Downloader: OnLive's cloud-powered gaming service goes live tomorrow, 17 June 2010

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

OnLive's cloud-powered gaming service goes live tomorrow, 17 June 2010

It's finally here! OnLive, the mythical service that almost everyone still believes is impossible -- at least in a cost-effective sense -- goes live tomorrow. For now, you'll only be able to sign up in America -- and if you sign up now, you might be picked for a 'limited-availability' first-year-free offer. After that, it's $4.95/month -- about the price of a single top-tier AAA mega-shooter noobs-need-not-apply game for your PS3 or Xbox... not bad! Check out the list of featured titles that will be available at launch; impressive to say the least.

If this is the first you've heard of it, let me give you the basics of the OnLive service. In essence it is 'cloud-based gaming' -- you simply run a thin client locally, and a horde of OnLive servers stream data to you. Every key press and every mouse movement is sent from your computer and into the cloud -- your inputs are processed and the updated 'video' is sent back to your computer via the Internet. In theory local hardware requirements are minimal -- and 'soon' you'll be able to play OnLive on your TV too.

It's a concept so awesome that many believe it's impossible to pull off. Still, believe it or not, OnLive is here, with partners AT&T in the USA and BT in the UK. I just wonder, looking at the technological marvels outlined by Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft at E3, if OnLive is too little too late.

OnLive doesn't even do 3D!!!