OnLive Hands-On

ShackNews has an interesting preview of what can be expected from the new gaming service OnLive. Here's a taster:

With its new service, OnLive is attempting to literally render the PC hardware upgrade a moot point. Users will run a small, lightweight application that interfaces with a vast "cloud" of servers. The servers render PC games in high quality--delivering SD quality on a 1.5 megabits per second line, and 720p on a 5 megabit connection--then output the video to your display of choice: either a PC, or a television with an HDMI dongle.

The goal was to free up users from the bane of hardware requirements, providing a hassle-free option for PC gamers. The service will carry a subscription cost, and members will have the option of renting or purchasing the available games. Nearly every major publisher has signed on, with one notable exception being Activison Blizzard.

It sounds like one giant leap forward for PC gaming on paper, but many were skeptical of the technology following the announcement, thinking that the inevitable lag would result in an inferior gaming experience. After getting my hands on the thing, I can report that OnLive mostly works as advertised--but a few flaws may hold it back from being a home run.

The OnLive interface itself is as slick in motion as it looks in a screenshot, and the "Brag" replay feature and spectator modes worked as well as they claimed. But who cares about that stuff? I wanted to play a game, and see whether this thing lived up to the hype.

Playing around in Rapture, I found that response-time lag was mostly unnoticeable--mostly. When turning quickly, there were disappointing moments of hitching here and there. It was an impressive technical accomplishment, but at the same time unquestionably inferior to playing from a disc.

In related news, Gamespot has the entire OnLive press conference up on their site available to view. The two dudes demo the system, features, and claim that its streamed from 50 miles away. It's an hour long conference but pretty interesting stuff, even if its all marketing hype.