OnLive Makes Crysis on a Netbook Possible
Could this be the start of the “one console future”? It could be, and it’s one that will let you run Crysis on your $200 netbook.
Instead of having to run your own word processor, email and appointment manager on your computer why not make a server do all the work for you--like AMD's Fusion Cloud--to access from any net-connected computer. That’s the idea behind cloud computing, and it will soon be coming to gaming -- not just casual gaming -- hardcore gaming.
That’s the idea being OnLive, a California-based company who has been working behind closed doors for the past seven years. Specifically, OnLive’s technology will allow for Crysis to be rendered and played remotely, then encoded into a streaming video to be sent to the player via a broadband connection.
"What OnLive does is seamless and completely transparent, and it does not have any requirements for the local system," said OnLive CEO Steve Perlman in a Gamasutra story.
As long as the player has a decent broadband connection a computer that’s fast enough to decode the video (most modern machines should qualify), then even the most demanding games should be possible.
The OnLive client will run on a PC running Windows XP or Vista or a Mac with OS X through a 1 MB browser plug-in. Those who wish to play from the couch can purchase a small MicroConsole (for less than the price a Wii), which has audio and video outputs as well as USB ports and Bluetooth for voice chat. OnLive has yet to reveal pricing of its subscription model.
OnLive says that a 1.5 Mbps broadband connection would yield “Wii level” resolution. We’re assuming that means 480p in resolution, but not overall visual effects. After all, Crysis at 640 x 480 is very different from a Crysis running under Wii hardware. A 4 to 5 Mbps broadband connection is needed for HDTV resolutions, which we assume to be 720p.
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Of course, any game played over the internet is susceptible to lag and action games require near-instant input and feedback. OnLive said that it has fixed one part of the equation.
"Not only have we solved the problem of compressing the video games, we've solved the latency problem," Perlman said to Gamasutra. "We knew, in order to make this thing work, we'd have to figure out a way to get video to run compressed over consumer connections with effectively no latency. Our video compression technology has one millisecond in latency -- basically no latency at all. All the latency is just for the transport, and we've also addressed that."
So, it takes only one millisecond to encode the rendered output into video, so now the latency obstacle is the “ping.” And unlike today’s games’ client-side tricks, which can hide lag, reducing between input and response via an encoded video from OnLive becomes of the utmost importance.
We hear about pipe dream technologies all the time, but OnLive’s is apparently granted credibility with its already impressive industry support of Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, THQ, Epic Games, Eidos, Atari Interactive and Codemasters.
OnLive is showing 16 titles at the Games Developer Conference this week, including Crysis War, Burnout Paradise, FEAR 2, Mirror’s Edge, Unreal Tournament III and Company of Heroes; and if all goes as planned, this technology could soon wipe out the need to perform yearly, costly CPU and GPU upgrades just to play the latest games.
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Claimintru Horrible idea. What are you going to do, pay them to render your own games in low resolution for you? What if a new game comes out and 15 Million people are requesting renders of it simultaneously? I would love to see a server farm/internet backbone to handle all that traffic.Reply -
hellwig The only problem with OnLive is 480P and 720P are NOT good resolutions for playing on your average computer monitor. Sure, if you have a 480P or 720P Television, those resolutions are fine, and OnLive might offer a nice alternative to the XBox and PS3, but OnLive here is missing out on two key factors:Reply
One, Wii users obviously aren't about the graphics, they're about the playability. Unless OnLive can license the Wii's game library (and controllers), its not going to be a big competitor there.
Two, lots of PC gamers like getting the latest and greatest hardware to play the best looking games on their PC. As stated before, 720P will NOT satisfy those customers. Sure, enthusiast PC gamers aren't the majority, but they seem to be enough to drive whole markets with enthusiast PCs, GPUs, CPUs, etc... -
curnel_D With america's broadband netowrk in the state that it's in, I dont see this working out for alot of people. For instance in my area, 1 meg download is the highest I can get, and I pay 70 a month for it. And another friend who pays for a 10meg cable connection cant game when he gets home, because the connection tanks when people hit the torrents and web surfing in his area.Reply -
Grims Well, look at QuakeLive, it is very playable and looks very good. I would think it would use similar technology.Reply -
SneakySnake its got potential but I'd rather my game be based off of my hardware rather then Ineternet service provider. You can't overclock your internet speedReply -
Zenthar Even if they are able to pull it, I would prefer a "private cloud" where we own the hardware and software so when you buy something, you actually own it and nobody can pull the plug on you (*cough* DRM *cough*). If a bunch of people decide to make a "cloud community", good for them, but it shouldn't be mandatory.Reply -
Dreasconse Problem is resolution, or if your 'net goes down.Reply
I refuse to run any game in a rez lower than 1600 by 1200, and that only for games that don't support widescreen. (unless it's a really old game, like the original fallout)