Welcome to OnLive. Image by Zebulon rogers.
JUNE 23rd, 2010 - I woke up two days ago with the e-mail I had been waiting for. OnLive, the first ever video-streaming game service, has finally fired its engines and left orbit after an eight-year development period. Opening its doors on June 17th, the much-anticipated and often debated service rolled out account activations over the last several days which gave pre-registered customers both a free top-tier game and a free year of service. I recently got the opportunity to test the service proper, and with my free game coupon and service ready to go, it was time to take a ride on what could very well be the next paradigm shift in gaming. The results were rather surprising.
First off, it works. It really works. I was surprised to be able to play a graphics-intensive game purely over the internet with HD video and quality audio, and to have it set up so quick and easy. To give you an idea of how efficient it is, it is important to keep in mind that OnLive requires a minimum 5mbps wired connection to play without interruption, as is indicated in the Getting Started section on the site. Yet I managed to play over an extremely unreliable wireless 7mbps DSL connection and, aside from a little choppiness and video scaling, it worked even over my jittery router signal. Startup is quick, about the same time it would take to fire up a game on the hard drive, and the video streaming does not need to buffer.
Still nice and vivid in Panau. Image by Zebulon Rogers.
I used my free game coupon code to purchase none other than Just Cause 2, which is probably the most physics and graphics intensive game underneath Assassin’s Creed 2 (if you must know, I still haven’t finished the first one). What would a test be without pushing the subject’s limitations? As stated above, the game itself ran flawlessly. Though I disconnected once and experienced a hang-up due to client-side internet issues, everything after that point went off without a hitch. I maneuvered Rico Rodriquez over the island of Panau as smooth as a pacific breeze. Grappled up the sides of buildings, blew up distance radar stations with a flak cannon, and hung from the hull of a helicopter all without so much as a screen freeze. The graphics are lowered to be more bandwidth friendly, and options for increasing the quality have been disable as a result, but it could be worse. The video resolution will scale down according to your signal strength, which is nice when things get hairy and the router needs a little breather without having to cut you off completely. With a wired connection, this wouldn’t be as much of a problem. It’s wonderful to know that you can have a high latency and still climb into a chopper for some death from above.
Welcome to the YouTube of OnLive. Image by Zebulon Rogers.
One of the best features of OnLive is the opportunity to spectate other people’s games. This can be a valuable tool for players to gain some insight into how the game works and different strategies to employ. It gives you a little peek into what they might employ against others should you end up in a multiplayer battle with them. The Spectate menu is laid out like a video wall and streams in-progress games in real-time. Each is tagged with its respective player, providing a good way to gain some notoriety in the gaming community, or just see how things work in a game before you play.
OnLive Marketplace. Image by Zebulon Rogers.
Navigation through OnLive's various sections is easy and quick. The menu's aren't cluttered, and there is no hunting for anything. It's all right there in front of you, an example that Steam and Direct2Drive could afford to follow. On the other hand, the interface could use a little reworking in terms of efficiency. While it is nice to have the games streamed onto your computer, it just doesn’t share those same benefits with the UI at all. It isn’t a crippling experience by any means, but it moves at a rather chunky rate when you are scrolling through available titles in the Marketplace. This will likely be streamlined in due time as they optimize for more users. A rather minor gripe, but worth noting.
The list of launch titles is doubly impressive. Heavy hitters like Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and Splinter Cell: Conviction share rack space alongside smaller indie games such as Trine, Puzzle Chronicles, World of Goo, and AAAaaaAAAaaa: A Reckless Disregard for Gravity. OnLive offers something for everyone, and allows you to try before you buy. Each game you wish to purchase comes with different levels of access: a 3-Day PlayPass usually goes for $3.99, a 5-Day PlayPass for $5.99, and a Full Access Pass which grants unlimited play and costs the same as retail. The prices for the limited PlayPasses are slightly different for each game, and are set by the publisher. After the purchase of a Full Access PlayPass, a dialogue box lets you know that the game will be available for the length of your subscription, and a receipt is sent to your inbox.
Profiles allow you to connect with other players on the service, and a giant library of video avatars are provided to spice up your page. It lists games played, owned, friends you’ve made, and your player rating and gaming level. You can also message other players via in-service e-mail. A cool feature built into the service is the ability to take a video of your craziest gaming moments, called Brag Clips. These are shared publicly with anyone wanting to view them, and its a chance for players to show off their mad skillz.
OnLive currently offers a Founding Members program that allows customers access for $4.95 a month after the first initial free year. That’s two years of gaming at a fraction of the cost of an MMO subscription. What more could anyone ask?
Image by Zebulon Rogers.
All things considered, it’s amazing to finally see some of the things we wished for in the early days of the world wide web coming true. How many of us can say we didn’t want a way to play awesome games over the internet via video streaming? I know I did. Whether OnLive becomes the true future of gaming is yet to be determined, it is certainly a new and effective way of gaming. If they can manage to negotiate lower the prices of the full games, since you don’t actually own them, then perhaps their future is secure and it will attract a whole scad of gamers from all levels. But for the time being, we have a great selection of games, a new way to play them, at a price we can't resist. What could be better? Now if you’ll excuse me, the island of Panau needs its dictator overthrown.
CORRECTION: The regular price for the service, previously quoted above as $14.95 a month, has yet to be determined and is currently available for a free year and $4.95 a month for an optional second year. Apologies to OnLive for any inconvenience this has caused.
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