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Ed
04-17-2009, 05:31 PM
Article From: http://ps3thevolution.com/2009/04/16/onlive-will-fall-while-ps3-xbox-and-wii-stand-tall

OnLive Will Fall While PS3, Xbox, and Wii Stand Tall
by R2 Deuce on Apr.16, 2009, under PS3, Previews

It is no secret that as time changes so does technology, roughly about every 3-4 years. The only thing constant in the world is change. In the gaming world, a technological change breeds competition. Think about it, when there was the Atari, then came NES, then when Genesis came, Super NES appeared, etc… Well it seems as the evolution of gaming has not begun to slow down especially with the upcoming release of the new video game platform OnLive. OnLive looks to steal the thunder from the video game Juggernauts Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, but Playstation ThEvolution believes that OnLive will not stand a chance.

Announced at the Game Developers Conference in 2009, Onlive is an on-demand video game platform. This will give gamers the ability to access PC and console games instantly, without having customer’s pockets sucked dry by other gaming consoles and not to mention the amount of convenience.

The skepticism about OnLive out weighs any chance of it competing with other consoles. It will be technically difficult to transfer a substantial mount of data that a high definition game would require. In order to achieve the necessary graphical performance, OnLive will provide 1 ms latency in compressing 720p 60 frames a second. This will require what Matt Peckham from PC world considers “deterministic broadband”. That is “a guaranteed, non-shared, uninterruptible speed” in which broadband has not fully accomplished just yet. To make matters worse, the game data will be stored on the OnLive servers. What does this mean? This means any games purchased are not actually owned by the user. Are you kidding me?!?! So if OnLive as a company was to go under or if the server was unavailable (as some online game servers do), this means you are just fresh out of luck.

Another reason OnLive will not be able to clash with the titans is the online multi-player feature. Since it was first introduced, the online multi-player feature has pushed games to a higher plateau. Games such as Killzone 2, Halo, Call of Duty, etc.., have really set the precedence with their great online feature. Playstation and Xbox have been able to successfully provide gamers with the ability to enjoy the online multi-player. Unfortunately OnLive is not equipped to duplicate the same experience. In order to prevent any lag, they are limiting online multi-player to ONLY regional servers. This means if you want to play a friend in another state or country in Madden it won’t happen. I think I speak for the majority when I say that playing people thousands and thousands a mile away makes the online experience incredible.
With OnLive’s shortcomings, the 3 headed monsters will continue to dominate the gaming world as they are currently doing. The faster OnLive comes the faster it will be sharing dust bunnies with dreamcast.

Lord Xenu
04-17-2009, 05:44 PM
Coming from a PS3 page I'm not surprised.

Darq
04-18-2009, 09:02 PM
It is no secret that as time changes so does technology, roughly about every 3-4 years. The only thing constant in the world is change. In the gaming world, a technological change breeds competition. Think about it, when there was the Atari, then came NES, then when Genesis came, Super NES appeared, etc… Well it seems as the evolution of gaming has not begun to slow down especially with the upcoming release of the new video game platform OnLive. OnLive looks to steal the thunder from the video game Juggernauts Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, but Playstation ThEvolution believes that OnLive will not stand a chance.

Announced at the Game Developers Conference in 2009, Onlive is an on-demand video game platform. This will give gamers the ability to access PC and console games instantly, without having customer’s pockets sucked dry by other gaming consoles and not to mention the amount of convenience.

The skepticism about OnLive out weighs any chance of it competing with other consoles. It will be technically difficult to transfer a substantial mount of data that a high definition game would require. In order to achieve the necessary graphical performance, OnLive will provide 1 ms latency in compressing 720p 60 frames a second. This will require what Matt Peckham from PC world considers “deterministic broadband”. That is “a guaranteed, non-shared, uninterruptible speed” in which broadband has not fully accomplished just yet.
There is a lot of speculation still on how the promised technology will work functionally. OnLive appears to be approach the topic very cautiously, which is why they're having a beta this summer. Also, what needs to be taken into account is that this is a technology that OnLive did not dream up over night. They have been working on developing this technology and service for seven years, and Steve Perlman is no stranger to the industry. It does all come down to seeing it actually demonstrated on a large scale this summer, however it is too soon to completely discount OnLive and claim it will fail.

To make matters worse, the game data will be stored on the OnLive servers. What does this mean? This means any games purchased are not actually owned by the user. Are you kidding me?!?! So if OnLive as a company was to go under or if the server was unavailable (as some online game servers do), this means you are just fresh out of luck.
This is not a new concept, and the author here is granting way too much importance to this factor. Just one example of how consumer really don't care is the World of Warcraft, and the entire MMO industry. Blizzard Entertainment currently brags over 11,000,000 subscribers internationally, and every single subscriber depends on the internet to enjoy their product. This was a very poor point to argue the OnLive service.


Another reason OnLive will not be able to clash with the titans is the online multi-player feature. Since it was first introduced, the online multi-player feature has pushed games to a higher plateau. Games such as Killzone 2, Halo, Call of Duty, etc.., have really set the precedence with their great online feature. Playstation and Xbox have been able to successfully provide gamers with the ability to enjoy the online multi-player. Unfortunately OnLive is not equipped to duplicate the same experience. In order to prevent any lag, they are limiting online multi-player to ONLY regional servers. This means if you want to play a friend in another state or country in Madden it won’t happen. I think I speak for the majority when I say that playing people thousands and thousands a mile away makes the online experience incredible.
With OnLive’s shortcomings, the 3 headed monsters will continue to dominate the gaming world as they are currently doing. The faster OnLive comes the faster it will be sharing dust bunnies with dreamcast.
In the beginning this will be an unfortunate challenge, however as OnLive expands and more servers are implemented this will allow for users across greater distances to enjoy multi-player games. Again, I believe too much stress is being put on this point. As long as there are other users playing the online game, most gamers are not going to care that they aren't across the country. Plus, as OnLive picks up steam gamers can still enjoy the time and money they have invested in their consoles - there are no far-fetched ideas that OnLive is going to take over the console gaming world overnight. I think you will be surprised in a couple of years to see where OnLive has come, and what capabilities it has with online multi-play.

Aph0ticShield
04-18-2009, 09:10 PM
All online video games are limited by distance. One cannot play with people "thousands and thousands" of miles away without experiencing some sort of lag. The same is true for OnLive. It is just that OnLive doesn't give you the option to play laggy games, only regional.

Alfrayer
04-18-2009, 10:56 PM
All online video games are limited by distance. One cannot play with people "thousands and thousands" of miles away without experiencing some sort of lag. The same is true for OnLive. It is just that OnLive doesn't give you the option to play laggy games, only regional.

Which some games already enforce. Army of Two for instance only uses regional servers as well as a handful of other console titles.

Darq
04-18-2009, 10:59 PM
I posted a comment on the author's page, hopefully he'll head over here and elaborate on his editorial.