The #Console To Rule Them All is On Demand
#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @CHICKAMUNGUS
Every 5-6 years gamers are faced with the important decision of which next-gen console to buy. This decision has always been particularly hard for me because my pockets weren’t necessarily the deepest and I would have to chose only one, leaving me with the horrifying feeling of missing out on some of the best titles exclusive to other consoles. This feeling that I like to call “The Big 3 Oppression”, has kept me down since the latest generation of consoles were released a couple years back, but now, there is a sort of gleaming hope shining in the distance. A Micro-Console that can stream games made for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and Mac straight to my TV or extremely basic PC!
But how does this work? Well, Warner Brothers are providing an online service called OnLive, that will allow gamers to get all their games streamed to them on demand. PCs and Macs can connect straight to the OnLive server by downloading a tiny 1MB plug-in from OnLive.com, while you can also order the Micro-Console to play games on your TV. All games are streamed straight to your computer or Micro-Console through your cable, dsl, fiber, or even LAN internet connections, and played on their “high end servers” that produces “blinding fast speeds”. This ingenious cloud-console concept makes sure that in no way, shape, or form will the consumer own any physical form of the game, preventing re-sales and trade-ins to companies like Ebay and Gamestop. Game companies are also saving money because they no longer will have to produce games on CDs, package them, develop them for different formats, etc.
It's called a micro-console for a reason.
The OnLive service is boasting their own online social muti-player network where gamers are able to spectate other games in session, demo every game before you buy it, jump into games from the dashboard in a matter of seconds, and even record “Brag Clips” to show off to your friends. Their slogan is “Any Game. Anytime. Anywhere.”, and so far they’ve gotten some of the biggest game companies, along with one independent game company, on board for the OnLive launch this winter. Some of the games available on launch day include:
Crysis Warhead, EA
HAWX, Ubisoft
HAWX. Ubisoft's newest Flight Simulation game.
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, Warner Brothers
Frontlines Fuel of War, THQ
Tomb Raider: Underworld, Eidos
Grid, Codemasters
World of Goo, 2D Boy
The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, Atari
Unreal Tournament 3, Epic Games
Major League Baseball 2K9, 2K Games
There will be more games available at launch. Even for pre-existing titles out there on the market it will only take a matter of a few weeks to transfer them to the On Demand system. OnLive creator, Steve Perlman, promises that eventually his service will begin to create it’s own high-end, high-performance titles that only his service will be able to run.
Steve Perlman, Founder and CEO OnLive, has been secretly working on this mega project along with COO Mike McGarvey for 7 years now. According to Perlman, creating OnLive “involved fundamental work in psycho-physical science; custom chip, hardware and wireless engineering; complex real-time software — from the lowest- to highest-level, and real-time network engineering down to the sub-packet level. And, it required a deep understanding of business structure in the video game, Internet, hosting, server and consumer electronic industries. Then, finally, it required an enormous amount of just practical execution: testing the system in hundreds of homes and ironing out every wrinkle to make it operate seamlessly.”
As confident as Perlman is about his one-of-a-kind service and even with all the technology and testing that’s gone into this service, many gamers still have questions and general worries about the performance this so-called cloud console. The top 3 questions revolve around the ultimate gamer buzz kill-LAG, what sort of computer will be able to run these high powered games, and how much this service will cost.
Perlman ensures gamers that the years of beta testing on their servers has proved that their system will run smoothly even when many gamers are on their service at once. He also considers the many game companies that has put their trust in his service, proof, saying that “they wouldn’t have done that without thoroughly verifying that OnLive works at least as well as a console, PC and Mac.”
For the PC and Mac users worried about their specs, worry no more! As long as you are running Windows XP or Vista for PCs, and the current OS X for Intel based Macs, you are able to use this gaming service on a basic entry-level computer. How is that? Simply because you are running every game from OnLive’s mega servers, and not your own hardware. And what a server this must be! Now gamers with less than stellar PCs can play games that, previously, gamers with high end gaming rigs were able to enjoy, and now with the option of playing on their TVs. I can tell some gaming rig companies are going to feel the pain on this one.
I’m sure you’re wondering how much gaming at the click of a button costs. Well, the exact price has not been disclosed, but Perlman assures us that he’s offering this product at the most affordable price yet, saying, “there is no question that the OnLive platform will have the lowest cost of entry for a new user. But, to be clear, OnLive also will certainly be catering to gamers who are less price sensitive, and are seeking the highest performance games, and also it will be opening up a universe of games to Mac users who, before OnLive, have had a very limited selection.“ The OnLive service will be available to the continental US at launch and will also have different ways for you to buy or rent games due to your subscription.
Now of course this gaming medium will not work for everyone. Not being able to actually own a piece of the game you’re spending your money on just won’t sit well with lots of people. Also the fact that having an internet connection is absolutely imperative to playing the games knocks some gamers out of the ranks right there. One DOOMS DAY scenario that sticks out in my mind is the horrible feeling of buying a crap ton of games through this service, only to one day lose your internet, thereby LOSING ALL YOUR GAMES! With this economy going the way it is, losing internet is not a far fetched concern.
I’m not knocking this service at all; I’m definitely excited to give it a try. If I can’t get in as a beta tester this summer, I’ll play the waiting game after launch to hear how well it performs. I truly believe that this is another evolution in gaming history. Maybe not the big evolution in console gaming for everyone, but hands down the evolution of online gaming…if it works.
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