The OnLive Microconsole Comparison Test: Shooters

The cloud-based OnLive microconsole comes out December 2. How does it compare to its beefier console cousins? Bitmob pitted it against the 360 and the PS3 using Borderlands and Unreal Tournament 3. Let the OnLive Microconsole Comparison Test begin!

[Sadie2100]

How can this possibly survive against other consoles??

[hoops]

Not now...but in the future this will be the new version of console and PC gaming.
This is the future like it or not.
As technology increases, this will take over.
It's coming. This is the future of gaming.
You will see other companies doing this in the future.

[Shackdaddy836]

I kinda doubt it. People will always want hard copies of games and people will always want to edit their own specs on PC.Many PC gamers are PC gamers because they love messin with hardware(like me :) ).

[hoops]

This is what people said of CD's....
This won't take off over night but you see where this is going.

[Close_Second]

Today maybe...but the next generation may not. Just look at how the distribution model for music has changed in 10 years. The current generation buys most of their content via download.

However, the biggest driver in all this is that developers want to kill the second hand gaming market and pirating. This device could potentially do just that.

[darthv72]

that limited thinking was proven wrong with the music industry. It was always thought that people would not adopt the next thing going from records to tapes then CD's. Now people spend more on digital dist music than physical. It is just more convenient that way.

Games are getting there and will get there whether naysayers like it or not. It is just the evolution to being more "green" as all industries around the world are taking part of.

No physical manufacturing, no waste. You can have a preference to physical media but it doesnt mean you dont have some digital as well. If you dont then you can be a fighter for physical media all you want. If you do then you risk being called a hypocrite.

Sometimes its ok to support both. That is how transitions work. Going from records to tapes wasnt an overnight thing. People had both. Same for tapes and CD's. Same for VHS and DVD and bluray.

Games are no different.

[DelbertGrady]

Streaming music and movie services are doing pretty good. Just saying.

[BrianC6234]

This is not the future. In the future you will be forced to spend a fortune for an Internet connection fast enough for this thing. It's a bad idea. Cable companies and other ISPs have been working at stopping their customers from using too much bandwidth. How much bandwidth will this type of gaming require?

[Saladfax]

The current market for bandwidth just needs to catch up. The biggest companies are charging ridiculous rates because they can and are raking in the money.

The bandwidth required for OnLive isn't that bad, in either case.

[IaMs12]

I personally rather be in charge of my hardware then some company. I like to Overclock my PC and tweak it how i want it and mod games. If this is suppose to take over for PC/360/PS3 then alot of the stuff i described wouldnt be possible.

EDIT: I can see it going digital easily, look at Steam. If thats the future i wouldnt mind it because you can always backup your files in Steam so you can have a physical copy if desired. OnLive everything is on the companies side, you cant control it. Course thats good for some people, but others like me not so much.

[The Lazy One]

@"people want physical copies of their games"

steam, the apple appstore, and the android marketplace say hi.

In 5 years we'll be able to download a blu-ray's entire capacity in the time it takes to drive to the store.

The real draw of OnLive is that the innitial investment in hardware is very low, and it should work until you need new inputs or outputs. There is no limit on the actual computational power required for the games. All you need is hardware capable of the streaming. Who cares if you want to overclock... why overclock when your game already runs on max settings on some supercomputer in some server farm?

Sounds like OnLive needs some time, but it's definitely promising for the future. Imagine what developers could do when their system specs are totally customizable to their own game's needs.

[stonedgamer]

that's a really bold option, there is a lot of drawbacks to this service.

there's the yearly fee and and the biggest problem, you don't actually own the game in any way each game has a expiration and once its off the servers its gone period.

the longest one on there was just gonna be on the servers for a little over 12 months, which is a little over a year.

where did that 20 bucks just go i spent barely a year ago?

its a neat little magic trick.

people that invest into this are most likely casuals that cant afford or have knowledge about building a gaming PC, or curious console gamers that try it and go right back to their bread and butter.

[The Lazy One]

@"where did that 20 bucks just go i spent barely a year ago? "

where's the $15 I spent for 2 hours in jackass 3D?

[Dark_king]

Comparing this to music is stupid there not even close to being the same.You own your digital music you own nothing here.Not to mention games are still growing needing new powerful hardware with every generation.Do you honestly believe that online could afford to upgrade the servers every 7 years with better graphics cards to compete with consoles.Not even going to touch the fact that they need a graphics card for every person on the servers.Even now some PC games require multiple cards just to run at decent rates.This will only get more common as time goes on pushing games further and further.This is not the future,it doesn't lead to the gaming future we want and never will.I say we want because I know I am not alone in wanting something like the holodeck.To be in the game to feel the virtually air blowing your hair to feel the force of an opponents blade against yours.Online would work as a rental service though.

[Gungnir]

Interesting unit. Too bad I don't have an Internet connection fast enough to use it.

[TooTall19]

Lag free multiplayer ftw! My internet now has to go through too many places so the latency is too high to work properly.

That said I like OnLive and wish them the best.

[Hayabusaman]

I have the connection but do i really want it? I don't think so.
Good story though.

[AllyOmega]

Membership is free, and you can play a 30-minute demo of the games on there as much as you want.
I think it efinitely has potential. It'll be hard getting past the fact that you dont actually own any of the stuff you buy. However, I think that this will be successful enough to be compared to consoles and gaming PCs.

[rod_furlong]

My Internet is fast as balls. One day...maybe...I'll be using this thing.

[illegalyouth]

I wonder if OnLive would ever offer PC exclusives -- that'd definitely attract console-only gamers looking for a piece of PC action.

[Active Reload]

Or better yet, Onlive having their own exclusives. I'm sure thats something they have in mind, if they ever get their financial situation where they want it.

[Sadie2100]

That would be smart. Doubt it'll happen -- who wants to give them a triple-A exclusive now? -- but that would be good for them to get an exclusive killer ap.

[soundslike]

they can theoretically run games off of super-computers with 1000 times the power of anything you can commercially buy.

in fact on-live has a business partner that plans on doing just that

[Shackdaddy836]

I have never been interested in this. I like to get hard copies of my games and whenever I want to actually download a game to my PC, I use steam which gives me a lower discount and allows me to play the game with my own specs.

Plus, if this company tanks(which is still possible), then all the games I bought would be gone.

[LockeCole]

Yeah, it's ahead of its time, and I'm interested, but I just don't think it's feasible yet.

[thecoffeemug]

I'm not surprised that it is below the console par, but I am surprised it approached it. I just went from detractor to on the fence skeptic.

[NYC_Gamer]

expect a lot of lag and bad frame rates

[hennessey86]

because they were showing crysis off but that game is no where to be seen now

[KotC]

I own a PC, PS3, Wii and 360 and simply can't afford anymore gaming. Mybe in a couple years OnLive could surpass the 360 and PS3 and I may pony up. Untill then I'll stick with my current setup but will keep my eye on OnLive.

[mp1289]

if they cut the monthly service plan, then it seems to be a far better deal than consoles.

[bbretterson]

Yeah, the base service is free now.

[SpinalRemains138]

Who the hell would buy this, considering there are 2 current consoles out there?

I wish them luck, but seriously this thing is doomed

[Shackdaddy836]

Its also not advertised at all. Only people who stay up on gaming news know about it. And most of those people already have some type of gaming device and dont care about it.

[Mister_G]

Maybe in 10 years time when we all have fibre based ADSL2 running at 200+ megs for what 8 meg costs today, it might work :)

Although technology improves quick, so maybe in 5?

[soundslike]

they make this hard to understand but you don't need that micro console.

go to the site. sign up

download "app"(so tiny and very quick install)

you can play timed 30 minute demos of any of their games within a minute of downloading the "app" which is little more than a browser.

go try it NOW. its insane, I was playing borderlands on my laptop that probably can't even run quake 3 at full settings.

Its so easy to be cynical about this, but once you try it, you will understand. Its really hard to believe it once you experience just how fast you can go from signing up on the site, to playing a game your computer could never handle...with no noticable cpu load. Mind Blowing.

[hoops]

People hating on this are just scared about the future.
This is where gaming is going.
Just picture this type of cloud gaming in 5 years from now. 10 years from now.
This is the future plain and simple.

[niceguyWii3]

no one here is scared of the future, we just prefer a ACTUAL copy of our 60 dollar games. What is so damn hard about thAT to understand?

[ironcreed]

Hmm, this is the first time I have actually been intrigued by this. My PC is a dinosaur and I have missed out on many great PC games as a result. If I can play some of the PC games that I am missing out on even at a somewhat acceptable rate, then it would be better than going out and buying a new PC in order play the same damn games.

I think I'll go try some of the demos and if it works decently with my connection then I don't see the negative here. I will be able to play PC games without having to buy a rig and I'll still have my consoles along with the exclusives that are on them. This controversy has me curious and I am interested for the first time. Time to find out for myself.

[SuperStrokey1123]

Looks fantastic to me, i just want to see the latency of the games compared. If its off even a small amount it will make a difference. if onlive catches on though SOny and MS will have some serious competition.

[soundslike]

you don't have to see it compared you can try it yourself on your computer

edit: I was on 5-6mbs connection (tested on wired and wifi) no noticeable input lag. It's what they've spent years figuring out how to avoid, this service wouldn't exist in the public eye if it was an issue.

[SuperStrokey1123]

Im in Canada so i cant actually.

[SuperStrokey1123]

Have the released info on how much data is tranmitted per hour? I have a 120 gig a month cap on my internet downloads and im just curious.

[SybaRat]

One day, all consoles will look like OnLive.

[256bit]

"But that comfort doesn't translate onscreen. The games on OnLive's service are PC ports, refined for keyboard and mouse, and it shows. Movements feel jittery and overprecise, even with the sensitivity turned down. Sighted weapons in Borderlands were noticeably harder to aim than on the 360, and I couldn't crank out headshots with the same reckless ease -- and that was with aim assist on."

lol i dont believe the aim assist on part.

[Masterchef2007]

What suxs about on live are the connection requirements

[acronkyoung]

Eh, it's an interesting idea. I'm mostly looking forward to the next generation of the idea.

[niceguyWii3]

forget this garbage I rather game on a 360 for life then to not own hardcopies of my 60 dollar games, I mean mini games sure download is fine but not something that cost 60 bucks. You can't compair a 10-20 dollar cd to a game. Download music is fine because most people listen to music in multiple spots and its cheap unlike this where most of us game at home.

[CombineElite]

So for every post in here that states ONlive is the future of gaming then why has some mediocre, unheard of company done this instead of any of the forward thinking corporate giants?

If Onlive is the future then what AMD Nvidia Intel Corsair Thermaltke Gigabyte CoolerMaster and about a 100 other Hardware companies that rely on PC gaming are just gonna go out of business. I don't think so.

This is a gimmick just like Gametap or InstantAction besides with Onlive you never ever own the game, read the EULA as it states your only renting the game and they can take it at anytime without compensation.

[ironcreed]

I kept an open mind and decided to sign up and try a demo because it is free to do so. The thing will not even work with my connection at just over 3 mbps. When you market a product that only a select few will even be able to take advantage of, then it is doomed from the get go. Not to mention that the games currently on offer are games that I can play on my PS3 and 360. This thing will not be around long. It is the Webtv of gaming. Hey, at least I went in with an open mind and tried to give it a go.

[TABSF]

iTunes has single handed destroyed the retail music industry
Soon Netflix will destroy the retail movie industry
Soon Steam will destroy the retail PC gaming industry

Whether people like it or not the future is digital, companies go for profit and for them there is nothing like selling a digital copy at the same price as retail, why because there is no middle men

Film
Digital Version: Studio/ Distributor/ End user
Retail Version: Studio/ Packaging/ Distributor/ Store/ End user

Music
Digital Version: Label/ Distributor/ End user
Retail Version: Label/ Packaging/ Distributor/ Store/ End user

Gaming
Digital Version: Developer/ Publisher/ Distributor/ End user
Retail Version: Developer/ Publisher/ Packaging/ Distributor/ Store/ End user

Getting rid of the middle men and packaging should mean its cheaper for the end users, but it also a chance for the IP owners to get more profits

[beast242tru]

sumone will buy it but it will fail launching wit old ass games no exclusives and no one really knows about this i'll stick with my playstation 3 thank u but i can use that controller its like the ultimate mix of dualshock and 360 gamepad = wiked