This has to be laggy as al hell....like playing BC2 on a NZ server or something
If this takes off it's going to be bad.. You won't even be able to change graphics settings because it's going to be dependent on the server. Latency for FPS is going to be a big issue. If it gets to the point where this is the only way people think about pc gaming then everybody is going to believe that pc gaming sucks. And you aren't going to be able to play mods most likely.
One of the biggest reasons I enjoy pc gaming is building and upgrading my computer for them.
I don't expect this to take off though. They would have to completely remove their competition.. (Steam, Impulse.. store purchases).. So probably no worries.
Since this is coming out soon, I shall share my thoughts, I've been testing it for about 6 months now.
ITS AWESOME, the whole community system they've built is crazy awesome with watching other people playing, and saving brag clips. Performance is really good considering the technical hurdles they faced, games are definitely not "MAX MAX" (eg crysis) but they are very high and run very well. Other games besides crysis are definitely maxed, and the video feed is good enough IMO.
I think it definitely has its place especially if you have a 720p capable netbook or the likes and travel a lot.
Would I pay for it? Nope, but I definitely can see people who like gaming and travel throughout the US getting it.
Of course the travel aspect brings another point that you must be near their data centers to get good performance, so I don't know if you can really "travel".
How exactly do you watch other people play? Is it a friends only thing? I've seen the Brag Clips posted by other players, but that's it.
Would be interesting if someone created a free home server version. Setup your powerhouse gaming server somewhere out of the way then load up your games on it. Connect to it and stream the games to your laptop, ion htpc, or whatever and have it run cool and quiet while you game. They could probably just take what they have and sell it for this use and people would buy it.
...
Anyone have an idea of what the game rental is going to cost?
The couple of people that have had hands on time with beta said it doesn't work particularly well with fast twitch games. Of course, one of those was outside the suggested 1,000 mile range. He did say that games like Burnout: Paradise responded better when using a controller instead of KB/M though.
The OnLive CEO said they are shooting for no more than 80ms latency round-trip. So, ultimately it is going to depend on your location in relation to their servers and your connection speed.
Yep, the monthly fee plus having to rent or purchase games is a kick in the nads IMHO.
That is an awesome idea. I could use my gaming PC to game on my laptop when I'm somewhere else.
IIRC, it's $3.99 for 3 days, $5.99 for 5 days. Nearly all have a 30min trial.
I just remembered Win 7 SP1 is suppose to bring Microsoft RemoteFX, which is remote desktop with 3D support. It will be interesting to see how well that works. It should do what I said for free, atleast on a lan. Not sure about sound now that I think about it. I assume that would work also.
onlive is an attack of the second hand market first and foremost, the mod community secondly, on all current forms of gaming (both PC and console), and finally and to a lesser extent and quite in the long term, on piracy.
For the curious: http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=859
You pay 15$ a month for the "service"... then you have to buy each game for 60$ (console price, 10$+ more a game than the PC price). And you can NOT sell the game on the second hand market, it is tied to your account irrevocably... You never get anything physical either , so WHEN (not if) they go down or take down older games you lose them (at which point someone would buy the rights and be glad to sell you the same game again... under the same terms).
From what I have seen and heard so far of the closed beta there is:
1. Input lag which ruins competitiveness of skill based FPS games.
2. It plays crysis on MEDIUM quality settings, the kind you would get budget gaming card, not high end quality.
3. It plays all games at 720p resolution...
Frankly the whole thing is one big drek... but it is making industry execs salivate... just wait for onLive exclusive games. Like MMOs there would be no second hand market, no mods, and no piracy, and gamers pay more and get less.
A big target for them to kill is the modding community... things like the temple of elemental evil repair mod by Co8, the KOTOR / KOTOR2 restoration mods of various flavors, total conversions, etc... they breath life into old games you already own, giving you days or weeks of blissful playing, for free! That is time that you aren't spending playing (and thus buying) the newest out the door souless boring clone game (it is a clone of dozens of other games and has nothing new to it)...
Notice how the hulk, spiderman, batman, just cause 2, prototype, and infamous are pretty all the exact same game with slight differences?
Also, if they do replace all hardware purchases then there would be no real development... millions of customers fuels the development of new chips, that development allowed advancement elsewhere, with oil exploration, earthquate prediction, and 3d movies such as avatar ALL being entirely based on technology that was developed for the video game market initially. Don't expect any improvement, innovation, or quality... higher prices, no second hand market, and absolutely NO MODS!
What are my hopes for the onLive service? I hope it fails!
EDIT: I also forgot to mention... this would be terrible for small indie companies if it takes off, since there would no longer be a hardware base for them to run on... they would have to resort to paying into those distribution models like onlive, which judging by the RIAA's history would simply rape the small guys, with the distributer taking the greatest bulk of the profits (over 90% with the RIAA)