Game Stooge

GDC ‘10: OnLive Details Revealed

• Scribbled on March 12th, 2010 by Jordan Lund
• Filed in GDC, Hardware Peripherals, PC

Last year’s Game Developers Conference introduced us to the OnLive service, where top tier games would be delivered to any computer via a browser interface for a monthly fee. Gamers were rightly skeptical of the service. First, because it all sounded so familiar to anyone who read the press-releases about the “Phantom” console which would deliver PC gaming to the television with hundreds of thousands of titles. Secondly, because gamers just aren’t sure how a high def game experience is going to be piped over even a broadband connection.

This year’s GDC unleashes the details behind the OnLive service, which goes online June 17th.

For $14.95 a month, you get access to demo versions of the games and the ability to watch other people play the games. Games you want to play must be purchased separately, and there does not appear to be (at this time) any kind of rental option. The signup form linked below does mention rentals as being an option, but they do not appear to be enabled at this time.

In order for the service to work you have to have a PC running XP, Vista or 7 or an Intel based Mac running OS X. They will also be offering a “Micro-Console” and controller which will hook up to a television set.

The key stumbling block would seem to be network speeds. From their FAQ linked above:

“Although OnLive has found that most computers with at least a 5Mbps wired residential Internet connection are sufficient for HD-resolution, many factors affect network quality and computer performance, including other application using computer resources, and other users sharing your network. As part of the registration process for OnLive, you will be sent a performance test to run to see if your computer and network configuration are sufficient to run OnLive.”

Aye, there’s the rub! At least they are offering a test BEFORE you sign up to see if the service will do you any good at all. I’m betting most folks in the US aren’t getting the required 5Mbps. Certainly most DSL users are going to be out in the cold.

Now for the good news:

The first 25,000 users who sign up get 3 months free, so if you try it out and find it doesn’t meet your gaming standards you can kill the deal, no harm, no foul. If the service works (and that’s a big “IF”) I could see this being a benefit to gamers. The recent spat over DRM on Assassin’s Creed II wouldn’t be a problem since the DRM isn’t running on your machine; it’s running on a game server somewhere in OnLive’s domain. Let them worry about pirates breaking their servers.

Similarly, it solves the problem with gamers having good computers and internet connections, but not necessarily a gaming rig. The machine I use at home was fine when I built it, but the Ati Radeon 9550 graphics card is a little long in the tooth for games. Works great for all the office applications I need and web-browsing though. Not everyone wants to upgrade their computers every 18 months and folks presented with a choice of “Game + Graphics Card” or “No Game” end up choosing no game.

The real test will be when OnLive has 25,000 people all signed up and either playing different games or hammering whatever the next big release is. If they can maintain a stable connection and playable games it will be interesting to see how the PC gaming industry adapts.

If, on the other hand, the whole thing folds up like a house of cards then the nay-sayers will be proven right.