OnLive: The Future of Video Games?
April 24, 2009 by srfto
Steve Perlman, CEO at OnLive and creator of QuickTime and Mova, has sustained a presentation at GDC 2009, in San Francisco, where he talked about the future of gaming. It was an interesting conference, Steve defining a new way of gaming, allowing us to play any game on our PC, MAC, or TV, by using a special browser plugin(PC and MAC), or using a micro console for the TV, allowing us to play our favorite game, anytime, anywhere, without the need to download large files and all of this, lag free.
How can this be possible? I’m sure that this is the question that you are asking yourself right now, and believe me, it’s something that kept hunting my mind trough out the conference. There are two ways of using OnLive:
- From a Mac or a PC, by downloading and installing a special browser plugin
- From your regular TV, by plugging in the OnLive MicroConsole.
The OnLive MicroConsole is the “World’s most powerful game system”, a gaming system that can fit in your palm, and that can easily be transported. It features two USB controllers for KeyBoard and Mouse, Ethernate, Micro-USB power in, Video/Audio out and S/PDIF out. It also comes with a wireless gamepad, and allows up to 3 more controllers to be used, and up to 4 bluetooth headsets. Just jack in your internet cable, power up the console, and have fun playing your favorite game without the need of a high-end pc.
But how does OnLive actually work? It connects the user to game servers through the Internet, instantly sending his controller actions upstream and the results(video footage) back downstream at blinding fast speeds allowing him to enjoy ultra high-performance gameplay. Seven years of hard work have been put behind this project, and everyone seems to be very confident about it’s success.
OnLive opens up interesting new path for developers as well, an SDK being available for those who want to become OnLive Certified Game Developers. As for publishers, they are given new methods for marketing and promotion, as well as a seamless way to connect with a large, engaged target audience.
A number of well known AAA, and even indie, companies have started supporting OnLive, including Ubisoft, EA Games, nVidia, 2D Boy, THQ and Codemasters.
OnLive service will be available this winter, just after the closed beta that will start in summer. For more details, please click the following link.
The press conference can be viewed here.
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