Is Onlive The Future Of Online Mobile Gaming?
This Wednesday saw the arrival of the much anticipated tablet and smartphone application version of Onlive.
If you have not heard of this technology and service before, and you like your games, then you are in for a treat.
Essentially, the app will allow you to stream high bandwidth (quality) games from their own cloud servers directly onto your device. Now there are a number of benefits to this, which I will come to soon.
What is Onlive?
Firstly let us take a look at Onlive and see how it works.
This free application will stream games via Wi-Fi and 4G LTE, which will enable full HD gaming via low latency cloud streaming anywhere where you can pick up a 4G or Wi-Fi connection.
So what games are currently available, and how have they been adapted for the touch screen devices we are seeing grow in popularity?
Current titles that have had the Onlive mobile device treatment include:
LEGO Harry Potter, L.A. Noire, LEGO Batman, as well as some 25 other titles, this is set to increase as more and more people trial the totally free application.
So let us get on to the benefits, apart from being able to play really cool games!
In their own words:
“OnLive harnesses the power of the cloud to instantly deliver high-end games on demand over the Internet with the simplicity of streaming video, OnLive’s breakthrough cloud gaming technology has enabled gamers on PCs, Macs and TVs to instantly jump into console-quality games on demand, without discs or lengthy downloads, regardless of the performance of their local device. With today’s launch, gamers can experience the same instant-play, top-tier games on tablets and smartphones, despite the fact that these games require vastly higher performance than is achievable on a mobile device.”
As you can see, some of the issues I have raised relating to Battery life on the iPhone 4S and other devices should hopefully see some improvements if high end gaming is what is killing your device, though right now it is unlikely you will be too far from a power source if you are needing to be hooked up to Wi-Fi to currently use Onlive, so this benefit is partially negligible till 4G LTE is more readily accessible, then this benefit should start to really shine through.
Another great part of having an account with OnLive is that you will be able to stop your game on one device and then carry on playing where you left off on another device, which will actually be quite a useful bonus in this world of plenty when it comes to mobile powered “smart” devices.
Wireless controller option:
Another option that is coming soon, will be the ability to hook up a wireless controller purpose built for OnLive and mobile devices which utilises the company’s “exclusive adaptive wireless technology” and will search for the optimum wireless connection for your smartphone, tablet, PC, Mac, TV, Blu-Ray player etc.
“As always, any game purchased on one OnLive app device (TV, PC, Mac, tablet or mobile device) can be played instantly on any other OnLive app device with full cloud save game data intact, allowing users to start play on one device, and continue playing on any other device, whenever and wherever they want, OnLive’s cross-platform capability extends to multi-player gaming, enabling, for example, a tablet gamer to play with TV, PC, Mac and smartphone gamers.”
Android application to be released first:
The first app to be released will be the Android Onlive app, with other app stores taking a little longer to clear up any legal issues and general partner relationships.
This application is however just what mobile apps are all about when marketed right.
A totally free method of gaining access to a new technology that enhances what is currently on offer, with the full functionality provided to you in many ways that suit each person.
Here is how the payment part will work:
There will be an option to rent titles for 3 days, 5 days or gain a “full pass” which essentially means you have bought the game, or a pretty reasonable subscription service which gives you access to a huge growing library of games for $9.99 a month.
So which Smartphones and Tablets support the new application?
This is a preliminary list of mobile devices which will support the application and allow you to utilise the full gaming features that Onlive offers:
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- Acer Iconia Tab A500
- ASUS Eee Pad Transformer
- HTC Flyer
- HTC Jetstream
- Motorola Xoom
- Samsung Galaxy Tab
- Sony Tablet S
- Toshiba Thrive
Tablets:
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- Motorola Droid 2
- Motorola Droid X2
- Motorola DROID BIONIC 4G
- Motorola DROID RAZR 4G
- Motorola Photon 4G
- HTC EVO
- HTC Nexus One
- HTC Rezound 4G
- HTC Sensation
- HTC Sensation XL
- Samsung Galaxy S II 4G
Smartphones
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Let us know your thoughts once you have played around with the app!
Anthony Munns