GDC 2009: OnLive Unveils “Cloud Gaming” Service [UPDATED WITH IMPRESSIONS]
Imagine a world in which you can stream games directly onto your television or computer at 60 frames per second, with graphical settings at maximum. Well, OnLive is setting out to create that world, introducing a new service that could theoretically eliminate the need for high-end PCs and consoles altogether.
OnLive's founders recently gave us a basic demonstration of the on-demand gaming service, which utilizes cloud computing to stream games directly into virtually any PC or Mac. Steve Perlman (founder, CEO, and CTO) explains that his experience on both the Apple Quicktime and the Microsoft WebTV teams has helped develop a new type of "interactive video compression." Essentially, OnLive's servers will be running the game, and sending a videostream through your Net connection. In turn, your controller/button inputs, are sent via your Net connection to OnLive's servers. Perlman states that OnLive will always be updating its hardware, and as long as you have a Net connection, a display, and an input device (existing gamepads as well as keyboard/mouse are supported), you can play any of its games. If you're playing it on a PC or a Mac, you'll use a small (Perlman estimates it will be smaller than a megabyte) browser plugin; if you want to play it on your TV, you'll be using the OnLive MicroConsole, which has HDMI, USB, Ethernet, and power inputs/outputs. Without directly naming the Phantom, Perlman remarked that OnLive is different than previous attempts at online/downloadable game services, by virtue of the video compression technology (since you never actually download a game to your computer/system; in theory, games can be loaded and played in seconds due to only video and input information traveling through your broadband connection).
From the demonstration we've seen (watching and playing Crysis and GRID), the gameplay was, honestly, smooth and relatively lag-free. Though, we did notice the occasional framerate hiccup (it is in a very private beta, after all). OnLive will require a 1.5 megabytes-per-second connection for standard-definition video (480p), and a 5.0 mbps connection needed for HD (720p). As for the user's hardware requirements, for this demo, Perlman ran Crysis on the OnLive MicroConsole, while COO Mike McGarvey joined Perlman's Crysis match via his MacBook Air.
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