OnLive will rid the world of Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii

Mike Bantick
Wednesday, 25 March 2009 04:57

Your IT - Entertainment

According to Perlman; “OnLive is the most powerful game system in the world. No high-end hardware, no upgrades, no endless downloads, no discs, no recalls, no obsolescence. With OnLive, your video game experience is always state-of-the-art. With OnLive we’ve cleared the last remaining hurdle for the video games industry: effective online distribution.”

“By putting the value back into the games themselves and removing the reliance on expensive, short-lived hardware, we are dramatically shifting the economics of the industry. Delivering games instantly to the digital living room is the promise game fans have been waiting for and OnLive makes that promise a reality that’s affordable, flexible and focused on their individual needs."

According to the OnLive consortium users will need a good broadband connection to experience streaming gaming at its best.  And this could be the biggest hurdle to cross.  For standard-definition play, that would mean a minimum 1.5Mb per second connection, and for high-def, 5Mbps.   No mention is made on upload speeds.

Not to mention data rates, this will be important to those of us on capped plans.
 
OnLive plan to support gaming communities with a user interface allowing fans to watch games in action, jump in at any stage and go social about their exploits.   15 second ‘brag clips’ can be used as show-off pieces for those online.

The in-game fan viewing system will be available whether the end user owns the game or not.  This feature, along with free demos of games will give consumers a great deal more purchase information than in the past.

If OnLive is successful, much of what we currently understand as the framework for home entertainment will be tipped on its ear.  Publishers will enjoy am almost pirate-free sales environment, consumers will enjoy the freedom of hardware dependence and a way to be informed like never before about their software purchases.

But on the downside, broadband connections will need to improve both in reliability, speed and availability, to cater for this type of digital demand.  This will be the hurdle for the OnLive consortium to traverse in order to realise their ambitious dream, the difference between OnLive flourishing as a viable alternative to today’s hardware orientated gaming model, and OnLive becoming another Phantom.


The OnLive website goes Live today - so more details are sure to follow.