OnLive
Encyclopedia
OnLive is a cloud gaming
platform: the games are synchronized, rendered, and stored on remote servers
and delivered via the Internet
.
The service is available using the OnLive Game System, PCs running Microsoft Windows
(XP
, Vista
, 7) and Intel-based Macs
with OS X 10.5.8 or later. Since the game is computed on the OnLive server a low-end computer may be used to play any kind of game as long as it is able to play video. For that reason, the service is being seen as a competitor for the console market. All games on the service are available in 720p
format. OnLive recommends an Internet connection of 5 Mbit/s or faster, and a 2 Mbit/s connection meets the minimum system requirements. The average broadband connection speed in the US at the end of 2008 was 3.9 Mbit/s, while 25% of US broadband connections were rated faster than 5 Mbit/s.
Over 50 publishers
, such as Take-Two, Ubisoft
, Epic Games
, Atari
, Codemasters
, THQ
, Warner Bros., 2D Boy
, Eidos Interactive
, Disney Interactive Studios, and others have partnered with OnLive.
Over 150 games are available on the service, some of which are listed on the List of OnLive games.
in 2009. The service was originally planned for release in the winter of 2009.
OnLive's original investors include Warner Bros.
, Autodesk
and Maverick Capital. A later round of financing included AT&T Media Holdings, Inc. and Lauder Partners as well as the original investors. In May 2010, it was announced that British Telecom and Belgacom
invested in and partnered with OnLive.
On March 10, 2010, OnLive announced the OnLive Game Service would launch on June 17, 2010, in the US, and the monthly service fee would be US$14.95. However, at launch the membership option available was through AT&T
's Founding Members promotion, which provides the service for free for the first year and US$4.95 per month for the optional following year. On October 4, 2010, OnLive announced that there would no longer be any subscription fees for the service.
On March 11, 2010, OnLive CEO Steve Perlman
announced the OnLive Game Portal, a free way to access OnLive games for rental and demos, but without the social features of the Game Service. It was stated that it would roll out later in 2010 after the OnLive Game Service launch.
The OnLive Game Service was launched in the United States on June 17, 2010.
The US Patent Office awarded OnLive a fundamental cloud gaming patent on December 7, 2010.
The OnLive service became officially available in the United Kingdom on September 22, 2011.
The service has also been demonstrated on: Apple iPhone
Network requirements:
, called the "MicroConsole TV Adapter", that can be connected to a television and directly to the OnLive service, so it is possible to use the service without a computer. It comes with the accessories needed to connect the equipment, and composite video users can purchase an additional optional cable. The MicroConsole supports up to four wireless controllers and multiple Bluetooth
headsets. It also has two USB ports for game controllers, keyboards, mice, and USB hubs. For video and audio output it provides component
, HDMI
, S/PDIF
ports, and an analog stereo minijack. An ethernet
port is used for network access, which is required to access the OnLive service. Pre-orders for the OnLive Game System began to be taken on November 17, 2010.
and Virginia
, with additional facilities being set up in Dallas, Texas
, as well as Illinois
, and Georgia
. OnLive has stated that users must be located within 1000 miles (1,609.3 km) of one of these to receive high-quality service.
The hardware used is a custom set up consisting of OnLive's proprietary video compression chip as well as standard PC CPU and GPU chips. For older, or lower-performance, games such as Lego Batman
, multiple instances can be played on each server using virtualization technology. However, high-end games such as Assassin's Creed II
will require one GPU per game. Two video streams are created for each game. One (the live stream) is optimised for gameplay and real-world Internet conditions, while the other (the media stream) is a full HD stream that is server-side and used for spectators or for gamers to record videos of their gameplay.
as of September 22, 2011 in partnership with British Telecom as a bundled service with their broadband packages,. The company plans to make its service available in the rest of Europe as well.
OnLive plans to offer the service in Belgium
and Luxembourg
in partnership with Belgacom
. Belgacom has the exclusive right to bundle OnLive in Belgium and Luxembourg with their other broadband services, but gamers in these countries also will have the option of ordering directly from OnLive through any Internet service provider and it will be offered in multiple languages there.
OnLive has also been available in Canada since Summer 2010.
, there was skepticism expressed by game journalists, concerned about how the OnLive service might work and what the quality of the service might be both in terms of the hardware required in OnLive server centers to render and compress the video, as well as the impact of commercial Internet broadband connections on its delivery. During GDC 2009
, which was held in San Francisco, the OnLive service was 50 miles (80.5 km) from its Santa Clara
data center. The closed beta had "hundreds of users on the system". Near E3 in 2009, which is approximately 350 miles (563.3 km) away from their data center, OnLive demonstrated their service performed well with a consumer cable modem and Internet connection.Matt Peckham
from PC World
stated in his blog that it might be technically difficult to transfer the amount of data that a high definition game would require. He stated he believed OnLive customers would need a broadband line with "guaranteed, non-shared, uninterruptible speed", but "broadband isn't there yet, nor are ISPs willing to offer performance guarantees". He also mentioned his concerns that the mod community would be unable create and offer mods since all game data will be stored on the OnLive servers, and that games played on OnLive might not be "owned" by the user, and thus if OnLive were to go under, all the user's games would be inaccessible.
Cevat Yerli, the CEO of Crytek
, had researched a method for streaming games but concluded that Crytek's approach would not be viable until 2013 "at earliest". Yerli made it clear Crytek was not directly involved with the OnLive service, and Yerli had no personal experience using the service. Rather, Electronic Arts, the publisher of Crytek's Crysis Warhead
, had partnered with OnLive and had tested and endorsed the OnLive technology. Yerli stated:
Eurogamer
's DigitalFoundry was amongst the most harshly skeptical in an article published upon OnLive's unveiling and public demonstration entitled, "GDC: Why OnLive Can't Possibly Work" by DigitalFoundry's Richard Leadbetter. The article's analysis characterized OnLive as a faked demo that was technically impossible to accomplish over a consumer Internet connection.
of The Boston Globe
stated, "It felt exactly as if I had installed the software on my local computer." Chris Holt of Macworld
, in his review of Assassin's Creed II on OnLive using his Mac
, wrote that he looks forward to future higher resolution improvements that are already promised, he "never encountered any frame rate issues," and "the game is on the whole every bit as immersive, rewarding, and free as the console version." Dan Ackerman
of CNET
wrote that, "OnLive was an overall very impressive experience, and several minds around the CNET offices were officially blown – a difficult task among this jaded bunch."
In examining latency, Eurogamer
's DigitalFoundry initial test found that in some of their test scenarios, users of OnLive could expect 150ms of latency over a consumer Internet connection; however, they also noted inconsistencies, in that some games had higher latency, and that this would also depend on the quality of the customer's internet connection. Furthermore, they also noted that while acceptable, these values ran contrary to figures suggested by OnLive before release of lag "being under 80ms" and "usually... between 35-40ms". In their later full-feature article on OnLive, DigitalFoundry noted that "during intense gameplay, OnLive is hovering right at the boundary of what is acceptable lag and often exceeds it, resulting in a variable, often unsatisfactory experience", but that "the latency level is probably the most pleasant surprise with this system. Let's be clear: it is most definitely not a replacement for the local experience, but if the system can be tightened up and that 150ms becomes the norm, then it's clear there is potential here for the infrastructure to find a home with certain types of game or certain types of player".
In terms of video quality, DigitalFoundry noted that video compression meant image quality also varied depending on the title. Games with a lower number of frame-to-frame differences, or games where such changes were less important, such as Assassin's Creed II
or Batman: Arkham Asylum
fared well, with these games being "strongly suited to video compression" and "cut-scenes in particular can look very good". However, games that had a greater amount of motion or relied on fast reactions, such as Colin McRae: Dirt
or Unreal Tournament 3 fared less well, with questions about the playability of the latter when video compression artifacts were taken into account. DigitalFoundry felt that the quality of rendering was mostly good, with high frame rates, but with less consistency than console counterparts and with screen-tearing in some scenarios.
Overall, DigitalFoundry felt that OnLive offered interesting new features, being impressed with the ability to watch other player's games in the "Arena" function, and the ability to try out full 30-minute demos of games. While acknowledging that the rental aspect was appealing, and acknowleding the "incredible achievement" of coming "within spitting distance of console response times", DigitalFoundry questioned the overall value proposition for the customer. They remarked that "the bottom line is that the gameplay experience is not better than what we already have—by and large it's tangibly worse", and noted that high system requirements for a computer capable of playing the games streamed by OnLive meant that a graphics card upgrade would provide comparable performance. However, they also noted that deals such as those with BT to provide a straight connection to datacenters meant latency could be improved, and that for some consumers, such as those with less technical experience or who did not want to buy a console, OnLive may be more suitable: "there are some games where the system works—by core gamer terms—tolerably. They are clearly playable....Perhaps it is simply the case that OnLive isn't for us committed gamer types. A less discerning type of audience will probably be happy with the whole offering as it stands now"..
Gaming Examiner judged that the graphics were like "playing a PS3 on a 480p standard def TV", that they thought that they experienced much lower FPS than expected, and that the controller was not working reliably.
After the launch in United Kingdom
, Computer and Video Games
remarked after one month of use of the service was "working", and was adequate for trying a game or renting it, but still not for buying, because of the limitations depending on the internet connection (lags, freezes, smeary visuals, consequences on data usage for people who have a capped connection).
Cloud gaming
Cloud gaming, also called gaming on demand, is a type of online gaming that allows direct and on-demand streaming of games onto a computer, similar to video on demand, through the use of a thin client, in which the actual game is stored on the operator's or game company's server and is streamed...
platform: the games are synchronized, rendered, and stored on remote servers
Server (computing)
In the context of client-server architecture, a server is a computer program running to serve the requests of other programs, the "clients". Thus, the "server" performs some computational task on behalf of "clients"...
and delivered via the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
The service is available using the OnLive Game System, PCs running Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
(XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
, 7) and Intel-based Macs
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
with OS X 10.5.8 or later. Since the game is computed on the OnLive server a low-end computer may be used to play any kind of game as long as it is able to play video. For that reason, the service is being seen as a competitor for the console market. All games on the service are available in 720p
720p
720p is the shorthand name for 1280x720, a category of High-definition television video modes having a resolution of 1080 or 720p and a progressive scan...
format. OnLive recommends an Internet connection of 5 Mbit/s or faster, and a 2 Mbit/s connection meets the minimum system requirements. The average broadband connection speed in the US at the end of 2008 was 3.9 Mbit/s, while 25% of US broadband connections were rated faster than 5 Mbit/s.
Over 50 publishers
Video game publisher
A video game publisher is a company that publishes video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer....
, such as Take-Two, Ubisoft
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....
, Epic Games
Epic Games
Epic Games, Inc., also known as Epic and formerly Epic MegaGames, is an American video game development company based in Cary, North Carolina. Its most recent success has been the Gears of War series of games, although it is also known for its Unreal Engine technology. It is the parent company of...
, Atari
Atari
Atari is a corporate and brand name owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by Atari Interactive, a wholly owned subsidiary of the French publisher Atari, SA . The original Atari, Inc. was founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney. It was a pioneer in...
, Codemasters
Codemasters
The Codemasters Software Company Limited, or Codemasters is a British video game developer founded by Richard and David Darling in 1986...
, THQ
THQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
, Warner Bros., 2D Boy
2D Boy
2D Boy is an American independent video game development company founded by Kyle Gabler and Ron Carmel, former Electronic Arts employees who left their jobs to form an independent development and production company....
, Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive Ltd. is a British video game publisher and is a label of Square Enix Europe. As an independent company Eidos plc was headquartered in the Wimbledon Bridge House in Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton....
, Disney Interactive Studios, and others have partnered with OnLive.
Over 150 games are available on the service, some of which are listed on the List of OnLive games.
History
OnLive was announced at the Game Developers ConferenceGame Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
in 2009. The service was originally planned for release in the winter of 2009.
OnLive's original investors include Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, Autodesk
Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries. The company was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of the first versions of the company's...
and Maverick Capital. A later round of financing included AT&T Media Holdings, Inc. and Lauder Partners as well as the original investors. In May 2010, it was announced that British Telecom and Belgacom
Belgacom
The Belgacom Group is the largest telecommunications company in Belgium, headquartered in Brussels. Belgacom Group is primarily state owned, with the Belgian state holding 53.3% + 1 share...
invested in and partnered with OnLive.
On March 10, 2010, OnLive announced the OnLive Game Service would launch on June 17, 2010, in the US, and the monthly service fee would be US$14.95. However, at launch the membership option available was through AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
's Founding Members promotion, which provides the service for free for the first year and US$4.95 per month for the optional following year. On October 4, 2010, OnLive announced that there would no longer be any subscription fees for the service.
On March 11, 2010, OnLive CEO Steve Perlman
Steve Perlman
Stephen G Perlman, OnLive founder, president & CEO, is an entrepreneur and inventor devoted to pioneering Internet, entertainment, multimedia, consumer electronics and communications technologies and services...
announced the OnLive Game Portal, a free way to access OnLive games for rental and demos, but without the social features of the Game Service. It was stated that it would roll out later in 2010 after the OnLive Game Service launch.
The OnLive Game Service was launched in the United States on June 17, 2010.
The US Patent Office awarded OnLive a fundamental cloud gaming patent on December 7, 2010.
The OnLive service became officially available in the United Kingdom on September 22, 2011.
Service
The game service is available from the OnLive Game System to different device categories:- Windows PCs: PCs running Windows XPWindows XPWindows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, Windows VistaWindows VistaWindows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
, or Windows 7. - Apple Macintosh: Intel-based Macs running Mac OS XMac OS XMac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
10.5.8 or later. - Smartphones: Android smartphones (HTC Flyer).
- Tablets: Android tablets and Apple iPadIPadThe iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
. The OnLive Viewer for the iPad was released December 7, 2010. - Connected TVs: OnLive announced that the OnLive Game Service will be integrated into new VIZIO VIA Plus TVs.
- Internet connected media players: VIZIO's new line of VIA Blu-ray players. Steve Perlman has also suggested that the underlying electronics and compression chip could be integrated into set-top boxes and other consumer electronics.
The service has also been demonstrated on: Apple iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
Network requirements:
- The service requires a 2 Mbps Internet connection (5+ Mbps recommended) with low latency.
- OnLive initially required a wired connection, however beta Wi-FiWi-FiWi-Fi or Wifi, is a mechanism for wirelessly connecting electronic devices. A device enabled with Wi-Fi, such as a personal computer, video game console, smartphone, or digital audio player, can connect to the Internet via a wireless network access point. An access point has a range of about 20...
support became available to all members on September 15, 2010.
OnLive Game System
The OnLive Game System consists of an OnLive Wireless Controller and a consoleVideo game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
, called the "MicroConsole TV Adapter", that can be connected to a television and directly to the OnLive service, so it is possible to use the service without a computer. It comes with the accessories needed to connect the equipment, and composite video users can purchase an additional optional cable. The MicroConsole supports up to four wireless controllers and multiple Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
headsets. It also has two USB ports for game controllers, keyboards, mice, and USB hubs. For video and audio output it provides component
Component video
Component video is a video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals...
, HDMI
HDMI
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
, S/PDIF
S/PDIF
S/PDIF is a digital audio interconnect used in consumer audio equipment over relatively short distances. The signal is transmitted over either a coaxial cable with RCA connectors or a fiber optic cable with TOSLINK connectors. S/PDIF interconnects components in home theaters and other digital high...
ports, and an analog stereo minijack. An ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
port is used for network access, which is required to access the OnLive service. Pre-orders for the OnLive Game System began to be taken on November 17, 2010.
PlayPack flat-rate plan
OnLive confirmed the details of its PlayPack flat-rate payment plan on December 2, 2010. With this option players pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to "recent, classic and indie titles" in the OnLive library, which includes new releases. PlayPack subscribers also receive a 30% off discount toward purchase of OnLive merchandise excluding PlayPack membership fees. This discount can be applied to sale items, OnLive wireless controllers, and the OnLive Game System.Architecture
In the U.S., the OnLive service will be hosted in five co-located North American data centers. Currently there are facilities in Santa Clara, CaliforniaSanta Clara, California
Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
and Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, with additional facilities being set up in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, as well as Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, and Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. OnLive has stated that users must be located within 1000 miles (1,609.3 km) of one of these to receive high-quality service.
The hardware used is a custom set up consisting of OnLive's proprietary video compression chip as well as standard PC CPU and GPU chips. For older, or lower-performance, games such as Lego Batman
Lego Batman
Lego Batman is a theme and product range of the Lego construction toy, introduced in 2006, based on the superhero character Batman, under license from DC Comics. The sets feature vehicles, characters and scenes from the comics and films. The inspirations for the design of these varies widely...
, multiple instances can be played on each server using virtualization technology. However, high-end games such as Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed II is a historical third-person action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is the second video game installment of the Assassin's Creed series, and is a sequel to the 2007 video...
will require one GPU per game. Two video streams are created for each game. One (the live stream) is optimised for gameplay and real-world Internet conditions, while the other (the media stream) is a full HD stream that is server-side and used for spectators or for gamers to record videos of their gameplay.
International availability
The service is available in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as of September 22, 2011 in partnership with British Telecom as a bundled service with their broadband packages,. The company plans to make its service available in the rest of Europe as well.
OnLive plans to offer the service in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
in partnership with Belgacom
Belgacom
The Belgacom Group is the largest telecommunications company in Belgium, headquartered in Brussels. Belgacom Group is primarily state owned, with the Belgian state holding 53.3% + 1 share...
. Belgacom has the exclusive right to bundle OnLive in Belgium and Luxembourg with their other broadband services, but gamers in these countries also will have the option of ordering directly from OnLive through any Internet service provider and it will be offered in multiple languages there.
OnLive has also been available in Canada since Summer 2010.
Pre-launch
Soon after the company's announcement at GDC 2009Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
, there was skepticism expressed by game journalists, concerned about how the OnLive service might work and what the quality of the service might be both in terms of the hardware required in OnLive server centers to render and compress the video, as well as the impact of commercial Internet broadband connections on its delivery. During GDC 2009
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
, which was held in San Francisco, the OnLive service was 50 miles (80.5 km) from its Santa Clara
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
data center. The closed beta had "hundreds of users on the system". Near E3 in 2009, which is approximately 350 miles (563.3 km) away from their data center, OnLive demonstrated their service performed well with a consumer cable modem and Internet connection.Matt Peckham
Matt Peckham
Matt C. Peckham is an American journalist, critic, and columnist. He currently writes for TIME and edits PC World's official games blog .-Background and education:...
from PC World
PC World (magazine)
PC World is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal-technology products and services...
stated in his blog that it might be technically difficult to transfer the amount of data that a high definition game would require. He stated he believed OnLive customers would need a broadband line with "guaranteed, non-shared, uninterruptible speed", but "broadband isn't there yet, nor are ISPs willing to offer performance guarantees". He also mentioned his concerns that the mod community would be unable create and offer mods since all game data will be stored on the OnLive servers, and that games played on OnLive might not be "owned" by the user, and thus if OnLive were to go under, all the user's games would be inaccessible.
Cevat Yerli, the CEO of Crytek
Crytek
Crytek is a German video game company founded in 1999 by three Turkish brothers: Cevat, Avni and Faruk Yerli. Crytek's main headquarters are in Frankfurt, Germany, with five other studios in Kiev, Budapest, Nottingham, Sofia and Seoul. The company is best known for developing the game Far Cry and...
, had researched a method for streaming games but concluded that Crytek's approach would not be viable until 2013 "at earliest". Yerli made it clear Crytek was not directly involved with the OnLive service, and Yerli had no personal experience using the service. Rather, Electronic Arts, the publisher of Crytek's Crysis Warhead
Crysis Warhead
Crysis Warhead is a science fiction first-person shooter computer game developed by the studio Crytek Budapest, Hungary, and published by Electronic Arts. Crysis Warhead is a stand-alone expansion game and does not require Crysis installed to play...
, had partnered with OnLive and had tested and endorsed the OnLive technology. Yerli stated:
Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
's DigitalFoundry was amongst the most harshly skeptical in an article published upon OnLive's unveiling and public demonstration entitled, "GDC: Why OnLive Can't Possibly Work" by DigitalFoundry's Richard Leadbetter. The article's analysis characterized OnLive as a faked demo that was technically impossible to accomplish over a consumer Internet connection.
Post-launch
After the launch of the service in the United States, favorable reviews by game journalists stated that the service performed well, and they looked forward to the service improving over time. Hiawatha BrayHiawatha Bray
Hiawatha Bray is a technology columnist for The Boston Globe. Born in Chicago, he started as a reporter and managing editor for Computerpeople Weekly....
of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
stated, "It felt exactly as if I had installed the software on my local computer." Chris Holt of Macworld
Macworld
Macworld is a web site and monthly computer magazine dedicated to Apple Macintosh products. It is published by Mac Publishing, which is headquartered in San Francisco, California...
, in his review of Assassin's Creed II on OnLive using his Mac
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
, wrote that he looks forward to future higher resolution improvements that are already promised, he "never encountered any frame rate issues," and "the game is on the whole every bit as immersive, rewarding, and free as the console version." Dan Ackerman
Dan Ackerman
Dan Ackerman is a former radio DJ turned technology and video game journalist. Ackerman resides in New York City and has written about video games and gadgets for publications including SPIN, Blender, WWE Magazine, and The Hollywood Reporter.He is currently a Senior Editor at CNET.com and a...
of CNET
CNET
CNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...
wrote that, "OnLive was an overall very impressive experience, and several minds around the CNET offices were officially blown – a difficult task among this jaded bunch."
In examining latency, Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
's DigitalFoundry initial test found that in some of their test scenarios, users of OnLive could expect 150ms of latency over a consumer Internet connection; however, they also noted inconsistencies, in that some games had higher latency, and that this would also depend on the quality of the customer's internet connection. Furthermore, they also noted that while acceptable, these values ran contrary to figures suggested by OnLive before release of lag "being under 80ms" and "usually... between 35-40ms". In their later full-feature article on OnLive, DigitalFoundry noted that "during intense gameplay, OnLive is hovering right at the boundary of what is acceptable lag and often exceeds it, resulting in a variable, often unsatisfactory experience", but that "the latency level is probably the most pleasant surprise with this system. Let's be clear: it is most definitely not a replacement for the local experience, but if the system can be tightened up and that 150ms becomes the norm, then it's clear there is potential here for the infrastructure to find a home with certain types of game or certain types of player".
In terms of video quality, DigitalFoundry noted that video compression meant image quality also varied depending on the title. Games with a lower number of frame-to-frame differences, or games where such changes were less important, such as Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed II
Assassin's Creed II is a historical third-person action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It is the second video game installment of the Assassin's Creed series, and is a sequel to the 2007 video...
or Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a 2009 action-adventure stealth video game based on DC Comics' Batman developed for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. It was developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment...
fared well, with these games being "strongly suited to video compression" and "cut-scenes in particular can look very good". However, games that had a greater amount of motion or relied on fast reactions, such as Colin McRae: Dirt
Colin McRae: Dirt
Colin McRae: Dirt has received largely positive reviews, IGN UK and U.S. awarding it a 9.0 and a 8.4, respectively. It has also received 9.0 from Official Xbox Magazine, 8.3 from GameSpot for the Xbox 360 and PC versions and 8.5 for the PlayStation 3 version, and 8 from Edge...
or Unreal Tournament 3 fared less well, with questions about the playability of the latter when video compression artifacts were taken into account. DigitalFoundry felt that the quality of rendering was mostly good, with high frame rates, but with less consistency than console counterparts and with screen-tearing in some scenarios.
Overall, DigitalFoundry felt that OnLive offered interesting new features, being impressed with the ability to watch other player's games in the "Arena" function, and the ability to try out full 30-minute demos of games. While acknowledging that the rental aspect was appealing, and acknowleding the "incredible achievement" of coming "within spitting distance of console response times", DigitalFoundry questioned the overall value proposition for the customer. They remarked that "the bottom line is that the gameplay experience is not better than what we already have—by and large it's tangibly worse", and noted that high system requirements for a computer capable of playing the games streamed by OnLive meant that a graphics card upgrade would provide comparable performance. However, they also noted that deals such as those with BT to provide a straight connection to datacenters meant latency could be improved, and that for some consumers, such as those with less technical experience or who did not want to buy a console, OnLive may be more suitable: "there are some games where the system works—by core gamer terms—tolerably. They are clearly playable....Perhaps it is simply the case that OnLive isn't for us committed gamer types. A less discerning type of audience will probably be happy with the whole offering as it stands now"..
Gaming Examiner judged that the graphics were like "playing a PS3 on a 480p standard def TV", that they thought that they experienced much lower FPS than expected, and that the controller was not working reliably.
After the launch in United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Computer and Video Games
Computer and video games
A video game is an electronic game that involves human interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device. The word video in video game traditionally referred to a raster display device, but following popularization of the term "video game", it now implies any type of...
remarked after one month of use of the service was "working", and was adequate for trying a game or renting it, but still not for buying, because of the limitations depending on the internet connection (lags, freezes, smeary visuals, consequences on data usage for people who have a capped connection).