OnLive Cloud-Based Gaming: Is This The End Of High-End PCs?

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I checked it out this weekend, and had a few thoughts:
1 It worked, and it worked fairly well. Very surprised.
2 I'm a lot more likely to play demos if I don't have to download 2gb of game files.
3 $5 a month ends up being about half of what I spend on GPU upgrades...
4 Games on my laptop!
 
Another downfall no one has mentioned...

NO 5.1 AUDIO! It's only stereo, I have been gaming on 5.1 for a LONG time and will not be going back to 2 channel. Sorry Onlive, you have done some amazing work here, and I have always been giving you the benefit of the doubt until I could test it myself. Now that I have, it's just not for me, at all.
 
"OnLive doesn’t come anywhere close to displacing it." should end with .....yet.

Great first step, and once the technology is bettered, and home Internet speeds increase, this service will shine. The other factor to consider, if you get enough people playing this service, in a multiplayer setting, lag goes away as they are all in the same or nearby server clusters.

I am impressed with this service thus far.
 
Cloud computing will undoubtedly catch on for some people and some applications, however IMHO it is fatally flawed when considering security and privacy. Passing a law will not stop server owners from "sharing" data when nobody is looking. The lure of short term profit will be irresistible.
 
[citation][nom]t53186[/nom]Keep the cloud away from my PC. I need local control, not big brother control.[/citation]

More like the big green (money control). You have nearly zero control to begin with, the only thing you have for leverage is money. But if "X pc component company" finds better profits in cloud computing your money means nothing and your left with truly zero control anyways. Plus, what's up with the zoMg!1! goverment NWO takeoverz!!?
 
Compare this with Spawn Lab's HD720. The HD720 allows you to access your personal game console from a PC over the Internet or LAN at relatively low latency. It's a peer to peer solution rather than a client/server model like Onlive. You play your own games, or have a friend log in and play in "virtual couch mode" against one another. And no monthly subscription fees, buy the box once and your good to go!
 
all that crappy graphic and it requires 5 Mbps internet connection.
Hmm... let me see, pay $$$ for high end internet speed that I don't need, or use that money to buy budget computer that can play it with equivalent if not better graphic and performance? Tough choice. No. I choose my computer. Fail.
 
i've said it before, on any onlive article, and i'll say it again: no way in hell this is going to replace a local gaming rig for me or most gamers. I'd rather just upgrade my pc every couple years and use my bandwidth for other things and be able to play multiplayer. Ppl like spending money on a sure thing, which this just isnt, but a shiny new GPU def is.
 
[citation][nom]nforce4max[/nom]Sure all is good till the network is down or suffers some high pings then all hits the fan. I much rather stick with the traditional rig when it comes to gaming and other things. Reliability is paramount when gaming.[/citation]


the service isn't about reliability so much , i think it is more about bringing games to the masses of pc usuers that don't normally play games on pc , even though it's in it's infancy , i see great potential for a resurtgence in the pc gaming industry through this means. this company only ahs to market themseleves in a half a-- manner and they could stand to gain the most revenue from such a resurgence.
 
This service also looks to fit at home on an HTPC that doesn't want to deal with the heat and noise of enthusiast components, and already wants a high speed connection for streaming HD content from the internet. With a wireless keyboard and mouse you can play PC games from your sofa. The short term rental also appeals to people who don't have time to hardcore game anymore, but occasionally have a day or weekend free to check out a title they've been wanting to play like Arkham Asylum but don't want to pay for the full game.
 
On the free trial of OnLive I notice speedy loading times (since the server does the loading) and reasonably good image quality other then the occasional visual artifacts. I know its a work in progress. Worst case you can expect high detail and medium resolution. Congrats to OnLive for their work on video compression. On the other hand, latency ranges from distracting to annoying. I'm in San Diego with a Time Warner 10Mb/s connection. This is just one comment of hundreds but I noticed a delay of half a second which really makes it hard to keep your cross-hairs on a target while strafing to the side. OnLive allows you spectate other players and all it takes is a one second seamless transition from main menu to the player's point of view. I'm still debating if the Unreal Tournament players are just beginners or are having a hard time with a half second delay in a very fast paced game.

frye says: "I have an 80 ms ping to an Ookla server that's about 10 miles away from me. "

Where/How did you find your ping to the server?
 
Even if the service worked perfectly, it would be a failed business model to market this to enthusiast. $60 a year plus the cost of games that are locked to the service? Chris is right, this is for the netbook crowd. For most of the low end system for gaming I build, the user is replacing hardware every 3-4 years (about the same as the console crowd). This service would cost more than their vid card, and close to the console cost, and for what? Games locked to the service.

As a rental service with no monthly fee this would be perfect for those games you know you wouldn't buy until they hit the bargin bin or steam sale, but you want to play on release anyway.
 
bildo 123:
More like the big green (money control). You have nearly zero control to begin with, the only thing you have for leverage is money. But if "X pc component company" finds better profits in cloud computing your money means nothing and your left with truly zero control anyways. Plus, what's up with the zoMg!1! goverment NWO takeoverz!!?
Click to expand...

Yeah, but consider this: what would happen if we all get stubborn and simply DO NOT buy or monetarily support cloud computing? They will then have to rot and all the supposed power they have simply ceases to exist... as long as we refuse their damn technology and support the one that we TRULY want WE still have that power... bad things happen when short-minded people start to be convinced that it is them who have power up to the point where they believe themselves powerless, while the truth is that we still have it
 
Cloud computing... ha ha. Are we back to the old DEC machines?

Not every products can be used in cloud computing. Before going that way, companies should really look into what they are trying to do and see if it's the best solution for the "problem". This type of service is better served for some games like Bejewled or stuff like that. Not fast reaction time games.
 
[citation][nom]spearhead[/nom]Id like to see this becomming more developed.It will eliminate the need for extreemly expansive hardware and expansive graphic solutions giving the less rich among us a chance to game on quality level as wellCurrently a decent card such as the 5850 or gtx470 or above will set you back as much or more then the cost of a console not even taking in account the cost of the entire system.Eliminating the need for expansive systems and power hungry gpu's will make great sence here for the quality of gaming since even low budget users will be able to play games like crysis in 1080P full AA enabled.[/citation]

If the market is left up to people like you who dont know what your talking about and can't spell then it really will be the end of pc gaming. You dont need a top of the line graphics card to get top of the line graphics, maybe if you want max resolution you need a High end machine. But if you want those kind of graphics then invest in the hardware you retard if its that important to you... I mean I dont get it, just think about it why pay couple $1000 a year to play games on a cloud service when you can just buy a $1000 computer every year? It all comes down to convenience most people if not all this service appeals to is non-tech savy people who dont want to have to learn how to game on a pc, they want to be able to pick up a game and play it. If you want that buy a console. Don't try to dumb down pc gaming because your too stupid or lazy.
 
Not much is mentioned about the network bandwidth.
We also know that there are network providers out there that love to cap and throttle the bandwidth.

Many people in Europe are stuck to a 15GB per month high speed internet limit. If the actual game is streamed over the internet like a video, you might end up using several gigabytes per day, even when only playing for a few hours!

On top of that, any wireless or routing connection will substantially increase latency, and decrease playability.

I suspect the only audience really benefiting from this technology, are the people running a laptop with a wired connection, as most desktops are easily upgradeable to a better video card; and the money you will be spending on bandwidth and hiring the game, in the end can be better invested in a cheap graphics card (like eg a Radeon 5750, which hopefully can be placed in a RAID/crossfire config.

The main 2 disadvantages are:
- you are always connection dependant (be it through the internet, or server downtimes)
- In the long term, you are paying more money for this service than just purchasing a balanced videocard (performance/price) and a couple of games on CD.
 
I hate consumers... They determind what future products will be created and if the consumers are all a bunch of retards I guarantee the products companys will release will be just as retarded to appeal to there base.
 
Cloud computing was the basis for the usenet, the gofer, and IRC. It is not the wave of the future, it is the skeletons of the past, rebranded.

Much like the iPad, also a rebranded relic, cloud computing will be a fad, and it will pass.

The problem is that you lose all security on the cloud. No risk averse business will live with that reality.
 
everybody, let's laugh at this thing and the people who supported this idea. this is the stupiest idea. you can buy a new game and finish it within a week. what do you do with that used game?! well you sell it to someone else. who says you should go directly to gamestop to resell it. certainly there are other people who may want to play that game. so you find those people. the you use whatever money you get and buy some new game and repeat the process. hello, full ownership of a product is what sells.

let's all clap for stupidity. where's pachter btw! i would like for him to explain again how this will replace consoles and pc?!
 
[citation][nom]keczapifrytki[/nom]I signed up for OnLive and they gave me the free trail. I have to say I was rather disappointed with the service. I only played Assassins Creed 2 (as a demo) and it basically looked like they were streaming a console version of the game to my PC. It looked crappy. The controls on the keyboard were responsive but the mouse was lagging behind a bit. I could not imagine paying for the service just so you can pay more for the game. For example the full pass for AC2 was $40, but it tells you there in small letters that you will be able to play the game until it is unavailable. And the game will be available for at least a year.... So lets say you buy the FULL PASS 4 months after the game came out for $40, and 8 months into your Full Pass it gets pulled. You are sh** out of luck brother. If they changed the service to something like gamefly, or netflix where you can pay $10 a month, and rent whatever you want, then maybe I would consider this a good deal. Until then, you can forget it.[/citation]

this is what the game industry was hoping for. remember all the companies like ea, activision and ubisoft were talking about drm and used games and how used games means no money for them. this is what they want, this is their paradise. they want you to rent their games, not have ownership of their games.

how is used games a problem. surely someone have bought it new and when that person bought it new, the company already made the sales. so why is selling it after used make it irrational that the companies should deserve a second dip after they made the first sales? i don't know but ask the ceo's as to why?! they don't care about you but only their money!

onlive will never change because they don't care about you but want their money. this is the game industry and all the hardcore are suckered into it.
 
If they were to host elder scrolls, do you think they would toggle the "eye candy." A friend at work loved oblivion on his xbox, till he seen my pc version (that would mean non politically correct version.)
 
I like how this guys really think that because they create something nice they are going to kick all the geeks (as I am) from what they love. There is no freaking way I'm gonna stop putting together my hardware parts the way I like to play what I like just because there is a nice steaming something going on.. No Thanks! Good for The Sims 3 fans tho'
 
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