It's not meant to look better. It's meant to be an accesible avenue to play pc games on just about any hardware. The service has to start somewhere with it's connection speed requirements. The service is not meant for pc enthusiasts or people with inadequate connections.
I think the simple answer is it's not. However i guess you just have to accept that the product isn't for you then. OnLive minimum requirements state 2Mb/sec and recommended is 5Mb/sec. Quick Google Ofcom report clicky from May states that average UK speed is 6.2Mb/sec which means that it's not as if OnLive is being unrealistic here.
I'm not sure even that is enough though. I used it on a 8Mb (I think) connection at my parents' house and, as I said, it wasn't really quite smooth enough to be playable. Maybe that connection just happened to be flakier than average though. Would be interested to know what speed people who use this consistently have. Actually, thinking about it, they might have had only US servers back then so that might be why.
I may be biased because firstly, I've seen Gunsmith's opinions on the matter elaborated more fully elsewhere and secondly because at times I find Gunsmith's posts to be a blunt, brutal breath of fresh air on topics regarding hardcore gaming (and because I hear them in his voice/accent, which just makes it all the more entertaining!); but I can see where you're coming from in discussion terms. I just felt that his post still had at least some merit, since it got the message across that there are those of us who would actually be happier in ways to see OnLive fail completely, to avoid the precedents being set. I haven't tried it yet, since there's been no mention so far of it coming to Ireland and, frankly, I can't see it coming here. Even urban areas here have ****ing terrible quality of broadband service due to a monopoly on the infrastructure here by a company that doesn't know the meanings of the words "progression" and "customer satisfaction". If I had the opportunity I would try it, for sure; but I think even if I enjoyed the experience it would be of no value to me. The only times I'm not at my gaming machine are times where I only have 3G internet or port-filtered internet at work/uni. Don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to defend any of the ignorant, bigoted fanboyism that we get on the forums from any side of the divide - I facepalm and cringe at half of the Pro-PC/Anti-Console comments that are posted here so often - But I do feel that there's a certain amount of justified frustration and anger in the hardcore PC gaming/enthusiast community these days. The direction of that anger (ie; platform-ism towards people who happen to enjoy games on consoles instead of or alongside PC gaming [I am the latter, myself]) is often way off; but my point was just that this community is bound to be defensive about the topic, and I feel to a large degree is justified in doing so too. Don't worry, I'm not actually calling you a dick, I don't know you well enough to say that yet - Just saying that your posts sometimes make you seem like a dick. Mine probably do too, more often than not. It's a side-effect of having strong feelings about things.
I'll pass, for the following reasons; >I still run XP >Prices aren't great for full games >They only keep games up for approx 3 years according to what I've read >I want something to show for my 30 - 40 quid > I want to be able to play a game even if my BB goes down
I gave it a try on my old netbook. Our connection realistically translates to about 1m/s down sustained and 120kb/s up sustained. It ran flawlessly and the picture quality was great. Lag was only really noticeable in FPS games but it was minute. I think it's a pretty cool idea. Whether or not it will succeed I'm not sure. I think it could some day be a viable alternative to high end pc gaming. I imagine that they will eventually be able to broadcast in 1080p without any perceivable lag and to do this without having to spend a lot on a gaming rig could be very appealing to some.
Lol I just don't see this being successful, at least not in the US. The internet infrastructure just isn't there to support it. Who want worst graphics unless it's much cheaper than buying the game
I agree that OnLive may be pushing down the numbers to the bare minimum and possibly even using theoretical numbers. However, i don't think my connection is any better than 8Mb/s and that would be actual throughput (not what is advertised, which i think is like "Up to 16Mb/s) since i average around 1MB/s download speed (that would be best case, but roughly consistent). -> I agree prices aren't the best considering that they're only streaming the game to you (rather than you running it yourself). Although it could just be because Publishers aren't willing to cut decent deals since it's not yet established. -> I think the clause is that they'll guarantee games will be available for 3 years, not sure what happens after that. It is something that makes me apprehensive as well since they also reserve the right to start charging a subscription service. -> Again, "always on" internet will be an issue for some and it's also why i think it could have trouble competing with consoles, especially with regards to download limits on certain packages. The main thing is that it's not just limited to PCs and the "microconsole" as it is at the moment. For example, it's the thought of one day there being an iPad/iPod/Android app for it. Then all you'd need would be the controller (assuming they add support/connectivity) and theoretically you could game anywhere incredibly easily. Add this with an increase in "free wifi" quality and you could bring this experience on the move, say in a local Starbucks whilst on break or similar. I just find that concept amazing and rather exciting. + I'll get round to replying to you in a bit Zurechial.
I guess if i'd seen those opinions before then i might have been somewhat more receptive. I personally wasn't a fan of his videos due to the accent but that's just a personal opinion, i don't hold it against him for that. And yes, it did get the message across and for those already on "that side" of the camp or have prior knowledge of it then it could see as being very straightforward. To the uninformed however, it just seemed ignorant. It certainly has it's own "niche" that it's aiming for and it's not designed for everyone. The question is just whether or not there are enough people who can take advantage of the service. lol, i've been called worse things . I know (and have been told on multiple occasions) that i'm argumentative, but that's not because i'm just trolling for responses. I love debates/arguments just to hear so many different opinions that i may not have thought of myself, whether or not i agree with them and /or can find a logical way to refute them is another matter. If i'm debating with someone it's because i honestly don't agree with them on the matter and try to understand why they think that way (which is probably another reason i get annoyed, it's a waste of my time reading a response that gives me no insight into their reasoning). It's always the point of a debate to try and "convert" someone and it's why i may seem rather aggressive with my points, although i'll admit when someone's brought me around to their views as well. Although most of the times i just have to settle with "we can agree to disagree".
The main problem I can see is download limits which for a vast majority of people prevent them from downloading more than 50GB or so a month. Also maybe they should have a term whereby game which they discontinue you can then download free if you purchased it previously.
That is indeed a problem, BT have a nice deal atm whereby you get 3 Months of the "PlayPack Bundle" for free and also don't count any of the gaming bandwidth towards your DL limit. + That's a good idea. Have found a few more hiccups: - Apparently F3AR and Homefront in the PlayPack Bundle are Multiplayer only and don't include the SinglePlayer portion... somewhat annoying. - They limit how many people can be on the service at any amount of time, as such i've been placed into a queue to login. This obviously isn't an ideal situation, especially compared to console gaming. Hopefully this is just because as a start-up they don't have as powerful servers (but it's a rather annoying point atm). I want more Space Marine.
Yeah I had this too just now when I was trying to get on to buy Deus Ex. Eventually got on to get the augmented edition for £1 though. Cheers for the tip
As far as download limits (both in total amounts and bandwidth) are concerned, the ISPs are going to have to change pretty soon to cope with the demands of services like these. The limits are only there at the moment as the ISPs struggle to react to the demand and try to work out ways of making money out of providing the service (since competition has driven down monthly fees). Although on-live may not be the best graphically, it is certainly the way that all entertainment will go (be it gaming, TV or movies). It is inevitable that entertainment providers will prefer this approach to producing physical media and downloads (after all, if you never have the disk or the files on your hard drive, you can not pirate it). I fear that high end technology gaming will be pushed further and further into a niche market as publishers aim for the 'social networking' generation. Personally I prefer to own a copy of my music, games and movies but I am afraid that those days are numbered.
It will never be a high-end gaming alternative, not saying you dont have a point or they are not goin to succeed, but by simple logic "local gaming" will always be the cutting edge technology for gaming, why ahead of streaming, here's why: Yes, one day they will be able to stream in 1080p, and maybe they will be able to streaming the image with AA aplied, some high res textures, but PC gaming has since some years ago for example ejoyed of higher resolutions (2560 * 1600), and lets not forget that ofcourse the industry is working on monitors and TV with even higher resolutions, so the consoles are not that behind either. So by the time they manage to stream what we enjoy today as highend gaming, consoles and PC will be far better!! and so on!!
Well, I really don't think it's something I'll get into, but hell. For a £1 for any game I'll certainly give it a try.
Oh Hai there awesome graphics. Perhaps they're much better with a better connection, but my PS2 looked better than this. There's no way I could play an FPS with the mouse lag I'm getting either.
So they're giving games away for a quid now? Hehe seems like their godawful service is going down the pan quicker than expected.
They were giving the consoles away at EuroGamer :| And when they ran out of consoles, they were giving vouchers for £69 off of the £70 asking price of the console
