ONLIVE, won't this uh... destroy the need for consoles?

Basically, it's an upcoming company that will debut the product right before the year of 09 is over. I don't know the exact mechanics of it, but it basically allows you to play any game you want through your computer or even tv without any graphics processing on your part. I think they process it for you, and you're basically just getting hi-res reflections of that game that they're actually processing. You press a button in the controller, and instead of going from your hand to your screen; it's like, 1. your controller, 2. their computer processes, 3. reflected on screen.

Well, obviously, i'm kinda confused, but it's a system that i kinda thought would be cool to have, considering i'm usuallynot willing to buy games for other consoles i don't have when they're exclusive, and my computer is pretty weak. It would be pretty sweet to try out Crysis without having to worry about system requirements.

Any thoughts. Is this even reliable? I just saw it in a magazine ad.

Basically, it's an upcoming company that will debut the product right before the year of 09 is over. I don't know the exact mechanics of it, but it basically allows you to play any game you want through your computer or even tv without any graphics processing on your part. I think they process it for you, and you're basically just getting hi-res reflections of that game that they're actually processing. You press a button in the controller, and instead of going from your hand to your screen; it's like, 1. your controller, 2. their computer processes, 3. reflected on screen.

Well, obviously, i'm kinda confused, but it's a system that i kinda thought would be cool to have, considering i'm usuallynot willing to buy games for other consoles i don't have when they're exclusive, and my computer is pretty weak. It would be pretty sweet to try out Crysis without having to worry about system requirements.

Any thoughts. Is this even reliable? I just saw it in a magazine ad.

dudnaito

Most likey, it will. But how long before it really starts to work. Do we have anyguarantees it will work out? I think it won't come out till next gen and get people before they upgrade their consoles.

What people have to understand is that not only do you need a fast internet, you need a consistently fast internet with little to zero packet loss. If there's any packet loss, expect to have some WTF moments. There's already the inescapable lag from ping (even if your pinging their servers at 20ms, it's still 20ms back, then factor in monitor latency and it will add up fast) add in internet factors and it's only going to be a great service for a select number of people. And if it gets popular, what happens when everyone logs on during the prime time hours and OnLive won't have enough bandwidth to keep up? Good luck playing your games.

There's ALWAYS going to be people like me who prefer to have a physical copy in their hands. Not only do you actually OWN the game, you don't have to worry about any of the above problems. Just pop the CD in, and play. I don't really see it as a threat to physical copies/digital distribution, just more like an alternative.

I think it's supposed to be super-expensive, and not everyone has great connection speeds. Also, some people, myself included, like to own physical copies of games for some reason or another.

Onlive is not practical, so I doubt it will destroy anything. Except maybe itself.

Onlive is not practical, so I doubt it will destroy anything. Except maybe itself.Dasengaor

I sure hope it doesn't replace consoles or PC's. While I prefer owning the actual physical copies of games I also don't mind downloading digital copies as long as I can play it whenever I'd like to without having to be concerned that I'm actually connected online in order to play. Also since you really never own anything for it if you ever want to say switch to another game provider or system that might spring up as competition then you're left with nothing. So the more you spend on it the more you'll feel the need to stay with it or lose everything. For me the idea of this thing seems more worrisome then it's worth.

It won't hurt console sales since it only streams PC games. It's not going to kill the need for gaming PCs either since it can only stream games up to a max resolution of 1280x720 which, while a high resolution for console gamers, is considered to be the lowest acceptable resolution by PC gamers. And just to get that 720p feed you're going to need a hell of an internet connection. Most people will have to play their games in sub 800x600 resolution...that's not going to be pretty.

This even ignores the other problems such as prime time demand (hope you like sitting in line to play your games if the service gets to be popular) and lag.

I'm sure a service like this will catch on in the future once technology has progressed to a point where this both works well and cheap for the average consumer, but right now it's ahead of its time.

I think it'll have a bigger impact on PCs. Consoles are already plug and play easy. PC is a system where most games are specifically designed to not play on the majority of computers made and sold on a yearly basis. OnLive will be the first time in over a decade that you can actually play PC games on a PC with no further modification needed.Senor_Kami

Everyone seems to forget that onlive will still need the hardware at their facilities so the need for hardware wont go away. Just the need for you to have it in your home. Basically you end up renting/leasing hardware for some monthly fee. If it breaks or anything its not your problem its theirs. Something needs upgrading? Their responsibility not yours.

i really don't think it's going to do anything. it is a thing called onlive and i don't think it will work. i have a college degree and i have studied computers and i really don't think you can beat a game like crysis running on your own computer.

Yes and no. While the idea behind OnLive (ie streaming content directly from another party) will likely become a viable option in the future, the key words are "in the future". The vast majority of internet connections aren't fast enough to provide a lag-free experience, and OnLive will no-doubt be prohibitively expensive (the subscription fee will be so expensive it'll likely be more cost-effective to simply upgrade your PC).

I won't buy it for few areasons,

1: Lag: no matter how fast you internet connection is you'll get lag at some point, and it's more likley with the massive amounts of data onlive has to send.

2:From what I've heard you play the games based off subscription, and if I can't get a hard copy of a game, then I at least want a full file of the game.

3: I like having a hard copy of something that I can hold and do whatever with it.

4: If OnLive is sucsseful do you really think it's going to remain the only service of it's kind and remain a one stop game platform? No, most likley several other similar services will pop up and will all have games exclusives to them

Not really a point on me, but do you reallythink the console makers are just going to take this lying down?

i really don't think it's going to do anything. it is a thing called onlive and i don't think it will work. i have a college degree and i have studied computers and i really don't think you can beat a game like crysis running on your own computer.

skyyfox1

Well it runs the games on the OnLive servers, but I think lag is going to occur quite alot do to the massive amounts of data

I don't see why people moan about super connection speeds.

You don't need a NASA connection to play this perfectly smooth.

I have a cheap 15 euro / month 20 mb connection with no download limit and I get 15-30 ms ping max on any online game I play with servers that are way further away than the ONLIVE servers will be.

edit: typo

Also, with the popularity of internet caps, expect to hit that cap a lot damn faster if you use OnLive a ton.

I won't buy it for few areasons,

1: Lag: no matter how fast you internet connection is you'll get lag at some point, and it's more likley with the massive amounts of data onlive has to send.

2:From what I've heard you play the games based off subscription, and if I can't get a hard copy of a game, then I at least want a full file of the game.

3: I like having a hard copy of something that I can hold and do whatever with it.

4: If OnLive is sucsseful do you really think it's going to remain the only service of it's kind and remain a one stop game platform? No, most likley several other similar services will pop up and will all have games exclusives to them

Not really a point on me, but do you reallythink the console makers are just going to take this lying down?

Videogamefan123

Wasn't a competitor already revealed?

[QUOTE="Videogamefan123"]

I won't buy it for few areasons,

1: Lag: no matter how fast you internet connection is you'll get lag at some point, and it's more likley with the massive amounts of data onlive has to send.

2:From what I've heard you play the games based off subscription, and if I can't get a hard copy of a game, then I at least want a full file of the game.

3: I like having a hard copy of something that I can hold and do whatever with it.

4: If OnLive is sucsseful do you really think it's going to remain the only service of it's kind and remain a one stop game platform? No, most likley several other similar services will pop up and will all have games exclusives to them

Not really a point on me, but do you reallythink the console makers are just going to take this lying down?

tsduv21

Wasn't a competitor already revealed?