The next major video game platform may be no platform at all.
For the past three decades, the pattern has been the same: every few years, the major game-console makers – these days Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo – come out with newer, slicker players.
Now OnLive, a Silicon Valley start-up, is about to begin large-scale testing of a system that, if it delivers on its promises, may break the cycle and usher in a new era in a video game market estimated at US$21.3 billion ($31.4 billion) in the United States and more than twice that worldwide.
The idea is to run games in “the cloud” – distant servers connected via the internet – and stream them to your television or computer with as much speed and power as if they were running locally.
The service, which has been demonstrated publicly but so far only tested internally, is about to open up for a wider public trial next month, and scheduled to officially start this year.
This isn’t about downloading games; it’s about playing them on computers that might be 1000km away, counting on the internet to deliver an experience indistinguishable from an Xbox or PlayStation.
It’s almost the textbook definition of disruptive technology and some heavy hitters are betting OnLive can pull it off.
The Palo Alto, California company is backed by hedge-fund manager Maverick Capital, Time Warner’s Warner Bros unit and graphics powerhouse Autodesk. And it has signed deals with most of the major game publishers to put their hottest titles on to the service.
The man behind OnLive is Steve Perlman, a Silicon Valley veteran whose credentials include QuickTime, Apple’s streaming video technology; WebTV, which was purchased by Microsoft; and MOVA Contour, the motion-capture system used in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Incredible Hulk.
The executive team also includes Mike McGarvey, the former chief executive of game publisher Eidos, and veterans of stalwarts Netscape Communications and MySQL.
From the game player’s perspective, the OnLive system couldn’t be much simpler.
For computer users, all it takes is a browser plug-in, an easily downloaded piece of software; for TV users, OnLive will supply a simple adapter – about the size of two decks of cards – and a wireless handheld controller like those used by dedicated game consoles.
OnLive’s games are platform-independent: Windows PC users may find themselves playing against Mac or television-based opponents.
What makes OnLive plausible is video compression, the process of squeezing vast amounts of digital information that must be shot back and forth between users and the distant data centres where the games are being run.
Perlman says OnLive’s combination of compression algorithms, distributed data centres and deals with internet carriers to minimize transmission delays, typically pushes the latency figure as low as 25 to 35 milliseconds, and no more than 80 in the worst case.
That may not be quite as fast as having a PlayStation 3 in your room – but it is fast enough, faster than any human being can detect.
The company says it can deliver standard-definition video over a 1.5 megabits-per-second connection and high-definition over a 5Mb/s link.
The list of those potentially threatened by OnLive is a long one.
Start with Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, who make money from the sale of hardware and the royalties they get from game publishers. None of the companies have disclosed plans for their next-generation consoles, the most recent of which, Nintendo’s Wii and Sony’s PlayStation 3, were introduced in 2006. Then there’s the second-hand game market, represented by GameStop.
The fact that publishers can’t get a piece of the action when their titles show up for resale explains part of their attraction to OnLive, where they can count on a cut every time one of their titles is bought or rented.
The New Zeland Herald has more here…
This has the potential to be EPIC. What do you readers think?
yeah it’s almost like remote play with the ps3 and psp
lol onlag
Onlive seems like a incredible idea to start with gaming platforms but it’s the question of asking how will the servers handle thousands of people using the Bandwidth to play a game.
The potential is huge for this to spark a whole new load of ideas for the gaming industry. It’s just a matter of asking will the servers perform and will the customers get their money’s worth for it
there is no question if the servers can handle it. they absolutely can. however, what quality will the stream be? That is the major question for those of use with 1080p TVs and big 30″ cinema displays. Is this only going to look good on a standard TV or a 15″ monitor like youtube? If they can stream PS3 or PC quality 1080p HD graphics, this onlive will be the sickest shit ever. Especially if it brings some of the console titles to PC/Mac.
if this is the direction the market goes then i guess thats where it goes, but i wont be supporting it.
i mean, just the whole thing has a funk, like i’d secretly be screwed over and im not sure how yet. its fishy, and just about all the changes made from the traditional formula, save the price, are bad or unadvantageous to the consumer, in the same way downloadable titles are, with a little added “the controller and converter box you bought wont be worth anything once we go under”
i’m predicting it’ll fail, and it’ll serve as a sign to the big three that the world isnt ready an entire download-only market, with no physical media,
OnLive isn’t claiming to be the END on console gaming. They are only shooting for about 5%-10% of the current market. The end result here is the OPPOSITE of what Sony and Microsoft have encountered with this most recent generations of consoles. And that is, digging a a HUGE grave by putting a massive amount of money into console development, and then having to start out in the red.
By casting all that huge console development money directly into the service itself, I think OnLive has a fighting chance.
P.S. They are claiming that the graphic’s side of the operation will be no less intense than playing directly from your console.
Don’t get me wrong Onlive’s new strategy to the gaming market is innovative and while they may only target 5%-10% of the market they can only get bigger with new and creative ideas
I do support this but I wan’t see how this all works out ^^
The ongoing OnLive saga is something to watch. I probably won’t be purchasing it when (and if) it comes out as I fear that things might cave and I’ll end up with a small processing brick.
OnLive kinda of follows the same footsteps as BetaMax back in the day, but VHS and DVD’s were far more “convenient”. Consoles are just that, convenient. I really hope they test the crap out of this because any lag whatsoever will ruin the experience. Here’s hoping for another choice in the console marketplace though.
I don’t like it. I want to *own* my console and the physical copy of the game so I can play it all alone in my basement when the internet breaks down. For real though. I’m with Spaceraser, something fishy is going on. 1984-style…
Now, where did I put that tin-foil hat…
HI THERE YOU ARE RIGHT I THINK THAT THE LIVE GAMING SYTEM MIGHT DEFEAT CONSOLES AND IPOS AND IPOD TOUCH AND C ELLPHONE GAMING ON THING ABOUT COMPUTER GAMES OVER CONSOLES YOU CAN BUY WHAT EVERY SPEED HARD DRIVE OR SOLID STATE FLASH DRIVE OR SSD HARD DRIVES YOU CAN BUY A 10,000 OR 15,000 RPM HARD DRIVE OR A LIGHTING FAST SOLID STATE DRIVE SSD BECUASE FLASH GAMING IS FAR FASTER GAMING FASTER LOAD TIMES AND HAVE ZERO LAG TIMES
Just another variation of what can happen if you have:
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Unlimited storage
I saw a video of the system running Burnout Paradise. It looked amazing… I honestly thought it was just gameplay footage of the PS3 or Xbox 360.