Little video explaining OnLive and my experience with it. VERY fun and a great service. 
 
UPDATED! Full quality OnLive Review in HD! I can't post the video here in 720p as it's too wide, but you can check it out at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3rMx-ee88U
     

I'm surprised to hear all these good things about OnLive.

It really is an impressive service, I was really surprised at how well it runs and how intuitive the presentation is.

I wish I could use it. But I'm in Canada.

That's a bummer...hopefully they'll be setting up some data centers there soon. They've already announced Belgium and the UK, so one can only hope for the rest of North America.

" I'm surprised to hear all these good things about OnLive. "

I find the pricing extremely fair. There's no downloads, no hardware, and no drivers for anything needed. Just a machine that can connect to the internet and display a picture. iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, doesn't matter and it's all been shown on each of those.  Paying $5 for a 3 day rental works for me, so does $8 for a 5 day rental, and paying normal price for the game makes sense, especially since it's bringing gaming to the masses.

Very nice run through!  The ability to watch other people playing is great if you are just too lazy to play anything lol.  If only there was a chat function so that you can talk with everybody else who is watching.

" I find the pricing extremely fair. There's no downloads, no hardware, and no drivers for anything needed. Just a machine that can connect to the internet and display a picture. iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, doesn't matter and it's all been shown on each of those.  Paying $5 for a 3 day rental works for me, so does $8 for a 5 day rental, and paying normal price for the game makes sense, especially since it's bringing gaming to the masses. "

What about the monthly cost of high speed internet? You actually have to have one of those devices and they are all already capable of playing games. If you were to already have a capable PC to play those games on, why not just buy the games like Unreal 3 which is 19.99 on Steam right now instead of 19.99 for onlive for what 3 years? And that is if you keep up your monthly subsciption. You get a free year from ATT but is there even a word on what the monthly fee is? It all starts adding up. You might as well buy a PC capable of playing modern day games (for as little as $500 to start). Then you can buy PC games when they go on sale. Last Christmas I bought GTA IV, Mirrors Edge, Torchlight, Ghost Busters, Stalker etc  for about $4.00 to $20 each.  i'd rather make the initial investment of a gaming console or PC (to which you can use for an infinite number of other activities). "

It does seem cool if you have piles of money, a flawless internet connection and live in the USA (especially if you're close to an OnLive server). But even then, you're at the mercy of OnLive; everything is on their servers and if something happens on their end, then that's it, you can't play. Also, you never truly own any of the games, you're just paying for the rights to play them for a while; they can remove any game on a whim after 3 years.
 
To me it just seems like Ubisoft-style DRM, but with a subscription fee.
 

" @jams said:

What about the monthly cost of high speed internet? You actually have to have one of those devices and they are all already capable of playing games. If you were to already have a capable PC to play those games on, why not just buy the games like Unreal 3 which is 19.99 on Steam right now instead of 19.99 for onlive for what 3 years? And that is if you keep up your monthly subsciption. You get a free year from ATT but is there even a word on what the monthly fee is? It all starts adding up. You might as well buy a PC capable of playing modern day games (for as little as $500 to start). Then you can buy PC games when they go on sale. Last Christmas I bought GTA IV, Mirrors Edge, Torchlight, Ghost Busters, Stalker etc  for about $4.00 to $20 each.  i'd rather make the initial investment of a gaming console or PC (to which you can use for an infinite number of other activities). "

Right now in it's early adoption state, they only have the 720p gaming. Later on they have scaling quality for connections of all types, including cellular networks.  And again, you keep bringing up Steam and assuming people have PCs to play all these games. Many people use Macs, and Steam is available for Macs, but not every Mac can play Steam games. There is still hardware required to play these games effectively. Also, Steam games are not instant play, do not provide live broadcasts, can not be played on all devices.   The length of time Unreal Tournament 3 will stay on the OnLive service is AT LEAST three years, it can be extended depending on who as a subscriber has it etc. You can play as many demos as you want, and it's of the full games so playing Unreal Tournament 3 demo forever is easy and gives me a lot of enjoyment even if it's not my favorite game. You can choose to pay whatever you want, I like that choice. I'm sure OnLive will have sales and everything, they even gave me a free game with a promo code that came with my account.  Plus once the microconsole comes out, and more plans and payment options come out, it'll be more appealing to more people. But again, it just launched, is limited to certain places and connections, and only has a few titles to start. Even in its current state, it's an amazing accomplishment and a fun experience. "

I'll stop arguing about Onlive because frankly it's only my opinion and whether a person like it or not is up to them. I just hope people on the fence make sure they're making the right choice on what option is the best bang for their buck.   Anyways, after watching your review, I have to say I really like the fact you can watch people playing. That's a really cool feature. "

The major problem with OnLive is that you don't own a physical copy of the game. So if the service goes down next year for whatever reason, that is a good amount of money that you lost.
 
As good as this service looks, I'm just not yet convinced. Maybe if they offered some type of "insurance," that would cost, say, $1 a month?

If you have a great ISP, don't worry about not owning your games and losing the ability to play them, and paying yearly fees to play those games even after you've purchased them...  If you don't mind playing games with the worst possible graphics quality and worst possible controls, then maybe OnLive is for you.
 
But seriously, I could see it carving out a very low end gaming niche if they can drop the prices.

I don't know if it's just the video quality, but the games look low quality and ~20-25 fps. Nice review though. I also think Onlive's interface looks rather nice. 

I signed up for the 1 free-year but I have not gotten an email. 
 
=(

" I signed up for the 1 free-year but I have not gotten an email.   =( "

" I don't know if it's just the video quality, but the games look low quality and ~20-25 fps. Nice review though. I also think Onlive's interface looks rather nice.  "

" The major problem with OnLive is that you don't own a physical copy of the game."

Meh more onlive stuff, I would be more Pro Onlive if I didn't feel that they were money grabbing arsewhipes... still some interesting technology, maybe this cloud gaming thing can grow and free cloud servers can be established where we just pay for the games? the current onlive setup, i feel if I sign up I am signing all my consumer rights away through the terms and conditions. 
 
Okay, I can see the reduction in cost for the purchase of consoles, and the fact that xbox charge for their monthy subscription anyway.... but I still smell a rat with onlive and think that in this case that more competition isn't always the best thing for the market.
 
The video looks to me like it was created by onlive, for onlive! Saieno seems to be quite defensive about the whole Onlive situation also.... I can hardly believe that the only negative comment the guy in the video made was about his friend who can only play from work....

" @damnboyadvance said:

" The major problem with OnLive is that you don't own a physical copy of the game."

I hear people say this a lot. But then I hear the same people praise steam. "

I want Videogames on Demand sooo badly. Will take awhile 'til somebody picks this kinda thing up around my parts though.

OnLive must be the coolest thing ever. 
 
 
Btw. those who say, they like to own physical copies of their games, I say this... one day you'll realize that games are meant to be consumed. Just as you will realize that your life will one day be fully consumed and you will die. Just like everybody else. You can't take anything with you when you die.  
 
Possession is where it's at. Ownership is a broken and faulty concept. OnLive gives me exactly what I want. Possession of what I want, when I want it - no hazzle. Just like a good whore. Devoted to serve my pleasure on demand.

Alright here's the HD version of the video! Full 720p! (hope it fits here) if not you can view it at the YouTube page  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3rMx-ee88U 
 
  

You might have just sold me on this thing... 
 
I remember them talking big on recording video with commentary, does that come through?

That was amazing. I thought it wouldn't work and would lag but it seems to run very well. It will be interesting to see what happens if this product goes international when trying to play people across the globe.
However the price still bugs me. A monthly fee to own your games seems unfair. You also need a very fast internet connection.

Damn still waiting for the confirmation email. I wanna try out some of these games. I don't seem to understand parts of the rental argument. Maybe you don't "own" the game, but if it was a retail game situation, would you still be playing it three years from now? Hell you might just sell it by then for a couple of bucks. That length is perfectly fine when I think of it.

" Damn still waiting for the confirmation email. I wanna try out some of these games. I don't seem to understand parts of the rental argument. Maybe you don't "own" the game, but if it was a retail game situation, would you still be playing it three years from now? Hell you might just sell it by then for a couple of bucks. That length is perfectly fine when I think of it. "

" It does seem cool if you have piles of money, a flawless internet connection and live in the USA (especially if you're close to an OnLive server). But even then, you're at the mercy of OnLive; everything is on their servers and if something happens on their end, then that's it, you can't play. Also, you never truly own any of the games, you're just paying for the rights to play them for a while; they can remove any game on a whim after 3 years.
 
To me it just seems like Ubisoft-style DRM, but with a subscription fee.
 

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

Literally blown away :P 

"

Impressive stuff but I doubt my dodgy BT lines are good enough for this :(

The video looks to me like it was created by onlive, for onlive! Saieno seems to be quite defensive about the whole Onlive situation also.... I can hardly believe that the only negative comment the guy in the video made was about his friend who can only play from work....

the service looks seamless.

Is there anyway I can just pay for a month and try this thing? Or do I have to wait to see if I get into that first year free promo?

" @LtColJaxson said:

the service looks seamless.

It's not. "

They should make the games cheaper to rent imo, anyway i dont live in the US so I can't use it and I don't think it's gonna come to romania (we still don't have XBL or PSN) so meh i guess I need to buy a new computer.

" @Astras said:

The video looks to me like it was created by onlive, for onlive! Saieno seems to be quite defensive about the whole Onlive situation also.... I can hardly believe that the only negative comment the guy in the video made was about his friend who can only play from work....

He's been going around on a lot of forums and places spreading this video, so yea I'm thinking viral marketer.  The claims he's been making are lots of bullshit in general, too. "

" @Diamond said:

" @Astras said:

The video looks to me like it was created by onlive, for onlive! Saieno seems to be quite defensive about the whole Onlive situation also.... I can hardly believe that the only negative comment the guy in the video made was about his friend who can only play from work....

He's been going around on a lot of forums and places spreading this video, so yea I'm thinking viral marketer.  The claims he's been making are lots of bullshit in general, too. "

Nah, more than likely he's just proud of the work he did on his video review and wants it to get exposure in as many venues as possible, which is perfectly sensible to me. It's not like this is his only post (not even his first video review) nor was this account created recently.
 

" @Geno said:

" I don't know if it's just the video quality, but the games look low quality and ~20-25 fps. Nice review though. I also think Onlive's interface looks rather nice.  "

Its the video. I didn't install any drivers or software or anything, just OnLive and edited the video in Windows Movie Maker. Going to re-edit the video with the full resolution so everyone can see how it really looks. "

Are you guys serious? He likes it and spreads his review around and you call him an employee of OnLive trying to sell the product...really? Ugh..

I got my invitation today, and i gotta say.  It's impressive technology, but i do see alot of compression,  that wouldn't be so bad on a big screen TV but on a PC it is noticeable.    This is definately a solution for people without a console type system but do have an HD tv.    When the HD console tv device is available i believe it will get better feedback because it's definitely not designed for people to be sitting at their PC staring at the screen less than 5 feet away.
 
response time on controls is not laggy at all, that's what I'm most impressed about that I had worries about.   I haven't bought a game yet because I'm still waiting to see if they change the limited time that you have to play games you purchase.   It's a pricing scheme I'm not too fond of right now.

" I got my invitation today, and i gotta say.  It's impressive technology, but i do see alot of compression,  that wouldn't be so bad on a big screen TV but on a PC it is noticeable.    This is definately a solution for people without a console type system but do have an HD tv.    When the HD console tv device is available i believe it will get better feedback because it's definitely not designed for people to be sitting at their PC staring at the screen less than 5 feet away.  response time on controls is not laggy at all, that's what I'm most impressed about that I had worries about. "

" @Marz said:

" I got my invitation today, and i gotta say.  It's impressive technology, but i do see alot of compression,  that wouldn't be so bad on a big screen TV but on a PC it is noticeable.    This is definately a solution for people without a console type system but do have an HD tv.    When the HD console tv device is available i believe it will get better feedback because it's definitely not designed for people to be sitting at their PC staring at the screen less than 5 feet away.  response time on controls is not laggy at all, that's what I'm most impressed about that I had worries about. "

A positive opinion of OnLive? OMG You must work for them!  On a more serious note, I think we'll be seeing more games on the service soon. They had put MLB and NBA on it earlier today but took them down, so hopefully we'll see more added today but permanent. "

If anyone is interested in a second opinion on OnLive, I've got a video up as well:
 
http://www.giantbomb.com/onlive/92-2914/my-onlive-account-is-active-so-i-recorded-stuff/35-425814/ 
 
Ultimately, the service is impressive for what it does, but it has a lot of issues in terms of quality and control. The graphics are not max settings. There is noticeable compression and fuzziness and the frame rate dips occasionally. There is a noticeable input lag and the mouse movement looks and feels choppy too.
 
It's cool and I'm pretty sure there's a market for it, but it's certainly not me. I'd rather pay for better hardware and enjoy the games at their best. :)

That was a really awesome video Hamst3r! Nice setup you have there too. I don't think it's for PC Gamers, that's for sure, though lots of Mac and notebook users have been enjoying it a lot. If you have played the PC version of a game that's on OnLive, you'll be really disappointed. If you have played on a console, you'll probably be more at ease. 
 
@FirePrince said: 

" A few questions: 1.I live in europe.Can I download the OnLive beta and test it out,just as you did? 2.Do you need a superfast connection to play?I'd say my download is about 660kB/s.Would that be enough? "