OnLive's MicroConsole coming by end of 2010
By Ross Miller 
posted June 18th 2010 11:00PM
posted June 18th 2010 11:00PM
posted June 18th 2010 11:00PM
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i guess ill have 2 play on my new xbox till then
@GettoLoser
I'll play on my Xbox after then too.
@GettoLoser
Looks like im gonna have to play on my iPhone 4 until then
@uckApple Xbox sucks in a market where everyone wants doodlejump
and dota
@markolic
[sarcasm mode ON]
yes, give me doodlejump over MW2 any day of the week
this will def not support mods i take it. i predict will be out of business within year. without support from sony, microsoft, nintendo cant succeed. consoles are cheaper than ever i dont see whats the point. on pc there is not enough high end games. im not paying a fee to run a game that a integrated ghraphics could handle.
@Meekermoloko
After playing the beta, I will not play my 360 after then. Have you even played it yet?
@GettoLoser
For me, the thing with OnLive has always been bandwidth. In Canada, not many ISPs provide unlimited bandwidth and if I were to move my gaming hours to a product like this, my bandwidth would be spent before the month is over.
@taubs
There are not enough high end games on PC????
Except for some exclusives, any big game on a console is on a PC. We've had multiplayer games supporting 64 playes for YEARS (example: Battlefield 2142), and EA just announced support for 24 on Medal of Honor... yeah, I about creamed my pants with that one /sarc.
Internet play has always been free... Better graphics... getting a good computer might be more expensive, but games are cheaper...
I have all the consoles, and a PC, and I admit playing on the couch is preferable for some games, but don't spread lame lies
@taubs
See: Crysis.
See: Shattered Horizon.
See: A shitload of PC exclusives.
@taubs
uhhh Starcraft 2 anyone???
@tikigawd Totally agree with you. I played PC before consoles, so when I first used a controller it never felt as good as mouse and keyboard. I now own a PS3, 360, and Wii, and have to say that I still use my M11x more than all of them. Even though my M11x was 4 times more expensive than consoles, games are cheaper (+ consoles don't have Steam weekly game deals) if not "free," and graphics, RAM, or the whole system can all be upgraded. Oh, and PC's have had 3D and headtracking motion controlling and all that good stuff for years (though I've never used any of it).
@GettoLoser
Who gives a damn?
Is this a Microsoft product?
No.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onlive
ghey
@El Jefe
Yeah cause misspelling the word gay with an extra letter is totally not gay itself
@El Jefe
why don't you just spell it correctly? don't come with that weaksauce man smh lol. also its not nice to use search a term.
@El Jefe
El Jefe, el término que busca es gay o maricón mi hermano mexicano.
@seanGadget lol we have mexican readers.
On the subject of spelling, their controller buttons spell 'evil' and 'vile'. Those are the words frustrated gamers will see when the game pauses or breaks up right at a cool bit.
I like the concept of OnLive and removing the console expense but y'know, I can get a used one fairly cheap. The cost of the games is the real problem and this service removes the option for used games.
The rental model will work well but when I saw the $50 price tag in the OnLive demo for a play pass, that just blew the whole thing. If I can pick up 10 used games at $25 vs $50 in OnLive, that's the console cost covered. beyond that point, the used games model saves me $25 for every game. Not only that, I can sell those used games again for $10-15 as well as the console itself.
Even in the first year, the cost of ownership for OnLive with one game per month becomes $600.
Being lenient to OnLive using $35 for a pre-owned game and the most expensive console, in the first year of owning an XBox 360, it's $299 + 10 x $35 - 10 x $10 (selling old games) - $150 (old console after 1 year) = $400.
I still save AT LEAST $200 with an XBox, it's likely to be much more. And I get a bigger selection, better exclusives, a media center, no lag, no bandwidth costs, higher quality.
Even with all that working against it, I'm behind OnLive because it let's me play on any device by opening a browser tab but they are going to have to come up with a more compelling pricing model. If I can rent playing hours at a cheap rate then I'm good to go. Video rental shops already let you rent discs for $15 a month or something for 2 games.
@DefPoet
Yeah go ban nigga while you're at it.
@TinWard Have you even played onlive yet? Your info on pricing is completely wrong. The only game that is full retail price is Splinter Cell, and I'll bet that was ubisoft's choice, not onlive's. As for their rental service, it's amazing. $4 for a 3 day rental and $7 for 5 day rental with no downloads or installations. I don't know about you, but after 5 days with a game, it's usually completely beaten, never to be played again. If you really want to play it again a year later, you can rent it again and still save a ton of money. It's more economical than even buying games and selling them back used--not to mention, used games are bad for the industry because devs deserve the compensation. This is all not counting the fact that the hardware on consoles is static and the hardware on pc is expensive. I think I'm going to play more games, spend less money, and have a higher quality experience. After playing onlive, the only thing I'm concerned about is image quality, which will only get better as we develop next-gen Internet infrastructure.
I'd rather just not use your product MicroConsole.
@ComeShot
If they could build a decent online community and a decent or tolerable online multiplayer experience, I would definitely check this out.
@ComeShot they should launch it in korea or japan where they have 30mb connections on average.
@ComeShot Did you just completely contradict yourself? lol
I find their ideas quite fascinating.
It's the execution that might leave a lot to be desired.. but that has yet to be determined.
I still fully believe that this company is prime to get bought-out by one of the big boys if it gains any traction. I could definitely see the next-gen XBox or PS incorporating this technology.
@Hazdaz
Yep nothing to see here, just a company with marginally good ideas that WILL be bought by a big game player in the next 6 months and then put to use after they scrap half the BS from it.
@Hazdaz
yea me too...no need to upgrade anything on your hardware expect maybe your router or w/e.
Cheap way to play PC games..
So is this gunna be like the video games in cheap motel rooms?
Engadget just ask mommy AOL to pay for beta access. Simple as that
As a member of OnLive, all I can say is hoooooooooooolycrapthisisawesome.
I got in and I've spent the last four hours playing Red Faction... on a $300 crapbox Compaq laptop.
I really think OnLive's going to be taking off in the future.
@dragonfli
Agreed!
Also as a part of it, I have to say, it actually...works.
It's really sweet.
@dragonfli
I'm impressed by how little input lag there is (first-person shooters are actually playable with keyboard and mouse) but I'm a bit underwhelmed by the image quality. It's not bad, but does get pretty compressed at times. It's sort of like playing an HD video.
@dragonfli
will this come to europe anytime soon?
gamepad design = fail!
@dragonfli As a member of onlive, I can say that input lag makes Unreal Tournament 3 impossible to play.
So where is the review of anyone who used this service? I keep hearing about Onlive but have not seen or heard a review of someone using it in the real world.
@Vellie, it's freaking awesome. Joystiq will probably have one up shortly if they do not already. I heard from someone online that it is very playable over a tethered 4G connection.
@Vellie
Ive used it, was part of the beta, its REALLY good and does exactly what they claim. Only reason I didnt stay on board is that I prefer to play on the xbox and buy a game instead of "long term rent it" as I see this. And it sucks that when your done with a game you cant for example lend it to a friend like I usually do.
@Templarian
Thanks Fellas for the response. I seen it working on the ipad and I was thinking it looked good for the ipad. The one thing I think would make this thing a super hit is if they made it so that you could play it on the ipad and use the iphone as a controller or bluetooth or connect an existing console controller in. I seen a company use the iphone as a controller for a flight sim game with the ipad already. That would be kinda hot
@Vellie
I just checked their site and he demoed this service running on an iPhone. I just signed up for the beta to get one year free. I even read that people are using 360 controllers. Im in there like swimwear. I would assume that the game latency issues would be like any other internet gaming. ie PSN or XB Live.
@Vellie
As cool as that might be, it kinda negates the whole purpose of the service, which is that games can be played on cheap hardware. It's really meant for lower-end Dells than $1000+ of Apple products.
@Zorque I would have to disagree with you there. Apple products have a hard time playing games as it is. I dont think it has anything to do with how much you pay for a system but the ease and accessibility of being able to play games on multiple devices. Whether it be a $400 dell or a $200 iphone or a $600 ipad or an $1100 iMac, it doesnt really matter.
The point I like is that you can do it if you want to and there are no restrictions. Many people say that you dont own the game but for me that is something that I will be able to figure out during my year FREE trial. I can figure out if playing games on all my devices is something that I will want or not.
I LIKE HAVING CHOICES
I just got my account activated as well. One day later than promised.
Just got done playing Dirt 2 ...
I don't really see anything different than the beta program however selection of games has improved. Right now they have 19 titles available so far.
Game experience is ... just same as console experience. Graphic quality is a bit faded out something like youtubeHD ...
@enaybee I did they early signup thing a couple of weeks ago and seperately yesterday, but my account is still innactive. I really want to try it of just to be able to play Assassin's Creed as my free game.
@BLEH is my middle name
i guess they are not activating all accounts at the same time but they will.
I was in the earlier closed and later on general beta so i had the opportunity to register among the earlier invitees.
Good luck.
@BLEH is my middle name
I wanted the exact same thing...they activated my account yesterday around 3pm. Played Assassin's for about 3 hours last night and it was everything they promised. iMac on FIOS.
This is the best idea ever. Too bad I'm losing interest in videogames.
sadly, this smacks of the Phantom console that was supposed to come out