What If Your Game Console Was Just A Video Stream?

http://g4tv.com/xplay/previews/37359/GDC-09-OnLive-Video-Game-Service.html

I think it is a great idea for single player games, but I am still unaware how, or even if, this is going to run multi-player games. It would be interesting if this ran games like WoW or even the upcoming MMO's like Star Wars: The Old Republic where you can pretty much pocket your computer and play anywhere at full res/FPS where there is internet connection and a basic computer. This may even revive the mouse and keyboard First Person Shooter... but we can only hope :-(

Call me old school, but I'll take my hard copy any day. I don't like this idea. I have always loved release dates for systems and hardware. There is nothing more satisfying than going to your favorite store and picking up a physical copy.

This seems like a brilliant idea in theory, but whether I'll use it depends on the pricing, the performance (as latency could be a possible big issue) and the games library.

i have a question, but im not sure if anyone has brought this up already. 

Glad that there is Mac support

QUICK! Someone make a gif of this video between 52:08 and 52:30 (giant cock stroking FTW!)

edit: 

I wouldn't count out Apple looking into getting on this.

Wow, lag on a singleplayer game! The future is now! 8D

Man, what a silly concept.

80ms is probably fine. I suspect OnLive will have two problems. (1) the display is 80% of the cost of an 'average' gaming rig. An xbox360 is only $300. It's hard to believe they will ship a hardware device at a low enough price to actually change the cost of gaming. (2) Their system will dramatically increase the cost-per-minute of play, because they must pay for the video stream for the entire time a user is playing. The Akamai-like end-point caching systems used for pre-recorded video streaming don't help here, because the streams are each unique. I wish them luck making these finances work out.

I realy dont think this will take off in this generation, if this was in a few years and a possible branded ps4 or a xbox720 mabey i would be able to put more faith in the concept but since it just came out of the blue like this.. i quess, just like the whole 2x ps3 + Realy good Tv = Next Gen 3D thing, its cool to see its possible or that they are considering this sort of stuff but its only lookin to become useful in the future.

"I like the concept of it but dude what if the internet is down? I would personally rather just have a huge hard drive and download games than have to constantly stream them from the "cloud"."

I wonder if this will have a huge carbon footprint. All those massively powerfull machines chugging away at once...

I knew that one day it was going to come down to a generation where there would only be one device that plays games. I don't believe that it will kill console gaming unless Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo put their games on the service if console sales completely stop because of this service. I think this will be fantastic for people with old PC's that like to play computer games, but I just don't see it killing console gaming.

"I knew that one day it was going to come down to a generation where there would only be one device that plays games. I don't believe that it will kill console gaming unless Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo put their games on the service if console sales completely stop because of this service. I think this will be fantastic for people with old PC's that like to play computer games, but I just don't see it killing console gaming."

"HairyMike87 said:

"I knew that one day it was going to come down to a generation where there would only be one device that plays games. I don't believe that it will kill console gaming unless Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo put their games on the service if console sales completely stop because of this service. I think this will be fantastic for people with old PC's that like to play computer games, but I just don't see it killing console gaming."

I don't think it's up to MS or Sony whether or not those games can be played through OnLive.  Why would game companies develop games for the 360 and PS3, and not take advantage of OnLive.  I think if it's successful, in the future, game companies will start developing exclusively for OnLive."

No way!

This would be killer.....

But with the U.S. government not showing interest in improving our infrastructure by giving incentive for DSL and Cable companies to aggressively roll out fiber optics our aging and unreliable infrastructure will not make this a good option for most people.

In other words I am sure that they had a great time undergoing successful tests in the lab, but it won't be the same ball game out in the wild.

I also want this thing to be true, but from a technical point o view I simply cant believe it. Its not just about the latency problem of a common internet connection, but also the other amazing things that would have to be true in order for this to work. They'll have to have an incredible server farm with a pc/ps3/whatever for each player connected. They would also need a real time (intant reaction is required for games) video compression for HD content. Not only on the server but also on the client side. I haven't heard of anything like that before. And they'll need an insanly huge bandwith at their server farms to deliver the real time hd videos to all users connected at the same time and at no delay (buffering at client side wont work for obvious reasons). All in all I can't see how this thing could ever possibly work with the technology avaliable right now. But please prove me wrong ;)

"Millions of people today were left aghast after the international multi-million dollar OnLive gaming service suddenly ceased streaming to its online customers.

The cause of the incident is still under investigation, but local police are attributing it to a MASSIVE EXPLOSION INSIDE THE INTERNET.

More to follow."

Yeah, well, either way, this doesn't sound like it could take off yet... like Khann said, give it a few years and it might sound more appealing.

Great idea, really is.  Too much room for errors though.  

As stated before, I think it's too early for something like this though.  I also dislike the controller... Copied the 360, and seems very bulky.

It seems like a step in the right direction,but I think technology will need to develop more before this becomes a wildfire at the retail.

its seem impossible to pull off but if it works....WOW!!!
Man, the future of gaming

if this works it will be amazing. i can't afford to keep up with all the pc hardware so i can play the nice new games

I can't wait to see how this works out. And if it works, it'll probably gonna take until mid 2010 until it's introduced to Europe.

What about Linux?

"What about Linux?"

WHAT IF THE ENTIRE THING RED RINGS!?!?!?!?!? =O

i don't like this plan, im not excited to be a part of it.

I don't think that the days of physical media is over. From a purely technical standpoint it might be. You can download full games from PSN (Burnout, Siren etc.) but from a practical standpoint I don't think the days of physical media is over, and i don't think it will end in the next couple of years either. The thing is that a hard copy of a game feels much more safe than some abstract content on a server somewhere. I personally like having the real copy on a shelf at home, knowing that it is up to me whether or not I will play a game. The fact that i need to rely on a server is a scary thought.

The next problem with Onlive right off the bat is the subscription fee. It is just ridiculous, this also releates to the physical vs downloadable games. Would you agree to pay a fee to have your games on your shelves? I think not.

This concept can go to ways. Very well or really bad. If it goes well then good for them, if not then many people will have lost a lot of money. Lets hope it goes really well.

not bought on it  ,seems like a scam to me rolf