EastCoasthandle
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- Joined
- Apr 21, 2005
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System Name | MY PC |
---|---|
Processor | E8400 @ 3.80Ghz > Q9650 3.60Ghz |
Motherboard | Maximus Formula |
Cooling | D5, 7/16" ID Tubing, Maze4 with Fuzion CPU WB |
Memory | XMS 8500C5D @ 1066MHz |
Video Card(s) | HD 2900 XT 858/900 to 4870 to 5870 (Keep Vreg area clean) |
Storage | 2 |
Display(s) | 24" |
Case | P180 |
Audio Device(s) | X-fi Plantinum |
Power Supply | Silencer 750 |
Software | XP Pro SP3 to Windows 7 |
Benchmark Scores | This varies from one driver to another. |
There is a lot of controversy around some forums regarding the use of on demand gaming from Onlive. In particular:
- Some are skeptical about the service actually working as intended.
- Some think this is for single player games only.
- Others are not sure if it will be all console type games or PC games
- Etc
I don't believe that this service is targeting hardcore gamers in particular who've spent the time, obtained the resources and pay premiums on particular services (ISP, etc) to download and play games at their desired resolution with most (if not all IQ options enabled). But for those who fall just below that category of gamer. From my research on this so far it does come off as impressive if it actually works. However, that IMO still remains to be seen once you have 100's (if not 1000's) of users using the service.
There is a lengthy video demoing their service, you can watch it here. Here are a few points taken from the video:
- You have to be within 1000 miles of the Onlive Data Center. At 1000 miles there is roughly 80ms lag. The lag should get better the closer you are to their data center
- They use their own compression hardware which was termed "compressor board". Originally, they developed their algorithm on dual quad core xeons ($5k 8 core machines using 350 watts). Which ran their compressed algorithm just below 60 FPS. Now they've reduce the cost to a $10 chip @ 2 watts using 2 of them per "compressor board".
- Only one SKU is used for the game played. It wasn't clear to me if this will be PC or console based games.
- SDTV you need 1.5Mbps. HDTV needs 5Mbps
- They can lease servers and/or update servers to have the hardware needed to support the games. Also you can participate in betas.
- You can try before you buy via demo. Or you can rent or buy.
- The video shows a demonstration of Crysis Wars.
- While playing people can spectate. Or you can spectate others while they play.
Ultimately, the question remains if this is legit or not? If it is legit and it works as demonstrated what will it cost for people to use it? These questions are not as clear as it could be however, the concept of such a thing has the potential to attract a lot of people be it PC gamer or console.