The end of the games console?

Team XLink Administrator Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 4061

The founder of a new service that plans to stream on-demand video games over the internet says he feels like he has a big target on his back.

No wonder, given that Stephen Perlman's vision to revolutionise the way games are distributed and played has been talked up as threatening the future of the console and of retail stores.

OnLive, which was launched in the middle of the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco to much excitement, buzz - and scepticism - aims to provide high quality gaming on low-end machines.

OnLive says games will no longer need to be run from PCs or Macs, but can be accessed directly from its servers up to 1500 miles away.

Subscribers will get access to a catalogue of games and, rather than have to wait to download the game, can launch it instantaneously.

The quality of what appears on the TV screen or computer monitor will only be hampered by the user's internet bandwidth.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7969044.stm

http://www.onlive.com/

Video Master Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 1815

never gonna be the end of consoles. not everyone has the bandwith to make this practical.

Team XLink Administrator Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 4061

Just checked out the site. min 1.5 Mbps for standard play, but requires 5 Mbps for HD games.

If you live in the states, you can sign up to beta test it this summer. release is winter 09.

Team XLink Administrator Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 3354

TPP27 wrote:

never gonna be the end of consoles. not everyone has the bandwith to make this practical.

You cant even buy a modem at local stores here anymore. With slow DSL (5mb down and 768kup) from $15.99 to fast FiOS (25mb down and 10mb up) for $49.99, why would anyone want to spend 2 months worth of fast internet on a slow ass modem. As for the very few areas that cannot get cabled high speed internet, there is always Direct TV.s DLS with down speeds up to 5mb, and upload that you can LOL at.