Not if Gamestop has anything to say about it
I love onlive now more than ever, I played Metro 2033 over wifi on my little dell laptop.
It ran like a champ and looked incredible.
OnLive is the New Dreamcast
- Thread starter Curt
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Not if Gamestop has anything to say about it
I love onlive now more than ever, I played Metro 2033 over wifi on my little dell laptop.
It ran like a champ and looked incredible.
Curt
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Not if Gamestop has anything to say about it
I love onlive now more than ever, I played Metro 2033 over wifi on my little dell laptop.
It ran like a champ and looked incredible.
Awesome! Whats your gamertag?
And as for Gamestop... Fuck those guys... Never will you find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.
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Curt
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Have you checked out Spotify? Also Cloud/Music Related. I think it's incredible. I loooove being able to browse my friends playlists, and have people on Facebook give me a thumbs up when I have on good jams.
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And that is what disturbs me most: you own nothing with OnLive.
Only streamed content with rented access.
As a gamer AND collector, I'd like to see OnLive vanishing into oblivion.
Curt
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I own the little box and a sweet little controller which I got for free. I like it alot. And I have alot of Full Playpasses that feel like ownership to me. Now if for some reason games I've bought dissapear from the service I'll be right there with fire and pitchforks with all of you. But I don't think that's going to happen. OnLive is instant gaming. I like that.
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Curt
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I agree without a good connection it would be pretty shitty. Sorry you had a bad experience.
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Welcome to the future. We are moving away from physical media, because honestly there is no value in it. Physical media is simply a medium to the end result. The cartridge is a medium to play Super Mario bros. You don't love the cart, you love the game, if it was in another form the love for the game would be in a different form.
I was really into Onlive when it was coming out, the whole concept IS absolutely fascinating. My beef is 2 things
1. I don't live in a place with fantastic internet
2. It's the first in this kind of model. I think I'll wait til the 2nd or 3rd generation before hopping on. For example, the first couple cd based systems were awful, it took a few years for it to be done right, same thought.
I'm still a fan of owning physical media, but only for somethings, its odd. I'm sure its just a matter of the culture I grew up in. Kids in 15 years won't give a flying fuck about being able to "hold" the game.
Eric
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I don't really buy having to wait for another generation. All of the upgrades are on their end and can be done without the end-user having to do anything. The "console" is really just a means of streaming what's coming through the internet onto your TV and in theory doesn't ever need upgrading.
Steam was the first major player of its kind and that's now the place to get PC games and it seems only now are other publishers trying to directly compete.
There have also already been changes made to their business model. No longer do you have to pay a monthly fee for access. Now the monthly fee is optional for a 30% discount and the free access to some games.
Steam was the first major player of its kind and that's now the place to get PC games and it seems only now are other publishers trying to directly compete.
There have also already been changes made to their business model. No longer do you have to pay a monthly fee for access. Now the monthly fee is optional for a 30% discount and the free access to some games.
Curt
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OnLive Vs. PC - Screenshots/Comparisons
FUN! I ran some Experiments today comparing the Native PC versions, to Onlive Running on four platforms, PC, Mac, Microconsole/HDTV, and iPad.
Of COURSE the PC version is the most beautiful and the best way to go. But OnLive has a lot going for it. Please indulge me. I spent about an hour putting this together. It's not 100% scientific but gives a pretty fair comparison. My first impression of it on OnLive was pretty bad, I was not getting a good frame rate, and I was seeing an obnoxious amount of compression, later I my frame rate improved because of my network, and it turns out that compression was actually in every version of the game, but OnLive compounded the issue making it look pretty bad... more on that later.
(Note, I did not resize these or add much jpeg compression to these because that would completely blow the point, if you want to see them in full-res just select them and use view image or copy the URL)
I used Kane and Lynch 2. This game has really been growing on me, it's not without it's fair share of issues i.e. the clunky cover system but overall I think it is BEAUTIFUL, even though it depicts a lot of very ugly things. The game is criminally underrated.
Here's some very nice screenshots of it running on my System. (2.66 Core i7 Macbook Pro, 8GB ram, Nvidia 330M, Windows 7). At my notebooks native resolution 1400x900 with: Triple Buffering, V-Sync, low quality shadows, Ambient Occlusion, High Res Textures, sharpening, and fullscreen effects, 2x anisotropy, and 2x anti-aliasing. I think I could have pushed it even farther but this was giving me a nice result.
Platform: PC / Steam - 1400x900 ($14.99 on Steam, though I got it as part of a bundle for about $3-4)
Observations:
This game is flat out gorgeous. It was super fun, the controls were snappy but aiming was difficult, framerate was solid although it dipped in some intense areas. The game is designed to have a very shaky manic cam, but it was not distracting and made the experience more intense. Now... There were some strange Texture/Lighting anomalies present throughout the game that feel like compression... Look at the reflection on the car. Look at Lynch's Jacket. Also during hits there will often be a digital breakup that can look like compression. This is actually pretty cool and again makes it intense. NOW... for the Kudos. The Things I cannot see in the other versions. The beauty. Look at the texture of Lynch's face, every pore is visible, look at the texture for his beard, every hair is nearly discernible, look at the texture on that wall, look at his crooked teeth, look at Xiu's Jeans, look at Lynch's jacket, you cans the weave and texture of almost every fiber. It is absolutely gorgeous, one of the best looking games I've ever played.
Now for OnLive. I played it on every platform OnLive is currently available for. My Internet is a 5Mbs Up/20 Mbs Down Cable Connection. My performance varies depending on how busy the cable network is or my local wireless traffic.
Platform: OnLive PC - 720p - ($13.99 Full Playpass) - To Be Fair these photos are from the Brag Clips, I think often actual gameplay is sharper.
(I screwed up on this capture and it got cropped on accident)
Observations: Interesting enough I often get the best OnLive experience when I'm running it on a PC, I get slightly better frame rates and things often look slightly sharper. (not the case today but its worth noting). The Controls felt slightly more difficult/less precise/harder, the beautiful textures are not apparent and often kind of muddied during compression, the resolution isn't as high so seeing far off enemies is slightly more difficult. Now for Framerate, the framerate was Rock Solid at around 30 FPS and never dipped even in areas where my PC would, also the Load times were fantastic at about 2-4 times faster than my PC would load them (Depending on the Level).
Platform: OnLive Mac - 720p
Observations: The problems with resolution were still apparent on the Mac, but It was running a little sharper than the PC today. While I was gaming I often would have 10-15 casual observers watching me and cheering me on, one even sent me a friend request and we played co-op through the first couple levels. That right there is one of the biggest strengths from on OnLive. Also the Brag Clip system is really fun.
Platform: OnLive Microconsole HDTV - 720p - Photo off the TV using an iPhone
Observations: My Livingroom is bridged to my wireless network and I often get very good performance sometimes even better than when I run OnLive on a computer. Although there is a very slight lag sometimes. I should note when you're gaming with OnLive, turn off ALL your wireless devices even if they're idling they can reduce your performance. NOW... What I really liked about playing on the TV was the Controller, The Onlive Controller is great, and the game is completely modified to work perfectly with gamepads (You can use an xbox controller even), This came in REALLY handy because of Auto-Aim. Kane and Lynch 2 is just flat out better and more enjoyable with Auto Aim. At Close Range there was substantial compression found and because of its large size it's blown up. But at my viewing distance far away you cannot discern it.
Platform: OnLive iPad - Sub 720p, unknown resolution- (View only)
Observations: Currently you can only spectate and watch Brag Clips on Your iPad, but soon you'll be able to pair your controller with it and play like that, special touch versions for some games, or a onscreen controller. The Video Quality was easily the worst of the bunch, but still fun to play with.
OVERALL CONCLUSION:
I think it comes down to price. Go with whatever service is having a sale. OnLive has a lot of Graphical Shortcomings compared to it's PC counterpart but I feel it makes up for it by delivering it's rich social environment, fast load times, ease of use, platform versatility, and solid performance. I think overall it comes out pretty close. In terms of enjoyment it's a wash/even.
FUN! I ran some Experiments today comparing the Native PC versions, to Onlive Running on four platforms, PC, Mac, Microconsole/HDTV, and iPad.
Of COURSE the PC version is the most beautiful and the best way to go. But OnLive has a lot going for it. Please indulge me. I spent about an hour putting this together. It's not 100% scientific but gives a pretty fair comparison. My first impression of it on OnLive was pretty bad, I was not getting a good frame rate, and I was seeing an obnoxious amount of compression, later I my frame rate improved because of my network, and it turns out that compression was actually in every version of the game, but OnLive compounded the issue making it look pretty bad... more on that later.
(Note, I did not resize these or add much jpeg compression to these because that would completely blow the point, if you want to see them in full-res just select them and use view image or copy the URL)
I used Kane and Lynch 2. This game has really been growing on me, it's not without it's fair share of issues i.e. the clunky cover system but overall I think it is BEAUTIFUL, even though it depicts a lot of very ugly things. The game is criminally underrated.
Here's some very nice screenshots of it running on my System. (2.66 Core i7 Macbook Pro, 8GB ram, Nvidia 330M, Windows 7). At my notebooks native resolution 1400x900 with: Triple Buffering, V-Sync, low quality shadows, Ambient Occlusion, High Res Textures, sharpening, and fullscreen effects, 2x anisotropy, and 2x anti-aliasing. I think I could have pushed it even farther but this was giving me a nice result.
Platform: PC / Steam - 1400x900 ($14.99 on Steam, though I got it as part of a bundle for about $3-4)
Observations:
This game is flat out gorgeous. It was super fun, the controls were snappy but aiming was difficult, framerate was solid although it dipped in some intense areas. The game is designed to have a very shaky manic cam, but it was not distracting and made the experience more intense. Now... There were some strange Texture/Lighting anomalies present throughout the game that feel like compression... Look at the reflection on the car. Look at Lynch's Jacket. Also during hits there will often be a digital breakup that can look like compression. This is actually pretty cool and again makes it intense. NOW... for the Kudos. The Things I cannot see in the other versions. The beauty. Look at the texture of Lynch's face, every pore is visible, look at the texture for his beard, every hair is nearly discernible, look at the texture on that wall, look at his crooked teeth, look at Xiu's Jeans, look at Lynch's jacket, you cans the weave and texture of almost every fiber. It is absolutely gorgeous, one of the best looking games I've ever played.
Now for OnLive. I played it on every platform OnLive is currently available for. My Internet is a 5Mbs Up/20 Mbs Down Cable Connection. My performance varies depending on how busy the cable network is or my local wireless traffic.
Platform: OnLive PC - 720p - ($13.99 Full Playpass) - To Be Fair these photos are from the Brag Clips, I think often actual gameplay is sharper.
(I screwed up on this capture and it got cropped on accident)
Observations: Interesting enough I often get the best OnLive experience when I'm running it on a PC, I get slightly better frame rates and things often look slightly sharper. (not the case today but its worth noting). The Controls felt slightly more difficult/less precise/harder, the beautiful textures are not apparent and often kind of muddied during compression, the resolution isn't as high so seeing far off enemies is slightly more difficult. Now for Framerate, the framerate was Rock Solid at around 30 FPS and never dipped even in areas where my PC would, also the Load times were fantastic at about 2-4 times faster than my PC would load them (Depending on the Level).
Platform: OnLive Mac - 720p
Observations: The problems with resolution were still apparent on the Mac, but It was running a little sharper than the PC today. While I was gaming I often would have 10-15 casual observers watching me and cheering me on, one even sent me a friend request and we played co-op through the first couple levels. That right there is one of the biggest strengths from on OnLive. Also the Brag Clip system is really fun.
Platform: OnLive Microconsole HDTV - 720p - Photo off the TV using an iPhone
Observations: My Livingroom is bridged to my wireless network and I often get very good performance sometimes even better than when I run OnLive on a computer. Although there is a very slight lag sometimes. I should note when you're gaming with OnLive, turn off ALL your wireless devices even if they're idling they can reduce your performance. NOW... What I really liked about playing on the TV was the Controller, The Onlive Controller is great, and the game is completely modified to work perfectly with gamepads (You can use an xbox controller even), This came in REALLY handy because of Auto-Aim. Kane and Lynch 2 is just flat out better and more enjoyable with Auto Aim. At Close Range there was substantial compression found and because of its large size it's blown up. But at my viewing distance far away you cannot discern it.
Platform: OnLive iPad - Sub 720p, unknown resolution- (View only)
Observations: Currently you can only spectate and watch Brag Clips on Your iPad, but soon you'll be able to pair your controller with it and play like that, special touch versions for some games, or a onscreen controller. The Video Quality was easily the worst of the bunch, but still fun to play with.
OVERALL CONCLUSION:
I think it comes down to price. Go with whatever service is having a sale. OnLive has a lot of Graphical Shortcomings compared to it's PC counterpart but I feel it makes up for it by delivering it's rich social environment, fast load times, ease of use, platform versatility, and solid performance. I think overall it comes out pretty close. In terms of enjoyment it's a wash/even.
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Price is a big factor. Constantly creating the best gaming rig adds up quickly in the price department. Onlive is now just the initial fee for the system and controller right?
Curt
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The system and controller are free (usually). The service itself is 100% free. They have lots of promotions where they give it away. Currently if you pre-order Batman or Lord of the Rings at $35 (with playpack) each you get it free. +$10 shipping. If you buy the microconsole without a promotion its $99.
The playpack is the only area where you can get charged, and it's optional. You get 104 games mostly indies, including some good ones like Batman, Borderlands, and Bioshock for $9.99 a month. This is where the value comes in. When you have the playpack you get a 30% discount. New Releases (Like Saints Row 3) that were $60 become $35. That is a solid value. And super cheapies that were $6 become $3.50. Even further during deals you can get games as low as $.80 with the playpack. You can join the playpack buy a bunch of games and save the money and then turn it off for the next month still taking advantage of the deals. If you buy more than a couple games it pays for itself. This is actually ingenious because it makes you want to buy more games. I'm up to around 130 games (With my playpack)
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Curt
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I must apologize, I keep saying the console is free with the Batman Arkham City Pre-Order, and this was true when I wrote it, I got my console that way. But it looks like the deal is over. Which is disappointing to me because I didn't see a "until" date on it. But it's likely just to push the Lord of The Rings Pre-Order deal in which it's still free. It also might have something to do with the title being delayed.
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Cloud computing is slave computing. I hate this for the same reason I hate games with no LAN functionality - once the company is gone, your games are gone too. In 50 years, how many people do you think will be playing MAG? Now, how many will be playing Quake 3? It'll be the same way, but even more extreme. Everything you ever "buy" that relies on a remote server to run is destined to fail. At least with Steam you can crack the games if VALVe goes tits-up.
Curt
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Sorry. I think I've said my piece though. So you won't have to deal with it anymore.
Thankyou for the constructive criticism though. You have a valid point.
I will work on it so it doesn't happen again. Again I'm going to have to blame my job. It's hard to be enthusiastic about something and separate that side of my brain from it.
My #1 goal with this thread was to generate more interest in the technology, encourage some people who hadn't tried to to try it, beef up my friends list, and I accomplished that. Again just my $.02 so if it does go the way of the Dreamcast I at least did my part to try and help it.
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the answer to those questions are no one because the servers will be down. And no one because there won't be a computer that can emulate it....
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Well, this is a bit tangential to the discussion, but:
http://ioquake3.org/get-it/source-codes/
Regardless, with OnLive there won't be something to emulate, or crack, or reverse-engineer. The games are just gone forever when they say so.
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I love Onlive. I have been using it regularly the past several months and have pretty much replaced a lot of my gaming time with 360/PS3. Deus Ex HR was great, and Batman AA looks fantastic. Sure, it doesn't have all the latest/greatest games but it has enough to occupy my time. I can game in living room. Stop, and continue on laptop in the bedroom. Soon, there will be apps for iOS/Droid so you can game pretty much anywhere.
BTW, I believe the microconsole can output better resolution than the PC/Mac client.
BTW, I believe the microconsole can output better resolution than the PC/Mac client.
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Strange how 20 years after the PC revolution, we are going back to terminals.
Anyways, anyone accusing curt of being a salesman is forgetting all the old fanyboyism that used to run rampant here.
Anyways, anyone accusing curt of being a salesman is forgetting all the old fanyboyism that used to run rampant here.
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Lots of good information in this thread about the service. Thanks for the 411.
I still won't be getting it because I'm 100% against clouds in any way, shape or form. Once they become the standard, I'm taking all my stuff and moving to the mountains, where I'll power it all with the world's first air powered generator (which I'll invent by then.)
EDIT: I partially recant my statement. I'm not 100% against clouds 'in any way, shape or form.' I just don't want it to be the only option.
I still won't be getting it because I'm 100% against clouds in any way, shape or form. Once they become the standard, I'm taking all my stuff and moving to the mountains, where I'll power it all with the world's first air powered generator (which I'll invent by then.)
EDIT: I partially recant my statement. I'm not 100% against clouds 'in any way, shape or form.' I just don't want it to be the only option.
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This tl;dr crap is way beyond fanboyism. If he's not getting paid for this obnoxious shit he really should be. Although it's turning me off to the product more than anything else.
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You should have been here for the reign of Chimpmeister.
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