Onlive microconsole

PrepP

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www.onlive.com


So has anyone else picked one of the microconsoles up? I got one last week and played it a lil bit over the weekend. I was pretty impressed with it. It is just starting out so I imagine it will only get better over time as they start to work out any kinks.

The picture quality was surprisingly really good for real time video streaming. The controls also worked well with a little lag , but not enough that it will ruin the game experience for most games. I played a couple different games and was impressed with the controls reaction. The controller itself I thought felt really nice.

My favorite feature was being able to watch "Brag" clips that anyone can upload and you can rate them. Picture 10 sec "highlight" clips from games that you can record by hitting a button on the controller in game. Also the ability to watch other people play a game in Real Time was very very cool.

I also like that you have the ability to start a game on the micro console on your TV then pick it up later on where you left off on your computer or laptop. Also the "console" is very small and portable so you can easily travel with it if you are going somewhere with a good internet connection.

Negatives would be that a high bandwith internet connection (5mb or higher) is required and there is no voice chat at the moment but that will get added in the future. There are not many games (about 40) right now, but the games they have are good games. Again more games will be added in time.

My impression overall is very high. I think Onlive has a very good shot at contending with the bigger gaming companies as it grows. If you are a hardcore gamer, I would definitely suggest to pick one up if you have high speed internet at home (5mb or higher). The initial cost is very small (under $100. I got mine for CES special for only $66) . Or just go sign up for an account and try it on your computer first. I prefer playing games on the TV so I went with the micro console.

They also have a "Netflix type" monthly fee ($10) for access to all the games or you can rent/buy games too.

Anyway just wanted to start a discussion on it and give my little review of it. If anyone else has an account let me know your username so I can add you to my friends list.
 
Interesting.

Sounds to me that the main appeal of this is to game publishers. It's a perfect way to eliminate software piracy, if the customer doesn't get a copy of the software nor do they get an actual console that runs the game, the game sound/video is just streamed to them to their generic gaming terminal. And they only have to develop the game for the one platform.

And they get the option to charge subscription fees.

I think that software publishers will try their hardest to force all gaming to be this way in the future.

Downsides of course will be access to back catalogues of older games down the track, reliance on high speed broadband, quota usage (some ISPs might be able to offer quota free deals for this), and the reliability/capacity of the the servers.

I'd be interested to know what sort of grunt there is on the server side...

- J
 
Not to turn this into a debate, but I am definitely not enthused about purchasing something that I can not ultimately hold in my hands (such as a media or game disc).

Anything totally virtual in nature can be lost at the flip of a switch, with no media to reinstall with. This reeks of bad DRM. And yes I have had a bad experience regarding purchased DRM music when the store I purchased from went out of business and I lost all my song rights when that happened.

Think about it: at the end of the day, you'll want a physical medium to hold on to... At least, I will.
 
There are a lot of people who think cloud computing is the way of the future. I agree, it's probably going to happen.

I still don't like the idea. I'm all about owning the physical software so I can install or play it as I please.

As was said... at the end of the day, I want my physical medium. I can insert my conspiracy theory in here... when skynet takes over, I can shut myself off the net and still play my physical discs...
 
I understand the physical medium argument 100%. Some people just aren't OK with the whole "cloud" concept. I am just a Tech geek/gamer in general so I really wanted to try this out. I also own a PS3 and a ton of games, blurays, etc. I like having a physical copy in possession too. Of course I don't like that physical media deteriorates over time (scratches,cracks,just gets old) and takes up space.

On the flip side I also really like the idea of a "cloud" of games that I can play at anytime , anywhere a la Netflix. I like the convenience of having access to all my media everywhere and the ability to play it on different hardware via the cloud. Onlive is advertising support for android and iphone in the near future. Thats very cool and convenient to me.

Bottom line is there are pros and cons for both.Personal preference. This is just an alternative for those who want one. An alternative that is growing rapidly in popularity though. Look at Netflix, Google, Pandora, all companies that are doing very well and being integrated into most of our everyday electronics. Onlive just announced a partnership with Vizio to start offering their service built into TV's. This is where the future is pointing. It's only a matter of time. I seriously doubt physical media will just disappear. But to overlook the convenience and cost savings for both the consumers and producers its hard not to see this as the way of the future for all media.
 
Having used Steam since day two of the service, I have no qualms about not having a box at this point :D
 
I have used Steam as well, and I can't help but wonder what happens to my games if Valve ever goes out of business? I'm willing to wager that I just flushed more money down the toilet with no games to show for it.

Much like Amazon's Kindle device, yes you can take all your books everywhere, but if the service ever crumbles, your books are gone, wave "bye-bye". Whereas with a real physical book, I can stick it my bag and never have an issue.

Can physical media be damaged? Sure, but so can any of these electronics!

I'm also not fond of this whole idea of "you're renting a copy" instead of buying the product. It's just another way for companies to DRM this garbage and maintain some kind of strange leverage.

Whatever happened to I pay money in exchange for the darned thing I want. Then the money is yours and the thing is mine. Simpler times I guess... I do miss them. *sigh*
 
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I have used Steam as well, and I can't help but wonder what happens to my games if Valve ever goes out of business?

This was discussed in another thread, but I'll say this at least...first Valve has said that if the service ever stops, they will release an update where users can play all their games once the service is gone. Granted, we'll all believe it when we see it, but at least it's been said.

Also, Steam offers a way to backup your games to discs and also has an Offline mode.

So, if you really want hard copies of everything, download it all and run the backup to disc feature and make those copies yourself. Then you can reinstall them any time you want from those discs. EDIT: Upon further review, this may only work fully with Valve games, so I suppose it's not an ideal solution. I've only ever tried it with Valve games, so for the record at least, it works well with those.

Then there's the offline mode which already lets you play games without being connected to the net, though you have to be online at the time you switch to offline mode in order for to work properly, so I suppose that's questionable as well when the end times come.
 
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I'm also not fond of this whole idea of "you're renting a copy" instead of buying the product. It's just another way for companies to DRM this garbage and maintain some kind of strange leverage.

Whatever happened to I pay money in exchange for the darned thing I want. Then the money is yours and the thing is mine. Simpler times I guess... I do miss them. *sigh*

That time never existed in regards to media. You've always been paying for the right to listen/watch/play something, not to 'own' it, it's just that technology has caught up to the point where the EULA and the experience are more closely tied together. Sorry :(
 
FMonk is right... you don't own any of your software, just the right to use it.

Officially, if they wanted to, they could come to your house and take back anything they want.

That pretty much won't happen. But it could happen.

At least with a physical copy, once they no longer support the software you can still use it (of course, most newer PC software has to be activated online before it can be used)
 
That time never existed in regards to media. You've always been paying for the right to listen/watch/play something, not to 'own' it, it's just that technology has caught up to the point where the EULA and the experience are more closely tied together. Sorry :(

That's true... But unfortunately when it came to replacing media, these companies certainly didn't behave like this was the case. Ie, they were often not willing to replace your damaged media (for free or reduced charge), but were more than willing to re-charge you full price to replace the media along with the right to listen/play/watch again. Record and game companies never really behaved like you were buying the right, they always behaved like they were selling you the physical disc/cartridge.

- James
 
That time never existed in regards to media. You've always been paying for the right to listen/watch/play something, not to 'own' it, it's just that technology has caught up to the point where the EULA and the experience are more closely tied together. Sorry :(

It did in my little corner of computing for a while, especiallly in the late 80's and early 90's. I used to run a small but proud little BBS; and when I purchased a new doorgame, not only would the developer acknowledge that I owned that copy, but most would often mail me a backup media for free, and a few even encouraged me to lend the backup to other BBS sysops to promote their software.

You'd never see anything like that today, and it's sad.
 
You'd never see anything like that today, and it's sad.

There are a LOT of indie developers like this and I think that that's more of a fair comparison to the old door games of old.

Speaking of which, anyone want to set up a Usurper telnet server? That'd be fun.

Just sayin'
 
There are a LOT of indie developers like this and I think that that's more of a fair comparison to the old door games of old.

Speaking of which, anyone want to set up a Usurper telnet server? That'd be fun.

Just sayin'

Usurper was actually the most popular game that I ran back then... I still have it on a disk somewhere, just need to find it. Would be a blast to steal beer barrels from the tavern again, or to try and assassinate a rival at the Inn guarded by seven small dragons. :D
 
Usurper was actually the most popular game that I ran back then... I still have it on a disk somewhere, just need to find it. Would be a blast to steal beer barrels from the tavern again, or to try and assassinate a rival at the Inn guarded by seven small dragons. :D

Yeah, I loved that one. The one I played on through to the end never updated to the last version that came out, but I've played it elsewhere since then - never to the end, though. There's a few places online that I played but it wasn't really the same without people I knew.

I never really understood why L.O.R.D. was so expensive to register. I always thought Usurper was superior anyway.
 
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