NEWS ANALYSIS: ONLIVE & THE CLOUD
UK consumers got their first hands on with OnLive at the Eurogamer Expo last week
LIVE AND KICKING
OnLive was finally activated across the UK last week, offering the masses cheap and effective cloud streaming of high-end games. But the real innovation is still to come, says Michael French
PUNDITS will have you believe the next generation of games hardware won’t arrive until 2013 or later. However last week, at 12.01am on September 22nd, a fifth home gaming format was activated: cloud gaming service OnLive. At its most basic form this one needs no hardware, no discs, no physical retail element.
That alone is enough to prove the potential revolution OnLive can herald. But OnLive is more than just being a clever innovation for today. OnLive is posing questions about the future of the games business – about the way it sells content, distributes content, promotes content… even how content is created and owned.
IT’S A LIVE
The launch feature set of OnLive available today and in the near future is certainly impressive. Built around a bespoke video streaming technology, OnLive runs all
24 September 30th 2011
games from dedicated data centres. At its simplest, you can log on from a PC or Mac and play games with a click of a button. The dedicated ‘microconsole’ (a cheap but polished box smaller than a 3DS containing a handful of memory chips, video processor, plus ethernet, USB and HDMI ports) is available for piping it straight into your TV. Soon, an app will launch letting you stream games to iPad or Android tablets. It’s even being built into TVs and Blu-ray players. The games themselves are games in the ‘traditional’ sense to most of us – expensive-to-make stuff from big boys such as THQ, Ubisoft and 2K, down to mid-tier publishers and smaller developers. A mix of the triple- A, glossy family and indie titles. But OnLive’s video-centric approach adds unique features including an Arena mode so you can spectate and watch people play, while gamers can save Brag Clips (the last
OnLive addresses thorny ownership issues the format holders aren’t brave enough to discuss.
“
FIND OUT MORE AT LGC OnLive CTO Tom Paquin will be speaking at November 10th’s London Games Conference about cloud gaming’s potential. Contact
Hannah.Short@
intentmedia.co.uk or call 01992 535 646 to attend.
10 seconds of play) with a press of a button to show off to other users.
PRICE IS RIGHT
OnLive is wrapped in a fairly flexible pricing structure, too. Actually signing up and browsing the library of games is free, as are 30-minute demos of most titles, plus multiplayer for those supporting it. In the UK, an inaugural offer means first time customers get any game for £1.
The RRP for most games on the service is in-line with retail RRPs, at £34.99. Older titles are £19.99, and some games can be rented starting at £3.99 for three days. However, a special PlayPack, available at £6.99 a month provides unlimited access to over 100 games on the service. This doesn’t include new ones – but new games are 30 per cent cheaper to PlayPack subscribers, bringing prices closer to the bargains on the High Street.
www.mcvuk.com
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