I haven’t been paying much attention to this OnLive service that was announced at GDC to be honest, quite simply because it has absolutely no way of working for us anytime soon.
Without even going into the technical details of the system which to be honest, sound like absolute BS to me, there are some fundamental issues that will never be resolved.
According to the developer Steve Perlman himself, the minimum required line would be 1.5Mbps for standard definition gaming and at least 5Mbps for high definition gaming.
Which means that no one in SA will be able to play in high definition, as they do now, and we would also require a data centre within 1600 kilometres and we all know that isn’t going to happen.
Why anyone would be interested in this idea is completely beyond me as not only are you going to be forced to play against people living in your local area, you will also not be able to play if your internet connection is dropped… never mind what may happen to it if your connection is slightly unstable or someone is using Skype on the line at the same time.
No, I think if Steve Perlman has developed an awesome algorithm then he should rather be using it to enhance our existing gaming infrastructures and not attempting to create a new network.
Source: BBC
Last Updated: April 2, 2009
koldFU5iON
April 2, 2009 at 08:46
went to the official site to read up about this since I had no idea about this … (www.onlive.com) and firstly it’s important to point out that this is a PC/Mac feature and shouldn’t be confused with XBOX live.
From what I understand they’re trying to eliminate the need for highend hardware on the user side and allow anyone to play high end games i.e. Crysis on an entry level PC/Mac. It seems that all the calculations are done on the server side and you are simply sent the images from the game. much like a TV.
The only requirement is the broadband (1.5mb+). To me the system seems plausible given the requirements especially the 1600km within a broadcast station, since that would account for any lag experienced. So for country’s like US, UK, etc. where broadband is at 12mb + it is definitely a good option for players who do not have the cash to fork out for a high end PC.
In terms of working in SA … it won’t not without our Broadband being beefed, and relay stations being implemented and as you say I doubt we’ll see that.
SlippyMadFrog
April 2, 2009 at 08:52
It’s crap for SA, not the rest of the world with decent internet bandwidth. This sounds kinda cool.
LazySAGamer
April 2, 2009 at 08:57
It wouldn’t work in most countries under ideal conditions actually… Maybe on the Western and Eastern seaboards of the United States it has a chance…
Strife Lives
April 2, 2009 at 08:58
It sounds. .almost fraudulent.So. .you pay. .for a game,that technically doesnt belong to you. . .its like using the PSP on remote play,in fact,its the same technology as running PS1 games via remoteplay to psp.
Hugh
April 2, 2009 at 09:10
Eurogamer has an interesting article on why OnLive wouldn’t work under any circumstances. It is a bit technical, but not too much. Check it out.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/gdc-why-onlive-cant-possibly-work-article
koldFU5iON
April 2, 2009 at 09:11
Well technically neither do the games you buy in store, cause it is part of the Intellectual Property Act. i.e. you own the disk and packaging but not the software on the disk
DarkOcean
April 2, 2009 at 09:18
It smacks of Phantom
LazySAGamer
April 2, 2009 at 09:18
Yeah that is the one that the OnLive guys responded to on BBC and said Eurogamer didn’t get it…
But I’m on Eurogamers side
WitWolfyZA
April 2, 2009 at 09:54
I agree with you, and when i buy something, i want something concrete to proove i own it.. not just be floating around on some server 1000’s of km away.. Wont work.. give it 6 more years. Thats what i say.. then the whole world will be more or less on the same page
Aequitas
April 2, 2009 at 14:44
It’s impossible to take input from the PC, transmit that to a server, render the scene, and send that back to the player fast enough to not experience input lag … and if you’ve ever experienced input lag, you’ll know it’s even more annoying that normal lag :<
OnliveFans.com
April 2, 2009 at 16:46
You know, it may seem too good to be true but if it works you know we will all be so excited. I’m wishing upon every star I see that Onlive is a success. I think Perlman can do it. http://OnliveFans.com