On Live cloud gaming service - Mac users

[jcal0820]

Has anyone subscribed into the new 'in the clouds' gaming service called OnLive, that went active almost a month ago? I heard a lot about this over the past year, but nothing about since it supposedly launched. The big selling point of this service was the ability to play on any PC or Mac, since the actual games are all via a server online. But that means no physical ownership of a game, plus monthly fees just for access. Wondering what the reviews are, esp. concerning performance issues like lag and video quality.

 

[Dify]

I've heard about it, but I haven´t had the chance (or not ) to expirience it.

My guess, it musst be pretty laggy, and impossible to play in good condition for many games.

Like multyplayer games, i think the time that information travel to you compared to some one who´s directly connected to a server musst be to long, and therefore making it unplayable. Plus I think you need a reaaaaly high connection speed to use it, wich I don´t have, and don´t plan to have.

 

[MasConejos]

I put my name in the hat (and received) for the free year long membership they were giving out. Thus far I have been unimpressed. The service requires a 5 MBit connection (the documentation when I signed up said you only needed 3MBit, which is what I had at the time). When you attempt to log in, the service wont let you connect if your speed is below 5MBit. Additionally, all but one time I logged in I was told my latency was too high for good service (I have ATT Uverse and most times I get excellent ping times for servers), but at least it lets you log in.

For their game selection, there are currently only about 10-12 games, for which you have to buy or purchase play time, in addition to any other service charges you might be paying. Most games have a free demo option. I tried Lego Harry Potter. The game launched just fine. Lego Potter starts off with several clip scenes. A minute or two into it, I started getting video corruption, like when watching a video file with the picture freezing but then the changing pixels (i.e. where movement occurs) continuing to update, slowly refreshing the screen. I gave up on it before I even got to the gameplay.

My potter attempt was on one of the instances where I was told my latency was too high. (The service doesn't tell you what your latency is, unfortunately). The time I managed to log in without getting a warning, the Onlive interface started doing the same video corruption that potter had done. (The interface has little animated game windows and sliders and what not.)

My opinion would be to avoid the service for a few months, and hope that things improve.

 

[JediZenMaster]

I put my name in the hat (and received) for the free year long membership they were giving out. Thus far I have been unimpressed. The service requires a 5 MBit connection (the documentation when I signed up said you only needed 3MBit, which is what I had at the time). When you attempt to log in, the service wont let you connect if your speed is below 5MBit. Additionally, all but one time I logged in I was told my latency was too high for good service (I have ATT Uverse and most times I get excellent ping times for servers), but at least it lets you log in.

That's weird because i'm using TWC (Time Warner Cable) and i didn't receive those latency messages. I would have thought that since U-Verse is Fiber that it would have better latency than Cable.

 

[jcal0820]

I wanted to at least try this service out since they advertised a full year free subscription, but then found out you need minimum 5 MB download speed connection, which I don't have even with the Pro package plan on AT&T Uverse (if I was in Korea, I could probably get ten times that speed for a quarter of the price!)... I don't know how many homes in this country have the minimum speed, as most broadband packages seem to barely meet what OnLive requires, at least for now. I hear about others getting around 10 to 20 or even more MB download speed on their home ISP... how much does that cost per month, and where can I find that kind of service? I'm assuming OnLive conducted an extensive business plan research and determined that 5 MB download speed was a reasonable assumption for its customer base, right?

 

[txa1265]

I've played a bunch of stuff on my 15" MBP and also my R1 and R2 Alienware m11x laptops, and the service works exactly as promised. Opens a huge pipe and delivers solid gaming experience.

Of course, when it came time to buy the LEGO Harry Potter game after playing the demo I did it on GamersGate rather than OnLive ... I constantly play games that are several years old and don't want to be limited.

I still have a free game coupon and haven't decided what to use it for yet.

Also, all of my laptops are capable of playing games with better resolution than OnLive, making it a lousy value for me in the long run.

 

[kaltsasa]

I've tried onlive on my iMac and PC. I have a fast enough connection. To be honest it works quite well, but it somehow feels "off". It's sorta blurry and muted? That's to say nothing of the terrible licencing they are trying to get us to buy into. Pay for access to the service then pay for playpasses to play the games that the publishers can and probably will pull at the drop of a hat?

With steam on the Mac now and game capable Macs, PCs, and consoles easily accessible I'm hoping this redonkulous experiment goes under before too long.

 

[RasterScan]

I did give it a quick try and it does work but I can not see this service lasting.
I don't agree with paying a monthly fee THEN paying for a game that may not be available 2 years from now.

The tech seems to work OK. You need to have a fast connection. This service is not for the hardcore gamer.

 

[wmw71190]

The idea that they only work on a wired connection annoys me a bit. Considering that with current routers, connection speed isn't really lowered over a wireless connection, there really isn't a valid reason for it. Once they activate the service for WiFi users I can try it out, until then, I would rather not go through the trouble of plugging in.