Wednesday, March 25th 2009
New On-Demand Gaming Platform Threatens to Kill Gaming PC Upgrades
We all regard PC games, as an entertainment medium, but spend hundreds to even thousands of Dollars regularly, to keep our PCs up to date, to be able to play the latest PC games. Imagine a medium that rids us of that, and we are able to consume PC gaming like any other content, like the TV or radio. Well, that the potential a new on-demand gaming platform holds - to make you never have to buy/upgrade a gaming PC again.
Called OnLive, the on-demand platform consists of a web service, an internet connection, and a thin-client, called "micro-console" that connects your input (game controllers), and output (monitor/TV/HDTV). You control the game - whichever you're subscribed to and playing - the client relays your input to the OnLive servers, that do the processing, including graphics rendering, and send back output to your client. The client then displays the output. Sounds familiar? Cloud computing? Exactly, but for PC gaming. The platform is conceptualized to be advanced-enough to handle any of today's games, Crysis included. The work-model of this platform is what makes it tick with any game, and is far more future-proof than the present mode of PC gaming (where people own expensive hardware that are in requirement of upgrades, the costs of buying games, buying gaming services separate).
For standard definition television quality, a broadband connection of at least 1.5 megabits per second is required. For HDTV resolution, a connection of at least 5 mbps is needed. The service uses patented algorithms that work to counter lag caused by network constraints. The technology is already gaining attention from major publishers, including EA, THQ, Codemasters, Ubisoft, Atari, Warner Bros., Take-Two, and Epic. People can buy or rent a game to play it, the usage fees are expected not to be much more than the subscription fees for Xbox Live.
Source:
Kokatu
Called OnLive, the on-demand platform consists of a web service, an internet connection, and a thin-client, called "micro-console" that connects your input (game controllers), and output (monitor/TV/HDTV). You control the game - whichever you're subscribed to and playing - the client relays your input to the OnLive servers, that do the processing, including graphics rendering, and send back output to your client. The client then displays the output. Sounds familiar? Cloud computing? Exactly, but for PC gaming. The platform is conceptualized to be advanced-enough to handle any of today's games, Crysis included. The work-model of this platform is what makes it tick with any game, and is far more future-proof than the present mode of PC gaming (where people own expensive hardware that are in requirement of upgrades, the costs of buying games, buying gaming services separate).
For standard definition television quality, a broadband connection of at least 1.5 megabits per second is required. For HDTV resolution, a connection of at least 5 mbps is needed. The service uses patented algorithms that work to counter lag caused by network constraints. The technology is already gaining attention from major publishers, including EA, THQ, Codemasters, Ubisoft, Atari, Warner Bros., Take-Two, and Epic. People can buy or rent a game to play it, the usage fees are expected not to be much more than the subscription fees for Xbox Live.
246 Comments on New On-Demand Gaming Platform Threatens to Kill Gaming PC Upgrades
I don't know, this is just so stupid! My head can't get around it....how much bandwidth you would use just to play one game...and they really think this will "threaten" PC upgrades? I lol at that:laugh:
1.5Mb connection("1.2Mb real" - their words) for 480P
4Mb (real) for 720P
?Mb 1080P
If they say you need 4Mb for 720P, holy shit your bandwidth is going away fast.
4Mb = 512KB/s
Thats 1,800MB an hour, at a solid rate. This aint gunna work on anyones net... most cable users have poor speeds in on-peak periods, and everyone else has download limits that make this useless.
edit:
1.2Mb is approx 150KB/s
thats 527MB an hour. for 480P gaming. Bleh.
and 527MB / 8 = 65 Megabytes per hour for 1.2meg connection.
230 Megabytes for 1 hour of 720p video is really good! Keep in mind that the guy who started onlive has invented a lot of shit.
edit: nope. i did not.
8mb = 1MB
4Mb = 0.5MB
starting at 8Mb
1MB a second * 60 seconds in a minute (60MB) * 60 minutes in an hour. = 3600MBs an hour.
halve that for a 4Mb connection, and its 1800MBs an hour.
You sir, fucked up your math. not me.
edit: and with simple halving...
2Mb = 900MB/h
1MB = 450MB/h
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I'm a little confused now.
your 20Mb (Megabit) connection downloads at 2,500 (KB) KiloBytes a second.
5,000 Kb video requires 625KB/s
lower case b signifies bits.
8 bits to the byte, so 8Mb = 1MB, and so on.
Holy tits 1800 Megabytes per hour to run onlive. There's no way a 4mb connection is gonna do that. They've gotta have some ridiculously fast upload servers. I have a 20meg connection. I can obviously download that fast, but i'm yet to find anywhere that can upload as fast as I download.
The problem is that any fluctuations in ping or packet loss, are going to screw the video up.
And hell, even in the USA the big companies (comcast) have download limits. sure its a huge 250GB, but at almost 2GB an hour, thats not much gmaing!
Also the he said she said is invalid here since this can be variable based on packet loss cause by modems, firewalls, bad isps, slow internet speed etc. Not to mention the service is still in alpha, it has been 7 years in development and has comapnies like autodesk, warner brothers, etc backing them. It didn't just start yesterday!
For those who are misinformed watch the video!
gdc.gamespot.com/video/6206692/gdc-2009-onlive-press-conference?hd=1
So if it doesn't meet the standards, I take it you have to return it to wherever you bought it at? Sounds like a lot of trouble for trying to get a game to run at 720p.
And no custom maps or mods are able to be played. Kind of upsetting really.
It is really taking all the fun out of building a pc to meet the needs of newer tech games.
www.onlive.com/#3
Gonna give it a try.
If anything, it'll flop because of the cost to maintain the service, won't it?