GDC 2009: OnLive Announcement

  • By DanM, GameSpot
  • Posted Mar 24, 2009 5:38 pm PT

We get the inside word on OnLive from the people behind it.

155 Comments

  • pukemon

    Posted Nov 16, 2009 8:37 pm PT

    i say fail. they haven't shown demos, won't give prices, haven't given more in depth detail, and lots of hype. and i think the guy in the video likes guys.

  • Th3RandomKing

    Posted Sep 19, 2009 12:21 am PT

    ..........nothing to say

  • calebcop

    Posted Sep 9, 2009 2:09 pm PT

    This should be AMAZING! My Dad should like it too because when we buy a game he spends hours tinkering with our computer trying to get it to work.

  • chaisemon

    Posted Sep 8, 2009 1:46 am PT

    i thought steam has already been doing this. and without the microconsole. and wouldnt this destroy the console market if tv is included??? it will be good if we can stream the games withought the need of meeting system specs. but at what cost??? i think we need atleast 50mbps connection which costs £20/ month in uk.

  • mginge51

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 10:17 am PT

    The only problem will be how much they charge for the service.
    As we will have to pay for ultra high broadband.
    Just hope the game prices do not go through the roof.
    And the good thing is, you will never have to upgrade.

  • mginge51

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 10:15 am PT

    How doesnt anyone understand this?
    What it will do is whipe and i mean Whipe piracey off the face of the earth for good.
    Whilst good, and bad for everyone.
    It will mean you won't have to buy say a ps3 or a 360.
    You just buy the go live stuff and then buy the game, say fight night 4 or something.
    And play.
    Sounds to good to be true.
    The computers are servers, Things like this will come round when the next gen consoles are released imo.
    Because then , no1 will have to buy the consoles or whatever they are using.
    And just buy onlive and the game you want.
    But seriously.
    I forsee alot of bandwidth problems with this service.

  • mginge51

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 10:04 am PT

    Gamespot, ffs.
    Will you sort these vids out lol.
    They never work.

  • worsy23

    Posted Sep 4, 2009 6:21 am PT

    It works by On Live hosting massive amounts of servers at a data center. You connect to it either by the mini console or by installing a web plug-in onto your PC. You connect to the On Live servers and play games. The difference is that instead of you using your CPU and GPU to run the games, the ON Live servers run the game and send you the images created just like a video stream. But the question you've got to ask yourself is can your broadband support Hi Def video streaming covering the full screen?
    Another problem could also be lag for both upload and download. Just imagine yourslef playing Crysis and when you shoot nothing happens because of the lag time in waiting for the time between you pressing shoot and you actually shooting.
    Theres no cross platforming I don't think. You've got to think of it as a gaming service not a games console.

  • alexbartle

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 11:53 am PT

    I dont understand how the hell this thing works. Crysis no gpu, streamed on high settings, really??
    and also does this mean cross platform so you could play xbox or ps3 games stream via onlive or pc games without actually owning a pc and streaming them via onlive to a tv.
    They need to explain how this works cos i dont get it and i own a high end pc, 360 and ps3.

  • Masterdj1992

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 11:19 am PT

    So I upgraded to a 3 ghz quad core and an ATI 4890 for nothing? I will probably just keep buying my games from bestbuy like I normally do lol...

  • Hellswrath99

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 11:01 am PT

    There's the catch, if you don't actually own the games you are buying on there, then this whole thing will fall apart, IMO. I could see it being used by people who haven't had the money to buy into the new console generation or upgrade their computers, but beyond that it will be a hard sell.

  • issizots

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 9:33 am PT

    i like the idea and effort but as we all say with no GPU this service and most-of-all this device will likely die with the current game genre when the next rolls through hopefully by 2012. So good luck to their 3 year run of trying to remove need for console useage which sorta ticks me off because i'm a fan of nintendo and sony and I really don't feel like seeing them hurt due to this attempt to rid console need and usage because i love my ps3, it does everything that i need it to do and extra, and i'm sure the xbox 360 does for that fanbase aswell. I really think this looks like a device for the SUPER LAZY. One positive thing I clearly see is that it sure will help the fokes that don't have money for high priced consoles to get to play being their on *hence* a low-end computer. I just think this will be intresting, maybe i'll try to beta it? hmm

  • leviathanwing

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 7:07 am PT

    apparently this thing works like magic.. no gpu eh?... right that'll work. pcs macs and tvs all connecting online for multiplayer.. how? steady streamed games... i cant even watch online television without getting pretty long buffer times even with my so called 10 meg connection it takes about 1 minute or less to buffer a 30 min news clip now a whole game... forget about it. i'm especially given mucho confidence from these guys description to how it'll work... apparently like magic. connect this... play that... its easier then current gaming they say, right. this thing smells of vaporware... remeber vuze? remember gizmondo? this'll go the way of those things. subscription based plus i have to rent or buy the games... retarded. it'd be like me having to subscribe to my local blockbuster and then being told 'hey you got to stock or store for us or we wont have the games you want' and oh btw you dont own those games, technically.. no freaking thanks. plus your store wont be open all the time too bad for you.

  • worsy23

    Posted Sep 3, 2009 6:00 am PT

    Depending on the subscription cost, I might get the plugin for my PC. If it means that I can play games at full res while I'm saving to upgrade my rig, it then might be worth having. I'm thinking Crysis 2.
    But I wouldn't like it if they turned out to have exclusives that I couldn't buy in the shops.
    For one thing there the need for a good internet connection, especially to stream it in high resolution. And if you ISP gets a fault, no games tonight then.

    And as for LAN parties, it would probably be renamed to WAN parties with everyone bringing their rigs round and using the same internet connection. I think theres good and bad in it. But it will all depend on how much it will cost me in both subscription and if I need to upgrade my broadband to run it.

  • jaredcrazy3232

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 9:36 pm PT

    still on the fence about it

  • stupiddude953

    Posted Jun 17, 2009 1:47 am PT

    great idea but the biggest problem is, no internet..no games.
    maybe they could give you the option of downloading games like gamestop allows you to dl pc games.

  • Calsonic_

    Posted Jun 17, 2009 12:25 am PT

    This thing could work, but if it cost more to use it a lot, than I'm out. I'm not going to spend 60-80 a month just to play a game. Especially if I can just save all that money and buy a rig. That price seems like its targeting hardcore gamers. Problem is, hardcore gamers already have nice rigs. If I already have say... 9800's in sli, then I could just upgrade my system with the 500-800 dollars I save from not using onlive. 800 a year is more than enough to keep a system in good condition.

    I also don't like the idea that I cannot sell used console games... play without internet (mobile notebooks)... or have good LAN parties unless the host has super speedy internet (I imagine 5+ gamers streaming onlive requires something speedy).

  • Zedit

    Posted Jun 16, 2009 11:49 pm PT

    BOY, IF THIS WORKS NVIDIA AND ATI GOT OWNED ...

  • xJ355x

    Posted May 10, 2009 6:11 pm PT

    It is an amazing idea. I'm just wondering how much it will cost monthly

  • mrklorox

    Posted May 1, 2009 11:40 pm PT

    Excellent idea. It all depends on how the technology and publisher support goes. The USA is going to have to step up its broadband speed standards so my horrible crook of an ISP can stop gouging prices and underdelivering on what actually IS payed for.

    Also I would like to have somebody other than a douchebag PR rep from the marketing side tell me about the service. This guy needs to stay off camera.

    Also it would be awesome to register your hard-copy or steam bought games on the service instead of having to buy from them.

  • starmanuk50

    Posted Apr 30, 2009 8:27 am PT

    its a nice idea but the weak link is its only as good as your broadband connection, now if you were on there broadband network and they paid you compensation etc for lost service if it occurs then yeah it might work but also it will cost the pc hardware industry jobs too as no one will be buying latest cpus hardware etc. Sounds too much like a possible monopoly to me. The idea of not having to upgrade every 5 mins is appealing though but the subscription service based on usage smells suspect.

  • Hawaiianc

    Posted Apr 9, 2009 1:16 pm PT

    one think im going to hate on buying a game on this is only reason i buy pc games is to mod them like unreal mods for example now only thing good about this is well no hardware. i wounder if there going to pay for lost of job its going create if no one buy hardware or what happen if the server down and you brought a game. they better have good options on topic like that. now if xbox36 or psx3 was doing this with oh $90 a year with no extra fee for xblive or psonline and the games was free ill buy it.. but im not buying and paying a fee or pay extra when i rent dam heh thats worst then cable commercials there just nickel and dime-ing us....if i was them i just make one fee of service not multi and no buy or extra rent fees... "new rule" people should pay for games that they have in there hands not in there HDD " aka hard disk drive" not confuse with "high doped dimwit"or well cant say it in GS but you get the point. now that just if i was going to do something like that if i had the money and time.. heck if you think about it $90 a year times the amount of users im going to get ill be set for life.... but hey like i said im just too poor and lazy ;P i mean having a game stream off the net you should just get a mmo...

  • gamerkiduri

    Posted Apr 8, 2009 4:15 am PT

    this is gonna suk ballz!imagine buyin a game on this $hit and then hve a bad connection a lose it!!imagine lagging in a singleplayer game!!!imagine games wid no boxes!imagine forgeting ur account and lose all ur games!!imagine onlive goin out of business and ur account gettin deleted wid ur games!!!this is onlive which is gonna FLOP!!!!y wud i want to stream other ppls game enyway!! CONSOLE GAMING 4 LYFE!!!!!!!!!

  • dev8stator_Ic9

    Posted Apr 6, 2009 4:23 pm PT

    I don't like the looks of this thing already. I will never buy this unless it actualy turns out great, but the chances of that of slim. Also, I will never pay any stupid monthly subscription crap, ever.

  • Zolorunnin

    Posted Apr 3, 2009 2:21 pm PT

    If this works a lot of companies will be losing BILLIONS of DOLLARS.

  • gabi098

    Posted Apr 2, 2009 12:29 pm PT

    THIS IS A BAD IDEA for anyone that is into gaming, no modding, hell no custom configs and your Fps is what? 25.6 like a movie. It would ruin any sort of real competitive play.

    might be fun for an hour here and there but nothing more.

  • 8smokes

    Posted Mar 31, 2009 6:44 pm PT

    No new GPU's? No consoles? This seems a little far-fetched...

  • madman5222

    Posted Mar 31, 2009 2:17 pm PT

    The only thing that cought me off guard was that..... we have to pay a subsciption.... AND buy the games..... Thats jest not right.

  • madman5222

    Posted Mar 31, 2009 2:11 pm PT

    I see whats going on. The games are being streamed into your computer from a source (Server????!?!?) on site at onlive. So instead of going through your console or pc it goes directly to the TV or monitor bypassing the console. So your useing their hardware not your own. (At least thats what I get from this, a little confusing.) Imagine that though, everyone would have $4,000 gaming hardware advalible to them. AWSOME!!!!!!!

  • Jonny7892

    Posted Mar 31, 2009 11:27 am PT

    I don't know much about PCs but surely if you personally don't have the hardware to support the game it won't play. Can anyone tell me whether this is true or not??

  • MasterOfSprites

    Posted Mar 29, 2009 6:02 pm PT

    I like it. I hope it works out. If I have the cash I will buy it when it comes out.

  • slamdunk787

    Posted Mar 29, 2009 3:55 pm PT

    This sounds too good to be true. How are they gaming consoles on the servers supposed to support streaming gaming to multiple accounts? I just don't see this happening, sorry.

  • acsam12304

    Posted Mar 29, 2009 2:34 pm PT

    sounds so cool and it looks cool. But you might have to pay full price for a game. hope they dont have like very high charges just to be with them like i hope they dont make you pay 50 a month or something that high. But yeah you dont have to worry about getting a 360 for that game and a PS3 for that game. you can just login and play or what ever way its goign to work. an other thing is also if they last for a life time. or something and i stop playing games lets say for 3 months or a eyar or something. i can just fire that baby up and play the newest games out there. but again that if it works the way they said it will work. im going to sit tight and wait for winter 2009 and see if its worth it or not. one more thing they never said how much the small console and controller is going to cost. i just hope it wont be anything over $200 or $300 if it is. then you are paying them 10 times more to play a game the price for the package and the monthly charges to use the service.

  • jb0Ogi3

    Posted Mar 28, 2009 8:58 am PT

    Wow that sounds awesome! Brag Clips are what every system needs. Far too often I'm playing a game and I say, "Man, I wish i could have recorded that."

  • SephireX

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 10:03 pm PT

    It is far too early to state whether this service will be a success or failure. If it does what it is intended to do without technical difficulty, one would think that it would have to be a huge success because of price and flexibility. However, if there are lagging issues, if third party publishers don't support the service or if subscription fees are too high, then it should fail. What we can expect it to be is somewhere in the middle. A console which provides games without having to worry about hardware but which depends on fast internet connections to function to the max. A console which offers games cheaper than retail but appeals mostly to people who play a lot of games and who will still benefit after paying subscription fees. A console which is robust but does not have access to big exclusive titles from first party publishers and will not compete with the handheld market. However, the average gamer probably only has one of the three current-gen consoles and thus already misses out on exclusives from the other two which means that there won't be a huge loss for them from purchasing onlive. I think most people who will purchase this service, will have one of the three consoles but may be slow to buy new consoles in the future, if the service lives up to expectations. I think this will be a success because I doubt the team behind this would make a big gamble if they thought it would suffer from technical difficulties. We will at least have to wait until the beta to find out but the biggest questions are; what is the minimum required broadband speed for the service, how much is the service and if a success, how will Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft compete with it in the next generation?

  • janeckea

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 10:01 pm PT

    This is the future, now I have hope for playing the newest games without dropping a bunch of money just to be able to get into gaming again! I can't wait until winter..

  • Orgy611

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 7:36 pm PT

    amazing how negative everyone is. this is an excellent Idea and it will not "crash and burn" because of subscription issues. If you don't make money...then your going to crash and burn anyways. And this is not like steam. This is amazing. I can't wait. It sucks its mostly children on Gamespot.

  • e_jonbaker

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 3:08 pm PT

    ...it's different than Valve's Steam distro system, but they should think about possibly partnering with them as they will be in direct competition with OnLive. In fact, OnLive will have a huge competitive edge if their service works like a charm as they are hoping (more platforms, publishers, etc). The jury is still out until Winter this year.

  • ocdog45

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 9:52 am PT

    so this is like steam or something?

  • shamarke

    Posted Mar 26, 2009 3:47 am PT

    The future is here hell yeah!!!

  • BO66

    Posted Mar 25, 2009 9:17 pm PT

    Basically u dont rally have any of the games... they just give'm to u
    and if ur internet is out or messed up ur screwed

  • SevenSamuraiX

    Posted Mar 25, 2009 8:50 pm PT

    The Idea is awesome and its Right there ! But It just sounds too good to be true ! If it does work then this is the begging of the end of consle gameing ! But In all reality it does sound really cool but I want to stick with if I buy a game then I have that game even if I dont have an internet connection, Im really excited to see what happens with this ?

  • Curlyfrii87

    Posted Mar 25, 2009 6:41 pm PT

    I still don't know how to feel about this.... It could go either way!

  • neomana

    Posted Mar 25, 2009 5:22 pm PT

    Very clever and interesting concept but...

    Will crash and burn. Many people have made good points (Internet connections weak/if your connection drops you dont have any games anymore) but also who are they aim this at? If its the Hardcore gamers, then the majority of a small group have tied there allegences to either 360 or PS3. If there aiming for the now more popular and larger market of family gaming, then they have really gone the wrong way! The whole look is about as un-family orientated as it could be and families have enough monthly bills without sticking one on for the games console.

    All that said, I hope it does go well and I am proved very wrong. It'll spice up a (at the moment) very predictable gaming industry.

  • Bufta

    Posted Mar 25, 2009 5:02 pm PT

    Bad idea, the thought of having no physical media for my money just doesnt appeal to me. Plus i cant see this working technically at least not in the uk as some others have said. I only have a 2 meg connection so all my games would be in 320p. Sorry this has insanely massive FAIL written all over it.

  • untouchables111

    Posted Mar 25, 2009 4:17 pm PT

    um i think the concept is cool but the fact that all the hardware is in the server kinda bothers me. like the fact that i can physically hold my game in my hand. i dont trust buying a 60 dollar value game over the net. i only get the cheep 10-15 buck games cause if they are junk or the server screws up my purchase then im not out 60 bucks. + that controller so lame looking i deff could not use that. like a few others said the fact that sony and MC will now have to up the anty to out do this will deff be exciting. then again they could just be lol to them selves kinda like im am...... pay to play are ya dumb. if i got to buy ur box then ill play for free.. go sony...

  • assassinX01

    Posted Mar 25, 2009 3:08 pm PT

    "well. they dont tell you much. does the game you buy download onto the little console, or onto your hardrive for your comp.... cuz eventually you would have to start buying extra memory. they also dont tell you what games are on it. just pc games, or is halo and killzone 2 on there.

    and finally, the payment. how much does this bloody thing cost. they talked about a monthly subscription. how much? and how much are the videogames. the same as a retail disc game? too many questions left unsolved......."

    It doesn't download anything; it's all streamed. From what the press releases have explained, it would be the equivalent of streaming a movie (like he said, there is no GPU involved, all of the processing is done on a massive server and then transfered to your 'terminal'). They have EA, Ubisoft, etc. onboard, but obviously no first party support. Yes, it's a monthly subscription, and online will charge a 30% fee (versus a 20 percent retail fee and 20 percent royalty fee that is standard for discs), so logically, it would cost about ten percent less for a game, unless developers get greedy (which they will).

    It's a great concept, but I doubt it will work as well as they wish. Logicistically speaking, you would need multiple super computers to run hundreds of thousands of users simultaneously, and I doubt they have the capital to obtain them. Additionally, as great as their plan to swap out their hardwear every 6 months is, it won't happen (they wouldnt have the revenue to do so, even if it takes off dramatically). Plus, such swapping wouldn't even be worth it, because even if they have powerful hardwear, third parties will still design games that run on the 360 and PS3, so they would gain no advantage upping the horsepower. And of course, there's nothing to stop Microsoft and Sony from ripping them off and doing this with their already established user bases and networks (they'll probably have a knock-off out within a year). The good news is that this outside competition will force the big three to stay on their toes, and who knows how much faster technology will move now that OnLive is making a push. On a side note, it does sound like a great deal for PC and ESPECIALLY Mac gamers.

  • Spongedart

    Posted Mar 25, 2009 2:56 pm PT

    This is so gonna die

  • crazyleftykid

    Posted Mar 25, 2009 1:17 pm PT

    well. they dont tell you much. does the game you buy download onto the little console, or onto your hardrive for your comp.... cuz eventually you would have to start buying extra memory. they also dont tell you what games are on it. just pc games, or is halo and killzone 2 on there.

    and finally, the payment. how much does this bloody thing cost. they talked about a monthly subscription. how much? and how much are the videogames. the same as a retail disc game? too many questions left unsolved.......

advertisement
Click Here

Hot Stories

Newsmakers

Featured Stories

Submit News

Got tips? Send them in!