E3 2010 Onlive Interview

OnLive Remote Gaming Service Turns On in June

courtesy of PCMag.com


After eight years of development, remote gaming service OnLive is scheduled to roll out on June 17.
The company also announced its service pricing: users will need to pay $14.95 per month, which will allow them access to the service. However, the company did not disclose the price to rent or purchase games.

The first 25,000 users who preorder via the OnLive preorder site will receive their first three months of service free, the company said in a blog post. (Preregistration does not require a credit card, at least initially.) In addition, loyalty programs and special deals at the June E3 show (when OnLive launches) will also add other discounts, the company said.

"Everyone here at OnLive is just incredibly excited about this milestone," Steve Perlman, the company's chief executive and founder, said in a blog post. "It's the realization of a dream that we knew would be a huge undertaking, but also one that would change everything."

OnLive's claim to fame is that it puts PC users closer to console gamers in terms of hardware investment. Instead of being forced to constant shell out hundreds of dollars in CPU, graphics, and memory upgrades, OnLive completely abstracts both the game as well as the processing power required to run it, placing both inside a remote server. The service turns the user's PC into something like a dumb terminal, meaning that, at least theoretically, even an older laptop with a high-speed broadband connection should be able to run the latest games.

The service will be enabled via a PC browser plugin; later, a "MicroConsole" TV adapter will allow users to play them on their HDTVs.

Because the service is video-based to begin with, normal features -- gamertags, friends, and chat -- are supplemented with live spectating, so-called "Brag Clips" video recordings, and instant game demos, which can be instantly accessed and shared, Perlman said. Users will also be able to pause and resume, even on a different platform.



Users will be able to buy and rent "instant-play, top-tier, newly-released games," but OnLive will announce the actual prices closer to E3, Perlman wrote, adding that he expected prices to be "competitive" with retail offerings. OnLive has put up a page with games it expects to support (including "Borderlands," "Crysis Wars," "Mass Effect 2," and "Dragon Age: Origins") although whether or not all of them will be available at launch is unknown.

Previous demonstrations of the technology have worked well, although it's unclear how the network will hold up under strain. Perlman has said previously that the OnLive service will render games at about the equivalent of 720p, so games on high-resolution PC screens may look a little fuzzy.

The OnLive technology could seemingly pose a threat to companies like AMD, which manufactures both CPUs and graphics chips. But AMD invited an OnLive competitor, OTOY, to a Sept. 2009 launch event where it announced its Eyefinity technology.

Sony Scared of OnLive?

OnLive was revealed last week at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) and immediately videogame forums across the internet exploded with debates of how successful it would be. The news was big enough that major news sites such as CNN and FOXNews did stories on it as well as the traditional technology sites such as Cnet. Major game publishers Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Epic Games, Atari, Codemasters, THQ, Warner Bros., 2D Boy and Eidos Interactive have signed up to have games available for the format. Seems as though everyone is onboard for the ultimate gaming nirvana doesn't it?

Well not Sony. Sony released a statement today stating that it does not think that OnLive is on the right track amid concerns that expenses will be passed on to the consumer. As stated by Sony, "What will be the final cost to the consumer when you start adding up what [OnLive is] selling?" It is not clear whether Sony thinks the traditional method of gaming should continue (with consoles and game discs) or whether a totally new direction should be employed.

The bottom line... Sony does bring up a good point. What's to keep OnLive from charging $50, $100, or whatever they want for a month long membership if they have a monopoly on the service. On the flipside of the statement, Sony has just filed a trademark patent for the name "PS Cloud" as stated in my previous post (see below), so I take what Sony says with a grain of salt. I think Sony believes cloud computing IS the wave of the future and they are taking steps in that direction. Just like they say, "History repeats itself". It appears more like Sony is trying to sabotage the hype around OnLive's announcement with this press release very similar to what they did when Sega released their Dreamcast in 1999 by announcing they were shortly going to be releasing their next videogame system (then the PS2). I wouldn't be surprised if Sony would try to steal OnLive's subscriber base (shortly after OnLive releases) with a service of their own. Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Sony Trademark Patents the Words "PS Cloud"

Sony filed a trademark patent yesterday for the name "PS Cloud". Seems as though everyone is jumping on the OnLive bandwagon, believing the wave of the future is cloud computing. It would be nice not to have to worry about buying new systems every few years (and for a large sum of money at that). Interesting...

Is OnLive the next step in Videogame Evolution?

The Game Developer's Conference (GDC), also known as E3's little brother, is releasing some very interesting videogame news stories. Rearden Studios is planning on introducing a gaming service and "microconsole", called OnLive in the near future. It is a new way to play games online without having to buy titles. It may sound alot like the vaporware Phantom console or the new Zeebo (also making a debut at the GDC), but it is much different.

OnLive will use your internet connection to allow you to "view" the game on your computer or TV while it is playing on 1 of 5 servers located at various locations across the country. Lag is reported to not be an issue and the developer's claim you only need a 1.5 Mbps connection for Standard Definition play and 5Mbps for High Definition.

The system is designed to allow players to stream on-demand games at the highest quality onto any Intel-based Mac or PC running XP or Vista, regardless of how powerful the computer. The system will also stream games directly to a TV via a small plug-in device, and players can use a custom wireless controller as well as voice-over-IP (VoIP) headsets in conjunction with it.

Deals have been made with nine publishers: EA, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Eidos, Codemasters, Epic, Atari, WB and 2D Boy, and, according to Perlman, it only requires minor modifications on Rearden's end to get titles to run on the service.

We may be playing videogames in a completely different way in the future.