OnLive - the revolution crept unnoticed

What's the matter?

So, OnLive has announced a brand new gaming service. The essence of the service is simple - for the game you do not need a powerful computer with the latest 3D accelerator and fresh drivers, you do not need the latest generation game console - a computer that is not too powerful (PC or Mac) and wide Internet access are enough. At the same time, you can play, for example, in Crysis with a resolution of 1280 × 768 with all effects turned on.

Tempting, huh?

How it works?

The concept is simple. Your computer now works with a feedback television, and the cloud in the OnLive data center deals with everything else .

Any entry-level computer with Windows or MacOS X can be used as a client - you just need to install the plug-in in your browser. You can also purchase a set-top box for the TV. According to the assurances of the company, it will be very cheap (and what can be expensive there?) And also quite small.

It seems that in SD- quality, it will be possible to play even on netbooks. Although this is a special perversion;)

But what about the lag? The guys developed a fundamentally new method of image compression on the fly with a delay of about one millisecond or no delay at all. I think the rendering process also includes the process of compressing the video stream, so the lag can only appear at the stage of transferring the stream to the player, but OnLive promise to conduct explanatory work with providers so that they behave well, which in my opinion is quite realistic.

What should be the width of the channel? OnLive claims that a 1.5Mbps wide channel is sufficient for SD content, and 5Mbps for HD (1280p). Yes, of course the dialup disappears, and even broadband Internet with limited traffic, too. But there is almost no dial-up even in “our latitudes” and we’ll wear unlimited tariffs will also win.

What can I play?

I think that over time it will be possible to play everything. Today these guys have confirmed their participation:

- Electronic Arts
- UbiSoft
- Take2
- THQ
- Eidos
- Atari
- Codemasters
- Epic
- WarnerBros
- 2D Boy

In my opinion, not bad for a start.

And when did you start?

The project was conceived seven years ago (a big respect to the guys who were able to think of such a thing back in 2002) and is now at the stage of internal beta testing. Open beta testing is planned in the summer ( you can sign up now), and arrange a release by the end of the year.

The release, of course, will only be in the USA from the beginning, and apparently will not reach us soon, but in the place of domestic publishers, I would have tried my best to agree to open such a service in Moscow at least.

Thoughts

Good for players:

- no need to spend money on the next GeForce9000
- no need to worry that Crysis14 is unlikely to give out more than 10fps on your laptop
- no need to install, configure and wait until the game starts - everything is almost instantaneous
- a bunch of fashionable social goodies
- the ability to pay only during the game (rental)
- new items are available instantly after the release
- games start almost instantly

Good for publishers:

- piracy absent as a class
- new sales models
- no need to worry about which device, which set of components, which OS, which drivers are installed on the player
- in the future, with minimal adaptation, mobile platforms will be available
- Potentially any power is available for rendering realistic graphics, artificial intelligence, etc.

Good for Intel, nVidia, AMD, ATI, etc.

- Another market, in which, moreover, you do not need to invest in advertising
- the technology will kill ordinary computers not soon, but powerful processors and 3D accelerators are needed not only for games.

Bad for Sony, Nintendo, and especially Microsoft:

- why buy an expensive, sometimes noisy box for which you need to buy discs?
- Personally for Microsoft, the problem is also that this is another nail in the concept of user OS

Some video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5UHxiYMFhM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLykFF1qL_A

PS. They say already and competitors have appeared.

UPDATE
In kamenty discuss how expensive it will cost. OnLive says that pricing is still in the process of being worked out and they cannot imagine it yet, so you can just imagine it.

I think that at least there will be a monthly subscription. It may also be possible to differentiate the cost of a subscription from a class of games. For example, the notorious Crysis will be in the expensive category "A" (still, eat so many resources !;), and casual games (why not?) Will cost significantly less. At the same time, having bought a subscription to games of category "A", it is quite possible to play casual games.

All this is of course speculation, but in my opinion it is quite realistic;)

UPDATE 2
nekroman : 3Dnews - OnLive - an evolutionary leap in the gaming industry?