OnLive goes OnBeta, wants you to help by playing games
By Vlad Savov 
posted September 3rd 2009 9:23AM
posted September 3rd 2009 9:23AM
[Via Joystiq]
posted September 3rd 2009 9:23AM
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SWEET!
I don't see this being a major console outside of Hotels and other places that can provide ultra high bandwidth.
On home networks its not going to work very well unless you've got FIOS, and who would really want a system that can't be used if an internet connection for whatever reason isn't available and in high bandwidth?
You can't play anything on it if the internet's not fast enough. You can't even play by yourself.
Hotels provide ultra high bandwidth? Please do share what imaginary hotel chain you use!
If you look at what the OnLive service is promising, you don't need the connection speeds that you're thinking. It should work just fine over most home high-speed internet connections. That's not to say that it's proven to be successful yet (hence the beta) but they have the concept and the right people in place to make it happen.
I get 20mbps using Comcast hsi. That should be more than enough, and I just signed up to be a beta tester. =p
zsyco,
were are you getting this info from? the press release? or are you just making it up as you go along, because I'm fairly certain you haven't tried it yet.
I typically stay in Holiday Inn Executive Club because I get discounts and a great experience.
Each one I've stayed in had either Cable or FIOS with speeds over 30mbps Up/ 30 down.
Last time I was in China I stayed in Holiday Inn Hang Zhou and I was getting 26mbps both ways.
@Quantumphysics-
So what you're saying is that the hotel has Comcast and that every room shares the bandwidth and you can get 30up/30down?
The smell of B.S. is overpowering.
The only way this is happening is if every room is vacant except yours...
I too stay in Holiday Inn's...Executive Club Level rooms are not any faster... they still share the same internet access...
@ Quantumphys-
SD graphics are said to need 1.5 Mbps and HD (720p60) need about 5 Mbps.
Unless you're living in 1999, these speeds shouldn't seem ludicrous to you
The limitations of this system are not bandwidth, they are latency. 1/10 of a second of latency will make games incredibly frustrating to play. That would mean at LEAST 1/10 of a second between the time you push any button and the time the game reacts.
I don't like how people say this will kill all other consoles, it won't. Of course, if the streaming works well, this thing has a future. But with natal coming out, they are going to have some stiff competition against microsoft. But this thing can go very far if they get some kind of movie and show rental/buying service running. It would be even better if they can give you the option to buy hard drive space from them instead of having to get a phyical one for this thing. I like the xbox-like controller they have too. very sexy looking ;).
@Fritz
As long as they can match online console gaming they're fine. Have you EVER played COD? That's pretty easy to match.
In.
Damn! U.S. residents only. Oh well, back to my igloo to watch hockey and drink maple syrup by the glass.
Don't forget boxing with bears.
Being a US resident is awesome. I just moved here for grad school from the land of a thousand winters and the perks of being here is awesome. Dirt cheap booze, Netflix, and now free video games....I gotta find a way to stay forever!
Yeah, another reason to be happy I became a U.S citizen last month and if I miss the Canadian bacon too much, I have my Canadian citizenship to fall back on!
Don't worry... I've sent our best Beavers to.... "negotiate" with them...
You people crack me up.
Thanks for the good times
@Ben where did u move too?
Your canadian internet is too slow anyways, being run by dog sleds and all. Don't expect that email i sent you for a couple weeks, some bad snow storms coming in, because you know, it is even winter there during the summer.
I remember I signed up like the first time we heard about this. I think it was back at CES. they still haven't invited me :( I signed up again though.
"so tell us, why exactly are you still here reading?"
cause i already signed up, if you must know
Yes! Free games!
I signed up k
meh... US only.... :(
I was really looking forward to this. Sadly, I live in the UK.
*cough*freehealthcare*cough*
Does that free healthcare work so well that you can't stop coughing?
*cough*cough*dryheave*
*cough*cough*VAT* "Aw, man!"
Everybody pays somehow.
Jeez dont get them started on that debate.
I heard the extreme views they have on free healthcare on the BBC.
Life in the UK is, quite frankly, shit.
I've compared the UK tax rates to my tax rates. It ain't free, buddy. :-)
Yeah, this is not a debate that I think we want to get into on a tech forum, especially in a thread that's completely unrelated. Granted it's a big issue in the U.S. right now, and a lot of us have very strong views on the issue (myself included), but this really isn't the place.
Relating to the original post, at least we can probably agree that Broadband in the UK is shit.
Stupid 'fair use' download limits (40GB a month is typical) and poor pings (~100ms, or around 6 frames too late on a 60Hz game) make this a distant dream for us. Things have actually gone backwards here. ISP's are slowing people down and cutting people off left right and centre for 'disproportionate usage'. OnLive could be great, but not for us, not for a while.
As for healthcare, well, it's a national institution, innit. Ask 100 people here what they think of it and I reckon 70 will say it's a bit crap. Ask 100 people if they think we should scrap it and 99 will say never. It doesn't work very well and it's costing us a bomb, but it's always there for us, usually when we really need it.
In regards to the cost though, I really don't know where the money's all going in the British NHS. Maybe it's not the best example of National Healthcare. The French seem to do a better job with less staff and less money. So too do a couple of other European nations. Certainly we Brits aren't a terribly efficient bunch. Probably all those managers. Healthcare, banking, and probably telecoms.
UK internet is slowly getting better - On ADSL2+ here, and its a marked improvement over original ADSL. Pinging my rented server gives a pretty decent response
--- 79.99.--.--. ping statistics ---
6 packets transmitted, 6 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 17.953/22.634/28.372/4.024 ms
Elmer... I get 50meg connection here in the UK for £25p/m which does not have a fair use policy to it. I actually get the 50meg as well downloading on average about 5mb/sec and uploading around 1.5mb/sec. Its the shit providers people still pay for that use shitty phone lines to delivery "broardband" that slow everything down. While people still pay for sub par "8mb broadband" but receive 2 at best then the crap services will stay. Get a real broadband provider.
I thought we all decided OnLive was technologically impossible at this time.
No one has the bandwidth for this shit. And no ISP is going to allow that much data transfer.
I still very much doubt that it will work with fast-paced games. Latency will inevitably be too high...
good, cause I hate those fast-paced games.
I'm sure OnLive will stream Bejeweled flawlessly ;-)
What latency ?
A ping to my country's main internet-exchange (I'm about 200 kilometers away) over a standard cable modem:
100 packets transmitted, 100 received, 0% packet loss, time 99009ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 8.159/9.852/13.957/1.246 ms
and that's roundtrip time. Is that even noticeable ?
For real... ISP's are not going to go for people consuming 20mbit constantly during their 15 hour marathons....
signed up. ok now you can close the beta...
with my lousy internet service speed, I dont think they have any chance.
OnLive beta - open to those who live* in a datacenter
*those living in datacenters outside the US need not apply
I'll take one
if only I weren't behind a firewall right now... I hope I can still sign up when I get home!
Signed up then told the flood LOL http://www.bungie.net/forums/topics.aspx?forumID=10
boo US ONLY
Reminds me of the 'Phantom' from about 5 years ago. At least this one actually has a beta...
Signed up back in March.
Haven't seen anything from them. =(