I could resell the book. I could lend the book to friends, or give it away. I could copy my favorite passages. Etcetera, etcetera.

Now, if I buy an e-book on the Kindle, I do not own it, and Amazon can and does freely dictate the terms of how I use it.

This, to my surprise, doesn't particularly bother a lot of people, but when I pay for something, I like to be able to use it as I will. We're entering a culture of non-ownership, and it means that you're paying for access to something, rather than for something itself.

I gladly admit that I may merely be old-fashioned in these regards (or perhaps more of a hippy in favor of broader open access content, at least in some areas), despite only being in my early 20s, but until digital copyright law in America starts to work for the consumers as much as it works for the copyright holders and providers, I'm a little leery of giving up any say I have in the issue. Certainly, there are advantages to digital distribution, but I've yet to see me the benefit of licensing a copy of a video game over owning the hard copy, a hard copy that I can play five years down the road without problems, or ten, or resell, or give to a friend.

[Genma:TheDestroyer]

Y'know, this reminds me of the Phantom.


And that's not something that inspires confidence for me.

[P-Man]

Ain't never gonna happen like the say it will. That's all PR hype. The tech might get put to use somewhere else down the line, but that's about it.

[Serik]

Assuming the technology actually works, I don't think that avid PC and console gamers are really the target audience. (They'll be the first to notice the input lag, etc.) There are still lots of people who don't play games regularly, or who haven't upgraded to the the current generation of consoles (see strong PS2 game sales). So if you're reluctant to spend $X on a console and $60 on new games and $Y on controllers and $Z on a LIVE subscription...or don't want to upgrade your PC components...then something like this might do the trick. Just turn on your TV and play a game every now and then.

Casual gaming is huge in terms of revenue, you just don't read about it from the gaming press. There's a strong demand for comparatively simple, easy-to-play games with zero barrier to entry.

I'm surprised that ISPs and/or cable TV providers haven't implemented this at a local/regional level. Add $15 a month for on-demand games that can be streamed to your TV.

I see something like this becoming the de facto way of gaming IN THE FUTURE, but I doubt OnLive will really change anything now. Keep in mind that digital distribution still hasn't reached critical mass.

[Chris S.]

I think that is great................

Don't have much to say on the thread except not really interested. I did, however, find it odd this person chose this as his first post and did it in such an odd way.......

[Chris S.]

Casual gaming is huge in terms of revenue, you just don't read about it from the gaming press. There's a strong demand for comparatively simple, easy-to-play games with zero barrier to entry.

I think that shoes in Wii sales personally. Not for hard core gamers but for the casual gamer.

[Astonishing X-Fan]

Oh yeah I wasn't saying it was. I was merely commenting on the physicality of the software from Steam, XBLA ,or PSN.


And frankly, if your Xbox or PS3 dies, you no longer have any of those games, either.

Wrong, they're tied to your account, not your console.

[Astonishing X-Fan]

Nonetheless, I see his point - should the XBL or PSN or Steam services discontinue, it'll have the same effect. I wonder, do you actually BUY anything with those services, or is it again merely a licensing thing?

Looking at the Kindle, this is what I have serious issues with...



Previously, if I bought a book, I owned the book. I could resell the book. I could lend the book to friends, or give it away. I could copy my favorite passages. Etcetera, etcetera.

Now, if I buy an e-book on the Kindle, I do not own it, and Amazon can and does freely dictate the terms of how I use it.

This, to my surprise, doesn't particularly bother a lot of people, but when I pay for something, I like to be able to use it as I will. We're entering a culture of non-ownership, and it means that you're paying for access to something, rather than for something itself.

I gladly admit that I may merely be old-fashioned in these regards (or perhaps more of a hippy in favor of broader open access content, at least in some areas), despite only being in my early 20s, but until digital copyright law in America starts to work for the consumers as much as it works for the copyright holders and providers, I'm a little leery of giving up any say I have in the issue. Certainly, there are advantages to digital distribution, but I've yet to see me the benefit of licensing a copy of a video game over owning the hard copy, a hard copy that I can play five years down the road without problems, or ten, or resell, or give to a friend.

I'm totally with you. I want a physical copy that I can loan, resell, and otherwise OWN. Plus I like the box/disc art, manuals, and other physical goodies hat come with a real copy.

[P-Man]

I'm totally with you. I want a physical copy that I can loan, resell, and otherwise OWN. Plus I like the box/disc art, manuals, and other physical goodies hat come with a real copy.

I'm the same way, but. . . if you cut the price in half I'm cool with a digital copy. Well, with games and maybe movies anyways. Not so much with music.

Oh, and Sony and Microsoft stuff might be tied to account, but Wii downloads are tied to console, I believe.

[jessecuster3]

Wrong, they're tied to your account, not your console.

Assuming you buy another console....

[Agent Helix]

Interestingly, Stardock is working on a new feature for their Impulse delivery system that would let users resell the licenses to games they've purchased, and for other users to then buy those licenses at a discount.

[jessecuster3]

Interestingly, Stardock is working on a new feature for their Impulse delivery system that would let users resell the licenses to games they've purchased, and for other users to then buy those licenses at a discount.

I heard about that. Its really smart because the developers will then get some of the money.

[Agent Helix]

And as for people that are scared of digital distribution, get used to it. It's going to be the standard soon enough.

[Serik]

Plus I like the box/disc art, manuals, and other physical goodies hat come with a real copy.

So do I, but most new PC games come in slim DVD cases nowadays. You're lucky to even get a quick reference card. So unless you spend an extra $20 on the collector's edition, you pretty much get a disc and a piece of crappy plastic. Price is the only thing keeping me attached to physical copies, which is incredibly sad when you think about it. Shipping a game half way across the country in an box should never be cheaper than buying it digitally :D

[maidonian]

Ain't never gonna happen like the say it will. That's all PR hype. The tech might get put to use somewhere else down the line, but that's about it.

Agreed.

I think it is the future of gaming but I don't think it's going to be the near future :).

[Tadhg]

OnLive gets funnier and funnier.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7976206.stm

The algorithm was developed on dual quad core Xeon processors, which cost thousands of pounds, but OnLive have said they have distilled it down so it can run on a custom chip which costs "under 20 bucks to make".

Mr Perlman said the chip was "high performance for video compression", running at less than 100Mhz clock speed and drawing about two watts of power.

I have come to two possible conclusions. It either won't work or Perlman has made a deal with Satan to produce magic silicon.

[jessecuster3]

I know they already have EA lined up and someone else I cannot remember. I have heard ruumblings they are just building the model to sell it off.

[Astonishing X-Fan]

Assuming you buy another console....

Well yeah. You can't play physical copies either if you don't have a console. Just like how you can't play DVDs without a DVD player. I don't see your point.

[Alex]

Well yeah. You can't play physical copies either if you don't have a console. Just like how you can't play DVDs without a DVD player. I don't see your point.

When he said die i thought he ment the system breaking, but they replace it if you get the red ring, and he mentioned ps3 so that can't be it.