OnLive coming 'built in' to new VIZIO TVs, Blu-ray players
A month after beginning shipments of its Microconsole hardware, cloud gaming service OnLive is announcing a partnership with VIZIO, whereby the electronics company will offer televisions, Blu-ray players, tablet computers and mobile phones that can connect to OnLive right out of the box. According to the announcement made at CES 2011 today, OnLive will be featured as an application on VIZIO's new VIA Plus line of products, which includes the VIA Tablet and VIA Smart Phone, alongside other preinstalled "VIZIO Internet Apps."
OnLive founder and CEO, Steve Perlman calls the partnership "a major milestone," while VIZIO's chief technology officer, Matthew McRae, says the inclusion of the OnLive client on its VIA Plus devices will give users "the freedom to switch games much like you change the channel," and is as integral to these products as software for streaming movies and music.
VIZIO wil be demoing its VIA Plus products during CES and we'll have a first look at them soon.
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OnLive Cloud Gaming to be Integrated into VIZIO HDTVs, Tablets, Smart Phones and Blu-ray Players in the VIA Plus™ Ecosystem
Top-Tier Games Available Instantly on TV with No Console or Downloads
Palo Alto, CA, Irvine, CA & Las Vegas, NV (CES), January 4, 2011- At the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, OnLive, Inc., the pioneer of on-demand, instant-play video games, and VIZIO, America's #1 LCD HDTV Company, announced a partnership to integrate the OnLive® Game Service directly into VIZIO HDTVs, the new VIA Tablet and VIA Phone and Blu-ray players in the VIA Plus ecosystem. The partnership will incorporate the OnLive cloud gaming experience across the next generation of VIZIO Internet Apps™ consumer electronics devices that share a unified, sophisticated and intuitive user interface for seamless access to high-end, interactive content.
Unprecedented Game Performance, Convenience and Flexibility
New-release premier core and casual games will be available for instant play with the flick of a remote-as fast as changing a channel-with no console, discs or downloads required. Games will be available at up to full 1080p HDTV in 3D with 5.1 surround sound, providing a rich, immersive gaming experience on the TV; OnLive game compatibility will also be extended to the VIZIO VIA Tablet and VIA Smart Phone, complementing current OnLive availability on PC, Mac® and iPad®. Since OnLive games run in constantly-upgraded data centers rather than in local devices, game performance steadily improves over time as the device ages, a key benefit for long life-cycle devices, such as TVs.
"Today's OnLive/VIZIO announcement marks a major milestone: for the first time in the history of video games, consumers will be able to enjoy premium video games directly on a TV, no console or computer needed," said Steve Perlman, Founder and CEO of OnLive. "VIZIO's innovative and cutting-edge technologies are ideally aligned to complement OnLive's vision for the future of entertainment and together we look forward to providing a wealth of rich-media, interactive content to consumers this year."
With the integration of OnLive across the VIA Plus ecosystem of compatible VIZIO devices, consumers can access the OnLive cloud gaming service directly through any VIA Plus HDTV, Tablet, Smart Phone or Blu-ray Player for instant gaming on any VIA Plus device-even seamlessly continuing gameplay from one device to the next-without the need for a game console.
Early demonstrations of the OnLive cloud game service on VIA HDTVs are running at the VIZIO showroom and in OnLive's suite at the Wynn hotel this week. OnLive-enabled VIZIO TVs and other devices will be available to consumers later this year.
"Consumer adoption and feedback on VIA has been phenomenal, and we're excited to work with OnLive to bring instant gaming direct to our products," said Matthew McRae, Chief Technology Officer at VIZIO. "Besides having on demand access to top movies, TV shows, and music, VIA Plus users will also be able to enjoy the unparalleled convenience of playing the latest hit gaming titles with the freedom to switch games much like you change the channel."
OnLive launched its innovative, award-winning cloud gaming service in June 2010, enabling the instant delivery of rich gaming experiences to HDTVs via the pocket-sized OnLive Game System's MicroConsole™ TV adapter, and to PCs and Macs via a small browser plug-in. The OnLive Viewer app is available for iPad and is in Beta for Android™ tablets. OnLive's unique social features include friending, chat, massive spectating of live games in play, and Brag Clip™ videos, enabling users to record and share their greatest or funniest in-game moments.
OnLive's growing game library includes over 50 instant-play premium titles priced to suit any budget, including free trials, PlayPass game purchases/rentals ranging from $2.99 to $49.99 and a recently announced $9.99/month all-you-can-play plan called a PlayPack.
