News OnLive

[Biggy_Boy]

Just super fast internet.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/47080.html

 

[Burningleviathan]

That will be quite cool if it works out. Would change console/CPU gaming a heap.

 

[RoosterLad]

So it won't be available in Australia then?

 

[HBK619]

It's interesting, don't see the thing being cheap to purchase though, and won't really be viable for Aussies until our internet is upgraded a fair bit.

And if I was listening correctly does it eliminate multiplayer online games?

Will be hard to fully take off over consoles though, especially without the real first party support, Sony and Microsoft just won't let it and will make sure that people still have reasons to own consoles(Killzone 2, Halo, God Of War, etc. etc.), although it is interesting that Epic was signed on, so I'm guessing that will mean both or at least Gears 2 might see its way onto the system?

 

[Biggy_Boy]

It's interesting, don't see the thing being cheap to purchase though, and won't really be viable for Aussies until our internet is upgraded a fair bit.

And if I was listening correctly does it eliminate multiplayer online games?

Will be hard to fully take off over consoles though, especially without the real first party support, Sony and Microsoft just won't let it and will make sure that people still have reasons to own consoles(Killzone 2, Halo, God Of War, etc. etc.), although it is interesting that Epic was signed on, so I'm guessing that will mean both or at least Gears 2 might see its way onto the system?

Unreal tournament?

Probably wont be coming to Aus, at least it in it's early stages as our internet on avergae really isn't up to it and they'd need to localize the service.

To me, it sounds like they're trying to make an answer to DRM. It sounds a bit dodgy to be honest.

 

[HBK619]

Unreal tournament?

Probably wont be coming to Aus, at least it in it's early stages as our internet on avergae really isn't up to it and they'd need to localize the service.

To me, it sounds like they're trying to make an answer to DRM. It sounds a bit dodgy to be honest.

UT3 was a veritble flop, doubt they would bring it out again, not to mention it will be a good year and a half old, I'd be expecting to see Gears 2(Depending on who is actually allowed to distribute it, considering Microsoft own the publishing rights, but then again Midway own the publishing rights to UT3, were they on the list? I don't remember the full list), it's actually strange that a developer was signed up instead of publishers, maybe there is a deal with Epic to design something especially for OnLive?

It most likely won't work unless they had some sort of online multiplayer component to it(Which it pretty much can't as it seemingly will use the majority of your connection on streaming the game), otherwise it renders many, many games all but useless(Bar the SP modes) and far better to get on a console or PC.

 

[Viney]

UT3 was a veritble flop, doubt they would bring it out again, not to mention it will be a good year and a half old, I'd be expecting to see Gears 2(Depending on who is actually allowed to distribute it, considering Microsoft own the publishing rights, but then again Midway own the publishing rights to UT3, were they on the list? I don't remember the full list), it's actually strange that a developer was signed up instead of publishers, maybe there is a deal with Epic to design something especially for OnLive?

It most likely won't work unless they had some sort of online multiplayer component to it(Which it pretty much can't as it seemingly will use the majority of your connection on streaming the game), otherwise it renders many, many games all but useless(Bar the SP modes) and far better to get on a console or PC.

EPIC (Cliff B. in particular) have stated emphatically Gears 2 will never be on anything other than 360.

He hated how the PC version of Gears 1 turned out and said no way, no day, would a PC (or other) version be done

 

[Ant_]

Hmm BS meter is going off, it will work in SD with a 1.5 mb connection without lag? The date is getting close to the first of April.

 

[raffrox]

Technology doesn't count for jack. The dreamcast proved that unfortunately. Especially if you don't have the AAA titles, which gives you the huge installed user base, which brings more developers, which gives you more AAA... rinse and repeat.

They'll need more than Epic ports.

 

[HBK619]

EPIC (Cliff B. in particular) have stated emphatically Gears 2 will never be on anything other than 360.

He hated how the PC version of Gears 1 turned out and said no way, no day, would a PC (or other) version be done

Then it would seem a fairly pointless move to sign Epic, 1 game to go to it(Not even confirmed though), that being a flop, released 1 and a half years ago!

Technology doesn't count for jack. The dreamcast proved that unfortunately. Especially if you don't have the AAA titles, which gives you the huge installed user base, which brings more developers, which gives you more AAA... rinse and repeat.

They'll need more than Epic ports.

They have got a few big names under their belt, that being EA, THQ and some others, no doubt all jumping on just in case it takes off, but it will be a pointless maching considering the fact that A) You will never truly own the game, B) No online play possible, C) Won't happen in Aus for a long while you wouldn't think, plus numerous other reasons, too many to name.

 

[Biggy_Boy]

Hmm BS meter is going off, it will work in SD with a 1.5 mb connection without lag? The date is getting close to the first of April.

I think you might be on to something.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/gdc-why-onlive-cant-possibly-work-article

Personally, I liked this bit:

More than that, OnLive overlord Steve Perlmen has said that the latency introduced by the encoder is 1ms. Think about that; he's saying that the OnLive encoder runs at 1000fps. It's one of the most astonishing claims I've ever heard. It's like Ford saying that the new Fiesta's cruising speed is in excess of the speed of sound. To give some idea of the kind of leap OnLive reckons it is delivering, I consulted one of the world's leading specialists in high-end video encoding, and his response to OnLive's claims included such gems as "Bulls***" and "Hahahahaha!" along with a more measured, "I have the feeling that somebody is not telling the entire story here." This is a man whose know-how has helped YouTube make the jump to HD, and whose software is used in video compression applications around the world.

 

[HBK619]

I think you might be on to something.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/gdc-why-onlive-cant-possibly-work-article

Personally, I liked this bit:

I mean that could be something where the guy just has no ****en clue as to what he is talking about and the figure is a far more logical one.

But someone was also doing some maths on how much usage OnLive would actually take at the 5mbps touted by the guy, it would equal something like 2.5GB an hour(this is just what I am remembering from the article I read, could be more, could be less), so basically it will mean your better off buying a high-end PC or PS3/XBOX 360 with how much you would be spending on usage anyway.

 

[Biggy_Boy]

I mean that could be something where the guy just has no ****en clue as to what he is talking about and the figure is a far more logical one.

He does not understand the Tachyons! Onlive is using Tachyons, it all makes perfect sense!

 

[Borgsta]

why do they fail to mention that you'd still need a good video card to display it in any half decent format. They might push it out at 720p but unless you have a video card that can display it, the game will just look shit.

 

[scooterb]

I don't think you need a good video card?

From what I can see from this scam, all you need is a TV, the internet and the OnLive add-on. I think they basically process the game for you (hence no need for powerful video cards, cpu's etc.).

 

[Borgsta]

the TV was another option which you had to pay extra for from what I understood. Wasn't paying too much attention to it.

 

[HBK619]

OnLive has been priced and dated for the US (no word on any other countries yet).

IMO they're setting themselves up to fail with this price point. $15US a month = $16 for us Aussies. And over 12 months that ends up being $180US and $199AU so within about 18 months you'll have payed enough for a fully fledged console. Not some thing that you never truly own your titles with. It might work brilliantly but that price point needs to be at least $5 cheaper, especially when you couple this with a high bandwidth rate, you're going to be spending a fair amount for a system that does nothing better than the PS3 or 360.

Source: http://www.develop-online.net/news/34104/GDC-OnLive-dates-launch-pricing-for-US

Controversial games streaming service OnLive will launch in the US on June 17th backed by Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, THQ and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

The serivce launches on PC and Mac, and costs $14.95 a month, the firm told our sister magazine MCV.

 

[Forrest Gimp]

Wow, I actually think that's a damn good deal. The higher the resolution, the more data will be required to shift, but I would imagine they could help that by pumping loads of AA with beefy PC's on their end. I'm assuming they are using PC's, and I thing that's a safe assumption. The main problem I have with this is the lack of mods, and how they will split those using onlive (via proxy PC) and actual PC users on servers (every game would need onlive specific servers) as smashing ****ers using a gamepad with a mouse and keyboard isn't really an option. It's interesting none the less.

edit: launching for PC and Mac? So I guess their transceiver box gizmo isn't ready yet and they are relying on a pc for launch. My last point would be invalidated then, until they launch a box version with a controller. This may well give a boost to PC/Mac gaming (though I wouldn't expect much to change over here for a long time. It's going to require a lot of bandwidth to push what they are asking.)

 

[Jabso]

why do they fail to mention that you'd still need a good video card to display it in any half decent format. They might push it out at 720p but unless you have a video card that can display it, the game will just look shit.

You'd only need a $100 GPU at the most, most computers come with them and can display HD.

It's a good concept but will take a while to get going. I don't think it's going to kill gaming hardware, there will be limitations, especially for us Aussies.

I like the social gaming aspects more so than the "play through the internet with your crap computer" aspect.

It's more an alternative for PC gamers who may pump heaps into updating their system, that's when the price pays off.

 

[HBK619]

$15 a month might be alright for a PC gamer, but really, what does this offer that a PS3 or 360 doesn't? Basically if you have either one of those, you don't need OnLive.

For one, you'll be playing this on the 30 day (you'd expect 30 day per $15) period. Which basically means when you're not on this system, you'll feel like you're wasting money. It's going to be a time played per cost ratio in the end.

You're going to be spending $200 a year for this system, so 4 years if $800, more than enough to have bought the PS3 and 360 which is basically all you really need this gen. Sure PC has some great exclusives as well, but with what is available for the PS3 and 360 you wouldn't really be dying for a PC. And really, what can OnLive offer that is so much better in terms of comparative games. You'll have some better graphical games and you might get the odd game that is well and truly worth getting, but there's not a whole lot that puts this above a console. And when it cost's $15 a month, you'd want something that puts it a fair amount above.

Another thing, you won't be able to get franchises like COD, Halo, Uncharted, Forza, GT, God of War, Gears of War (assuming that Epic stay exclusive to the 360 for Gears). So a huge number of quality titles are instantly excluded from this service, while you can get at least half on one console, while remaining a high majority of titles that OnLive will have.

There'll seemingly be no real exclusive games (despite the claims from the boss) and it'd really want to be a solid and proven system before the publishers they have decide to go full term exclusive. So we're talking at least a year before there'd be any real exclusives of note.

At launch they're only going to have 20 titles. This compared to PC's 1000's of titles, PS3's and 360's several hundred titles. It's definitely starting behind the 8-ball, and who knows how regularly titles will be added (50-60 by the end of the year apparently). You'd assume that the majority of titles will be added in time for their release on PC/Console's depending on what these titles run on (don't know if there'll be console only titles on OnLive or if all will need PC titles to be run on them).

If these motion control gimmicks take off on PS3 and 360 then that could leave OnLive in the lurch as in a Q&A the motion sensor stuff was put to the boss and his answer was that it couldn't be done with any ease.

It's a great idea, in theory, but it doesn't seem to be much more than that IMHO. At least not for a few years yet.

 

[Magnum]

Seems like a load of BS, lag would be crazy when playing on this service, but apparently they have 'figured it out'

I'm betting it has something to do with tachyons though.

 

[Forrest Gimp]

I know what you're saying, and I mostly agree, HBK. People aren't going to be running to this thing whilst they have a console or a decent gaming PC. But what about by the time the next generation of consoles come along? Internet infrastructure is only getting better (I'm mainly thinking of America and Europe here, in many Asian countries it's already there) and if the next generation of consoles cost $600 or so, and you have the bandwidth to make onlive feasible, why wouldn't you consider it? It's an ambitious project, and it will only work if they have the funds to be in it for the long haul, but if they can use this time before the next consoles launch to build a foundation and bring loads of publishers on board, I believe it can be a huge success.

 

[Ant_]

Seems like a load of BS, lag would be crazy when playing on this service, but apparently they have 'figured it out'

I'm betting it has something to do with tachyons though.

Seems funny this story comes up again with the first of April round the corner.

 

[melbournemartin]

This will be interesting. From memory, you rent games for extended periods on it yeah?

 

[HBK619]

This will be interesting. From memory, you rent games for extended periods on it yeah?

There'll be an option to buy and rent games. But all will still remain as digital titles.

"Individual titles will be available for purchase or rental on an a la carte basis. Specific game pricing, including rentals,purchases and loyalty programs, will be announced prior to the consumer launch event at E3. We’ll also be announcing additional loyalty and discount programs for consumers in the coming months."

Most likely the monthly subscription will be some form of all play type of thing where you can pick and choose to play any game when you want (or there could be some limit to the amount of games you can play), but obviously will only have that 30 day period in which to do so. Unless you continue for following months.