/images/social_rss_dark.png "Subscribe to the site")
/images/social_twitter_dark.png "Follow us on Twitter")
/images/social_facebook_dark.png "Friend us on FaceBook")
OnLive: A Hint at the Future of Gaming
Something special happened today. Potentially game-changing. Oh sure, the ‘potentially’ line is a handy cop-out, like ‘allegedly’ for rumor- and sleaze-mongers, but it refers to the unanswered questions that still surround OnLive’s latest leap forward.
While I’m not driving my flying car or teleporting to an appointment, I did sense seeing a little bit of the future today. OnLive revealed its smartphone and tablet apps that let you play some of the leading console games on your mobile device. In a nutshell, that means playing L.A. Noire, Rockstar’s whodunit masterpiece on your iPhone. Or maybe your Galaxy Tab. Or maybe your Kindle (yes, Kindle).
To recap, momentarily, OnLive has blazed a trail in cloud gaming, which means streaming the latest games to your PC or Mac, or to your TV via the Micro Console, or now to your mobile device. The company offers a range of plus points for consumers, game publishers, and, of course, the host company itself: you can play on your machine, on your TV, now on your handheld without requiring any purchase from a bricks-and-mortar store; publishers are assured a piracy-free environment since the content is streaming directly to the consumer; OnLive takes its cut of that game sale revenue.
If all that paragraph were the a perfect recreation of the real-world situation, OnLive would find itself in a Netflix-like up-tick of awareness (before that whole doubling the cost idiocy). While the company appears, anecdotally, to be healthy and influential with publishers, it also faces a major challenge. One it can’t control. One it will never (likely) master. The Internet.
The Achilles heel of cloud gaming is latency. But as networks get faster, so OnLive’s in-game performance improves, and player satisfaction rises, along with sign-ups.
It has seemed, in the 18 months or so since OnLive introduced its notion of cloud gaming, that it was ahead of the its time. Question is, given that situation, can a company survive until the rest of us catch up. This mobile move could propel OnLive so far into a future we want–but can’t truly experience right now–that gamers could get pissy about the promise against the returns.
In essence, OnLive Mobile lets you play your high-end console games on your mobile device. Save it, come home and play it on the TV, move it to the PC or Mac in the den, then finish off on the couch on your phone. I mean, as gaming goes, if you’re connected to a game, there is simply no better connecting method than having the potential to play everywhere you are, whenever you’re there.
It works. It really does, in real game situations. I’ve seen it, I’ve played it, I’m still playing it. It shocks me when it works. When the internet works (through a wireless connection or 4G… I have yet to try 3G levels, which are apparently coming soon for iOS platforms) it’s a dream. Get a hiccup, and you’re not hiccupping in your game, you’re full-on retching over the toilet bowl. That’s when it doesn’t work, you’re kicked out.
Those seem to be the vagaries. You play at the pleasure of the internet. On a 4G Verizon network, the gameplay was smooth and efficient, even in shooters like Unreal Tournament. Over my home wi-fi, I played Bastion, and was stunned… there it was Bastion, in all its glory, playing perfectly (until one of those burps kicked me off for a few minutes).
But while connectivity is crucial, control plays a huge role in this amendment to the OnLive opportunity. Playing on a Samsung Tab, the virtual gamepad (Vpad) worked pretty well… it’s an overlay of the analog sticks and buttons on the screen, and though it can obstruct some action, depending on the game, works efficiently. iOS gamers will recognize the core mechanic as it features heavily in action games. It’s worse on phones, obviously, with the smaller screen meaning that it’s tough to see what’s going on in a game like Darksiders.
However, control takes a huge upswing with the Universal Controller. It’s a bold OnLive controller that blends elements of the PlayStation controller with pieces of the excellent Xbox controller, while still requiring functions that fit in the OnLive environment. It’s not perfectly comfortable in the way the Xbox controller is so natural, but it also packs in more functions, allowing you to hit a button that records your last 10 seconds of gameplay, and more.
The difference maker is pairing the Controller with the console game of your dreams. Real world situation: I download Bastion, a truly wonderful game. I play briefly using the virtual controllers, and I get on by, enough. But when I connected the Bluetooth controller all of a sudden I’m playing the game I experienced on the Xbox right here on my mobile. Sure, the internet connection burped and kicked me off, but then I was back, with no progress lost. Taking Bastion on the road is a different proposition to taking Angry Birds.
As a result, the controller was packed in my luggage for my a trip the next day.
OnLive has even engaged Rockstar Games with the potential as the studio has worked on tweaks to L.A. Noire’s control scheme to make it more intuitive with the Touch control scheme. (Though the studio did disallow the ability to record those 10 second Brag Clips for fear that it would mean the sharing of too many spoilers!)
So while there are some teething details you have to live with–the strength and stability of your internet connection being most crucial–the ability to play these games on mobile devices really is a next-generation leap for our consumption of games. The free app is available for download now, though no official word on when the iPad 2 support will be available (but knock yourselves out, Android users).
SHARE THIS POST WITH YOUR IDIOT FRIENDS:
/images/blank.gif){kind=spacer}
/images/top.png)
I’d prefer to play my games on a TV or something. Playing actual video games that were developed for consoles on a mobile device just sounds like a pain, despite the control scheme changes they make.
Call me old fashioned, but I prefer a controller, or a mouse and keyboard, rather than trying to mess around on my phone.
The tablet looks neat but you may as well just get a laptop for gaming at that point.
I think they’re trying to answer that with a blu tooth controller. However, I do enjoy sitting on a comfy couch playing with surround sound on a large TV.
Cloud gaming WILL NOT work until Internet providers stop being giant dicks. With a 250GB cap, how will I be able to use OnLive with Comcast ramming its giant dick up my ass saying “OVER THE CAP, IN THE ASS”.
I only stay under the cap by about 25-75 GB a month. We have two laptops, an iPhone, an iPod, a PS3, a 360, a PSP, and an iPad all using the Internet. With Cloud Gaming, it would kill our cap, and Comcast is the only decent provider in my area.
Dear Google, PLEASE, FAST UNLIMITED INTERNET EVERYWHERE. This ginger needs to get away from Comcast. :’(
this would be GREAT with the xperia play and its own buttons! assuming you can button map….
Pretty good idea…
the excellent Xbox controller wtf when did xbox controller become excellent it is far inferior to the ps3 controller
Thats because you have tiny japanese girl hands. us men that actually have MAN hands yeah the Xbox controller is perfect. The one reason I didn’t get a PS3 was I hate the controller, plus it is too light and didn’t have a vibration function at release. SIXAXIS sucks no body uses it anymore.
Indeed, the ps3 controller is a much better design than the 369 which, whenever I go to a friends house who has an Xbox, gives me hand cramps and an aching thumb.
360*
Xbox 360*
Wow sorry about that my iPhone Derped :L
Cloud gaming seems like the future at the moment but I feel that many people are forgetting about the web.
We now have Unity3D, WebGL and Stage3D (Molehill, Flash Player) which allow for 3D experiences over the web using hardware accelerated graphics. While the idea of being able to play a top end game without needing any top end hardware sounds perfect, I fail to see how that is sustainable for the providers, such as OnLive.
I see a clear division for the future.
Casual web users will walk one way, towards products such as Google Chrome OS; allowing them to play normal Flash game such as FarmVille, and in the near future use hardware-accelerated graphics to play games such as Team Fortress 2 in a web browser. It will also be interesting to see where the console market heads; “cloud gaming” which is essentially screen streaming may be a good way forward for Sony and Microsoft over the next few years as the network such as the PSN or Xbox Live increasingly seem to be the main selling point of consoles, ignoring the occasional console exclusive.
The other group, what I’ll call the advanced users; i.e. “serious” gamers, video editors, graphics designers, programmers, and people who like to “get under the bonnet” will walk the other, using operating systems like Windows and Linux to get the most they possibly can out of modern technology. So for those who call themselves “PC gamers”, I don’t think they will be eager to jump onto the “cloud gaming” bandwagon anytime soon.
I would like to be able to use OnLive through my PS3 or plugged straight into my 40″ tv. Gaming on small screens (for me at least) seems like to much of a pain, the eye strain itself is just too much for me, hence the reason i dont have my PSP anymore.
The idea of switching between platforms and continuing your same savegame is an idea i like though and i would like to give it a go (net speed providing) I havnt heard of this coming to australia yet though so i might wait for an announcement of some sort. Playing games that are physically on my PC or PS3 with americans can be a really laggy experience at times, i can only imagine what it would be like whilst actually streaming the game i am playing whilst trying to play with my overseas friends……………
This is pointless for PC players, what’s the point of downloading a system that uses a fraction of our processing and graphical power when we’re able to purchase games that actually will.