OnLive

[Zoombie]

Wow, my two loves of politics and video games meet at last!

Okay, before anyone grumbles about why I'd post about video games in the serious, grown up forum let me remind you of two facts:

The video game industry is a multi-billion dollar strong industry. Its not just nerds in the garage anymore.
The video game industry has at least a billion people "doing it" around the world. Heck, World of Warcraft, ONE game, has more people playing it than there are people currently living in Isreal!

SO!

We can all agree that the video game industry is a rather important one. It creates jobs, it entertains people, it creates art (if you don't think video games can and have been art, where have you been? Go play Planescape Torment!).

NOW!

The industry has been locked in a kind of...fixed state recently. It follows an endless trend of:

New hardware
leads to
New graphics
leads to
Need for new hardwar
leads to
New graphics


This has created a system where plot and game play have, well, kind of been shafted in favor of better graphics. Frankly, its easier to sell graphics. But this has created a higher bar for video games than before.

Now you have to shell out 500 bucks to get an X-box, or thousands of dollars to get a top of the line PC. And that's not even including the money you spend on the games!

This is part of why World of Warcraft is so popular: It does not need a complex system to run it. You can get WoW working on a microwave.

In fact, some have said that this is the best way to play WoW...

So, we have a MAJORITY of players who are only able to play a MINORITY of games. They're missing out on a lot of high quality stuff...and, more importantly, they're not spending their hard earned money!

And then comes...

OnLine.

OnLine is the brain child of two guys who's names I have forgotten. The technical explanation is too complicated for me to remember. Fortunately, there is a video that explains everything

http://uk.gamespot.com/shows/on-the-spot/?series=on-the-spot&event=on_the_spot20090324

Tada!

Now, if you don't want or can't watch this movie, let me explain how Online works.

Step 1: You download the 1 megabyte OnLine plug in for your Mac or your PC. Either that, or you buy the cheapo OnLine console plugin, which can be plugged directly into your TV.

Step 2: You log into OnLine. This is done through the internet. Through some advanced internet wizardry, your computer is connected to the OnLine Mega-Computer (I call them Deep Thought).

Step 3: You tell Deep Thought what you want to play. Deep Thought brings up the game and then steams the video and sound of the game to your monitor, even as your computer squirts the controls you are imputting to Deep Thought. Deep Thought does the heavy lifting, letting your computer focus on the showing you the images.

Step 4: Play top of the line games on a cheap as free laptop or TV.


Sound incredible? It is!

This is something that can and will completely revolutionize video gaming as an industry. IF it works, the bar for becoming a video gamer is going to drop to almost nothing. This will bust the market wide open, which will cause innovation, revolution, and a lot of exploding heads.

It sounds trivial when compaired to massive economic recession or Korea's latest missle test or something...but, well, not EVERYTHING in the news is doom and gloom.

I for one am really really REALLY excited to see more from these guys!

[Don]

Hmm... inexpensive, low-powered terminals with limited graphics capability being used as the front end to an immensely more powerful computer.

Does anybody else remember the time-sharing computers of the 60's and 70's?

Another great example of why knowing history is important. :D

[William Haskins]

i can not play WoW on my microwave.

[Williebee]

You need a bigger microwave. Would that be a macrowave?

What was it, Gamespot, that did this same delivery system a few years ago? I stopped using it because it wasn't compatible with Vista. At the time I was stuck in "Vista-ville".

And yeah, terminals, or "thin clients" are making another comeback in end user technology. They're usually cheaper, easier to maintain, and easier to control.

[Zoombie]

I never heard of Gamespot's version, but this is good. Cause I hate Gamespot and everything it stands for.

I mean, they gave Halo 3 a perfect score. What the fudge!?

[William Haskins]

you're absolutely right about the popularity of online gaming, though. our new one hit a million users in the first 6 months.

[cethklein]

i can not play WoW on my microwave.

I can't play it anywhere. I don't get the appeal of these MMOs. Everyone ends up being the same thing, nothing but grinding. But they sell, VERY well, even though 99% flop after the first year (even Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa did!) I think it's the appeal of the relations wit other players that keep these otherwise mindless hack/slash fests going for so long.

As for OnLive, we'll see how well it works.Netflix's streaming service works great until your connection falters. Even with my 10 meg connection, if the speed changes even a little, things freeze up. And that's only with info traveling in one direction (from Netflix to the Xbox 360. With data going in both directions constantly, it'll be interesting to see how well it holds up. The current concept of online distribution is a bit shaky (other than Steam which works fairly well.) Microsoft's Live Arcade has a lot of restrictions, and Sony's PSN is a bti difficult to work with. I think a good point about this OnLive is it seems no additional coding will need to be done on the developer's side for games to work with it. Let's hope that's the case,

[Zoombie]

Its a grand experiment. But, hey, if you had told me about Steam before it came out, I'd have thought it was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard of.

Now, all my new games are bought on Steam.

So, I guess we'll have to wait and see

[William Haskins]

I can't play it anywhere. I don't get the appeal of these MMOs. Everyone ends up being the same thing, nothing but grinding. But they sell, VERY well, even though 99% flop after the first year (even Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa did!) I think it's the appeal of the relations wit other players that keep these otherwise mindless hack/slash fests going for so long.

yeah tabula rasa was a mess from the beginning though. i work with several guys who got off that ship while the getting was good.

[dclary]

i can not play WoW on my microwave.

You can melt butter, though.

[Zoombie]

So, I told my friend about this and his response is summed up as..."About time."

[LOG]

Is this (http://www.onlive.com/index.html) what you're talking about?

[LOG]

Link (http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/is-onlive-the-future-of-pc-gaming-/1403041)
OnLive is packed with more caveats than a cellphone contract: it depends on your connection, it's pricey, its future is uncertain, the graphics aren't as good, and there's that perceptible control lag. As a technology demo, it's spectacular; as a product, it's unproven. If you're curious -- or you're keen to play the latest PC games and don't want to buy an expensive new computer -- take it for a test drive. But it's not going to change the world just yet.

[Zoombie]

Um, thread necro?

[LOG]

Didn't see a reason not to.
And I thought this was in Games.

[defcon6000]

Well doesn't it make sense that if you're playing these how graphic games on a computer than can't support it - let's say your graphics card has no shaders, then of course it's not going to look as good. I know it's streaming it for you, but as I have found with streaming online movies, they never EVER have good resolution.

However, it is a cool idea, and if the manage it, then the more power to them.