These days, like a lot of folks, I get an awful lot of my entertainment from “the cloud” — that amorphous blob more commonly referred to as the Internet. If I want to watch a movie, I go to Netflix and start streaming. If I want to listen to music, I go to Rhapsody. If I want to play a game, I go to. ... Wait, can you really stream a game? Yes, you can!
When I first heard about OnLive at last year’s E3 convention, it sounded like a pipe dream concocted by madmen. It was announced as an online service that would allow you to play video games on any platform that supported it. Imagine playing a modern PC game like “Red Faction: Guerilla” on your MacBook without an emulator, or even booting to Windows. No disc to insert, no download necessary and zero install times. Stranger yet, imagine the same thing on your iPhone or iPad. By now, you’re probably thinking, “No, sir, Mr. OnLive. My snake has plenty of oil, thank you.” I was skeptical, too.
“Balderdash!” I exclaimed, as my monocle popped. “Why, the idea is pure falderal! No one will believe this cockamamie notion that you can stream games! Also, the horseless carriage will never catch on, and rock music is just a fad!”
Then I tried it for myself, and the damn thing delivered.
Imagine you have access to a state-of-the-art PC, all loaded with games and rarin’ to go. The only catch is that it’s on the other side of the country. Now, imagine your monitor, keyboard and mouse are all plugged into this PC via cables that reach all the way across the vast expanse. That’s essentially what OnLive is. Simply replace those cables with the Internet, and there you are. All of the processing power is outsourced to OnLive; all your computer has to do is broadcast the control information while receiving the visual information.
There are, however, a few caveats. For one, you will need a fast, stable Internet connection. A recommended speed of at least five Mbps will give you the full HD treatment. Even then, WiF is unsupported; you will need to plug directly into your network via Ethernet cable. Also, it will ask you to limit the number of devices sharing the Internet connection in your local network to minimize interference.
In my experience, I was able to get in about four hours of continuous, uninterrupted game time with only a few slight jitters and a small amount of lag. Most of the time, the controls are very tight and responsive. The video has a tendency to “glitch,” or smear, resulting in blocky bits of persistent images — something reminiscent of a dirty DVD. The better your connection, the lower the frequency of these errors.
Another small issue I have with OnLive is that it doesn’t work with my USB controller. The OnLive FAQ states that “OnLive does not support non-Xbox 360-compatible gamepads.” So much for hardware independence.
Finally, the service will cost $14.99 per month. All games on the service offers 30 minutes of free play time to try them out, but for unlimited access you’ll have to pay an additional fee on each title. You might not like that idea, but consider how much you’ll save on PC upgrades and new consoles.
Is OnLive the future of gaming? On paper, maybe. But in reality, it’s hard to say. Given the industry’s apparent love affair with 3D glasses and motion controls, can OnLive meet these demands? Also, the visual fidelity, while quite acceptable, is hardly a replacement for full-blown HD graphics. It’s hard to claim cutting-edge graphics through a blurry, YouTube-quality lens.
For the moment, all I can say with certainty is that it really does work; no snake oil necessary. My monocle will never be the same.
w
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