I have been to the Clouds and back

I would like to talk about Onlive, the cloud based internet video game streaming service. Let me start by saying Onlive is the future, but the future is not the present. IGN has posted several articles bashing Onlive, however theses articles were full of misinformation and overall trolling. I'm going to an unbiased article about Onlive based on my personal opinions after playing over 200 hours of games on Onlive. I have watched Onlive grow from the beginning, (I was an Alpha tester), and have to say I am very pleased with the progress they have made in just a year. However it isn't without it's faults.

What is Onlive?

Onlive is a cloud based internet streaming service.

What does that mean?

Think of Onlive like Netflix for video games. You start the service click on the game you want and start playing in seconds.

What are the Pros of Onlive

1. Gaming in seconds. You just click on the game you want to play and within seconds your playing the game. No downloads, no installs, no waiting till 10am for your local game store to open, no waiting on shipping. Just click and play.

2. Prices. Everyone likes to say that they have good prices, but Onlive really does. Onlive is primarily a PC gaming service so your paying PC prices for the game ($50). But if you subscribe to their playpack ($10 a month) you get 30% off everything. Making full games like Deus Ex HR and Batman AC only $35.

3. Playpack. Onlive has a Playpack bundle featuring over 80 games, with weekly updates adding about 3 or 4 games. The best thing about the Playpack Bundle is the 30% off everything.

4. Online save files. This is one of the coolest features of Onlive. I can start playing a game on my Microconsole and resume on my laptop, than go over to a friends and resume there. The games are saved to Onlive's servers allowing you to resume from anywhere.

5. $5 Fridays. This is relatively new, but still very cool. Onlive sells one game for $5 each friday ($3.50 with the playpack). The games so far have been: Batman AA, Splinter cell conviction, Hawx 2, Borderlands GOTY, Just Cause 2, and AVP.

6. Game Spectating. Onlive has a revolutionary new feature called the Arena. In the Arena you can watch anyone play any game that is on the service. Say you wanted to see what Red Faction Guerrilla was like. You could hop onto the Arena and watch me play it. Than decide to give me a thumbs up or down depending on how well I play.

7. 30 Min trials. You can play the real game for 30 mins. Not a demo but the real game.

As good as Onlive is, it's not without it's fault. And it has them.

1. Needing Wired Internet. When Onlive first came around a wired internet was required to play. It's still largely the case. While you can "play" on a wireless connection is it splotchy and unreliable at best. Over a Wireless connection the game "shudders" often.

2. Needing Internet. No internet No games. But I'm also going to include in here other people. I live in a house with 5 other computers. When all the computers are doing something on the internet my Onlive get's exceptionally blurry and unresponsive. Onlive works best when no one else is on the internet.

3. Updates. Onlive claims that it updates the games automatically, but a closer inspection reviles that almost every game on Onlive is running at it's base version, (no updates). This is a problem, as games like Deus Ex HR would greatly benefit from the update the cuts load times. But more than this no updates prevents the inclusions of DLC in many games. On Onlive if the game doesn't have the DLC included in the base game it won't be on Onlive.

4. Graphics. I'm not a graphics whore by any means I prefer gameplay to graphics, but I do realize this is a BIG deal to some people so I figured I should include it here. The graphics are running somewhere around Low-Medium quality with few games running on High or Ultra.

5. Games. Onlive doesn't have many new games. While they are getting a better selection of games currently it's not good. They have over 200 games on their service but very few actually "core" games. Their selection is limited to Deus Ex HR, Splintercell Conviction, Hawx 1&2, Borderlands, Just Cause 1&2, Batman AA & AC, Red faction G&A, and Assassins Creed 2&B.

In Conclusion: When Onlive is working it's working well. Please watch the video I recorded below (forgive my terrible playing.) If you prefer cheap prices and convenience to functionality and quality than Onlive might be right for you. It's fun and addicting but the selection of games may not hold you over for long. However I highly recommend that everyone at least check into the service. The service is free, the games are not.