On Live Video Games on Demand!

[KarmaKiller]

We all regard PC games, as an entertainment medium, but spend hundreds to even thousands of Dollars regularly, to keep our PCs up to date, to be able to play the latest PC games. Imagine a medium that rids us of that, and we are able to consume PC gaming like any other content, like the TV or radio. Well, that the potential a new on-demand gaming platform holds – to make you never have to buy/upgrade a gaming PC again.

Called OnLive, the on-demand platform consists of a web service, an internet connection, and a thin-client, called “micro-console” that connects your input (game controllers), and output (monitor/TV/HDTV). You control the game – whichever you’re subscribed to and playing – the client relays your input to the OnLive servers, that do the processing, including graphics rendering, and send back output to your client. The client then displays the output. Sounds familiar? Cloud computing? Exactly, but for PC gaming. The platform is conceptualized to be advanced-enough to handle any of today’s games, Crysis included. The work-model of this platform is what makes it tick with any game, and is far more future-proof than the present mode of PC gaming (where people own expensive hardware that are in requirement of upgrades, the costs of buying games, buying gaming services separate).

PICS:
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http://www.techpowerup.com/img/09-03-25/38b.jpg

http://www.techpowerup.com/img/09-03-25/38c.jpg

For standard definition television quality, a broadband connection of at least 1.5 megabits per second is required. For HDTV resolution, a connection of at least 5 mbps is needed. The service uses patented algorithms that work to counter lag caused by network constraints. The technology is already gaining attention from major publishers, including EA, THQ, Codemasters, Ubisoft, Atari, Warner Bros., Take-Two, and Epic. People can buy or rent a game to play it, the usage fees are expected not to be much more than the subscription fees for Xbox Live.

techPowerUp! News :: New On-Demand Gaming Platform Threatens to Kill Gaming PC Upgrades

VIDEO HERE

I really think this is big news. No more buying consoles? No more upgrading PC's to play games? What do ya think?


UPDATE:
OnLive games service 'will work'

OnLive has said it has created a video compression algorithm designed specifically for video games that can encode and compress video into data in about one millisecond.

A custom-built silicon chip designed by OnLive does the actual encoding calculations at the server end, as well as the decompression at the gamer end, inside a cheap hardware add-on.

Net imperfections
"Every time you present new material to it, you will see something it does not compress so well. We note those and correct the algorithm."
Mr Perlman said the algorithm had been designed with the imperfections of the internet in mind.
"Rather than fighting against the internet... and dropped, delayed or out of order packets we designed an algorithm that deals with these characteristics.
"Every compression algorithm leaves something out. It's about figuring out what kind of stuff you drop out."

SOURCE

[Aaron_8015]

If it works it will completly change the gaming world, consoles and pc.....

Although as others have pointed out it is basicly a console except all the parts are elsewhere.

I will be hard pushed to use instead of my pc... unless the graphics card manufacturers just make low entry cards because of.....

[GroundZero3]

Sounds neat but im curious on how well this would preform if your connection lags out or isp continue to throttle bandwidth

[KarmaKiller]

I was curious about that also. They say on the site that all you need is 5M down for HD content. 1.5M down for "standard" def.
The other side to this is the fees. I'm curious if they do the rental thing like they talked about in the video, or if they do a per month charge. Either way, if you don't have to buy consoles/hardware, then it might be worth it.

Either way, I bet Sony/M$ are starting to worry a bit.

[tony_j15]

15-20 a month isn't all that bad for fees if such is the case.

The one big downside I see is problems with ISP's. A lot of these stupid companies are throttling speeds back or capping/charging extra if you go over a certain monthly bandwidth allotment. If you're streaming games, it's gonna make bittorrent bandwidth look like small time stuff.

[2monsters]

Sounds neat but im curious on how well this would preform if your connection lags out or isp continue to throttle bandwidth

This.
.
.
.
and this
GDC 09: 6 Reasons OnLive Could Be a Bust - PC World

[KarmaKiller]

He raises good points.

[2monsters]

I did sign up for the beta though.

[KarmaKiller]

I did sign up for the beta though.

Well I would never think to sign up for anything like....... yeah me too.

[ShyguyXPC]

they say 5M down for HD grade resolution games, but one thing they seem to forget is what kind of Upload speeds will be needed? as with many cable connections 5M down is no problem, like mine, but I also only have a 512K up...

if one is hosting a server for a said game, or the games/content being loaded back online needs quite a bit of bandwidth to the "actual" server/hardware running the games, the upload speeds are going to seriously hurt this type of gaming setup.

[Creatures]

if one is hosting a server for a said game, or the games/content being loaded back online needs quite a bit of bandwidth to the "actual" server/hardware running the games, the upload speeds are going to seriously hurt this type of gaming setup.

the only thing they need is your controller input which is close to no upstream

Creatures

[thephilosophizer]

I think the idea is pretty exciting, really what I would like though is something like this that I could run off my home network (so I could network my tv to my desktop upstairs, and run the game on the desktop and display on the tv).
Another thing I was thinking about with this, think of what this could do for iphones and psps and such. You could have handhelds with full desktop power. And this stuff is only right around the corner.
I do agree though that the bandwidth limiting from the isps is a huge concern. I think I read somewhere that congress might try to bar them, because the whole capping bandwidth is still something new for them.

[KarmaKiller]

So I take it your not part of the "internal" beta testing?

(welcome to TechIMO)

[nemowolf]

Is your PC obsolete? OnLive brings the cloud to PC gaming - Ars Technica

[Aaron_8015]

Whats the chances they will let you use mouse and keyboard....... Or will they make you use that controller???

[Bizkitkid2001]

You can use a mouse an keyboard. As well as bluetooth headsets.

[KarmaKiller]

Yep. The "console" has 2 USB ports. You can use basically whatever fits into those, beside the built wireless controller.

[nemowolf]

Yep. The "console" has 2 USB ports. You can use basically whatever fits into those, beside the built wireless controller.

Thats only if you use the console and not your own PC. Check out the article i listed from Ars, it says you can install their 1mb client on your own machine and stream there or if you want to use their own TC to stream then you can.

[anguilla987]

This service would be more for hard core gamers who don't have much else better to do I think. Because if you spending $30 or so a month for this service, your not going to just play it once or twice a week.

I don't think i would like this service.

[KarmaKiller]

Thats only if you use the console and not your own PC. Check out the article i listed from Ars, it says you can install their 1mb client on your own machine and stream there or if you want to use their own TC to stream then you can.

yeah they talked about that in the video I linked to in the OP. Seems almost to good to be true, ya know?

They are playing Crysis warhead on a XPS laptop, in HD even, with no lagg.