2 New Video Game Consoles

[Founder of SonicX]

What if you could stream top-end games to your TV, just like a Youtube video that you can control? You'd never need to buy a console again.

That's the future envisaged by Palo Alto startup OnLive, which plans to launch a groundbreaking gaming service this winter. OnLive will supply players with a small set-top box, not much bigger than a Nintendo DS, which will plug into your TV and your home broadband connection. From there, you can start playing games just like those on the Xbox 360, PS3 or PC -- but with no install time, no waiting for downloads, and no need for big, noisy, expensive consoles cluttering up your living room. OnLive's service can be continually upgraded, too, so you'll never be stuck with obsolete hardware again.

Skeptical? So were we, until we actually sat down and played with an OnLive box last week. Even a blisteringly fast racer like Burnout Paradise was totally playable over the service, and top-spec shooter Crysis: Warhead -- which normally requires an expensive gaming PC -- ran excellently too. It's all rolled together with a slick interface that requires just a few button-presses to get playing.

OnLive also includes some features you might associate more with your DVR than with a gaming console, including a Replay feature that lets you save the last ten seconds of your gameplay, and send it to your friends.

PC gamers aren't left out, either: OnLive's service can be accessed with a browser plugin from either Mac or PC platforms, works identically to the TV version, and has hardware requirements so low you'll be able, the company boasts, to play the most advanced of games on a $300 netbook.

OnLive has already signed deals with an impressive range of partners -- including EA, Take-Two, and Ubisoft -- and promises to have an up-to-the-minute selection of games when the service launches. Along with Burnout and Crysis, we spotted Grand Theft Auto IV, LEGO Batman, and Mirror's Edge among the games on offer, although the lineup will likely change before the service launches.

There's a catch, though. Being an online, streaming service, OnLive is only going to be as good as your Internet connection. High-definition resolutions will require a higher-end broadband connection, and if your service is prone to drop out unexpectedly, you're probably going to wind up frustrated. Even if it works, all that streaming video's going to add up over the months, and heavy users might find themselves the receipient of some unwelcome attention from their ISPs. Modem users, needless to say, need not apply.

OnLive won't talk price, other than to say that they'll be competitive with subscription services like Xbox Live. The box itself is simple and cheap to make, they told us, and it's easy to imagine it being thrown in with subscriptions -- rather like a cable or satellite TV set-top box. Games will most likely be available to rent or buy, and with free demos that don't need to be downloaded.











With the Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 endlessly squabbling , can the world really afford another system?

The folks behind the Zeebo think so. Announced this week at the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco, the budget-priced, network-based console hopes to make its mark by targeting smaller, untapped world markets. To that end, it will launch in Brazil this April at $199 USD, with games ranging from about $7 to $13 apiece.
Funded by Qualcomm, the Zeebo is an entirely disc-free console running on a constant, free-of-charge 3G broadband wireless network. Several high-profile game makers have announced support of the system, including Capcom, THQ, and Namco.

Don’t, however, confuse the Zeebo with your Xbox 360. It sports comparatively weak tech, and while the Brazil launch systems will come packed with four pre-installed games, those include a port of the mobile game Action Hero 3D, Evil Prey and Quake. Master Chief isn't shaking in his boots.

Still, noted industry analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities thinks the key is the system's affordability in markets where video gaming is often too expensive for middle-class consumers.

"Zeebo provides a solution for a difficult emerging market problem by combining 3G wireless technology with compelling content and a secure business model that addresses the challenges presented by piracy and price sensitivity," he said in a press release.

Along with Rearden's headline-grabbing On-Live system, the Zeebo is the second new game system announced this week alone. Wasn't the console war crowded enough already?

[Gaijin]

a system that can even play their games.....hmmm isnt that like cheating. i think they other video game consoles will be against this. its like having an emulator but with a machine that can play it all. all other console sales will drop and i cant see other gaming consoles lettng this happen. they will have to start from scratch with their own games. they must be paying the console company lots of money to not have them down their throats for this

[MaverickZr0]

I heard about this a while ago. I wonder how it'll work since you're gonna be streaming high-end games.

[MirageAtoli]

I don't think the infrastructure is in place for something like OnLive personally. Maybe when fiber-optics becomes widely available.

All this is, is video game -> cloud computing.

Controls and latency hasn't entirely been figured out yet. Kaillera and such isn't as reliable as I would like it to be, for something that operates almost entirely in the cloud.

[That Mugen Guy]

Maybe this is the future of gaming. I always thought that eventually all the systems would merge into one allowing all game play from the same machine.

[Gaijin]

i thought so too

[xPreatorianx]

I highly doubt this is actually gonna work in the next 2 years. Unless the have a motherload of a server farm housing the games, on top of that you will need a damn good fiber connection (mine atm is 20 Up 20 Down) and that is not available in all of the US. Plus its kinda expensive im paying $79.95 for just internet (Verizon Fios) a month. If I get a bundle pack it will go down but it will rise probably after the one year agreement. Plus Fios is not on every street, every corner, every city in the US. It probably won't be for another 4 years or longer.

[Founder of SonicX]

a system that can even play their games.....hmmm isnt that like cheating. i think they other video game consoles will be against this. its like having an emulator but with a machine that can play it all. all other console sales will drop and i cant see other gaming consoles lettng this happen. they will have to start from scratch with their own games. they must be paying the console company lots of money to not have them down their throats for this

Not really cause the Video Game developers allowed this to happen they are the ones who sponsored this. This Micro Console has been in the  making for 7 years which is a long time.

I don't think the infrastructure is in place for something like OnLive personally. Maybe when fiber-optics becomes widely available.

All this is, is video game -> cloud computing.

Controls and latency hasn't entirely been figured out yet. Kaillera and such isn't as reliable as I would like it to be, for something that operates almost entirely in the cloud.

Well actually you don't need fiber optic to run this most homes now and days internet speeds are 1.5mpbs and 5mpbs and that is all you need to run this console from your TV or your PC or Mac

Maybe this is the future of gaming. I always thought that eventually all the systems would merge into one allowing all game play from the same machine.

I think this is also, it kind of makes sense to have something like this and it kind of doesn't.

I highly doubt this is actually gonna work in the next 2 years. Unless the have a motherload of a server farm housing the games, on top of that you will need a damn good fiber connection (mine atm is 20 Up 20 Down) and that is not available in all of the US. Plus its kinda expensive im paying $79.95 for just internet (Verizon Fios) a month. If I get a bundle pack it will go down but it will rise probably after the one year agreement. Plus Fios is not on every street, every corner, every city in the US. It probably won't be for another 4 years or longer.

They actually have 3 servers streaming this across the US and this can support high end games more the 100 miles away which is pretty impressive. GDC actually are the ones who created and made QuickTime for Apple they invented the "Decompressing and Compressing" of videos which means modern Videos fare 100ms GDC compressed the videos to 1ms which is very imoressive.

[Random Regular]

Hahaha the controller is even bigger than Onlive itself
The technology has grown these years, I'm looking forward to hear more about this

[Founder of SonicX]

Hahaha the controller is even bigger than Onlive itself
The technology has grown these years, I'm looking forward to hear more about this

I know ()

But the fun thing is that you don't have to use their controller I believe you can use any PC controller Pad

[MirageAtoli]

Well actually you don't need fiber optic to run this most homes now and days internet speeds are 1.5mpbs and 5mpbs and that is all you need to run this console from your TV or your PC or Mac

Even if OnLive doesn't need fiber optics, the infrastructure of the internet is still far behind what it should be, especially when you consider that two-thirds of Japan is fiber-optic.

[Rage]

I remember when sega was streaming musinc into homes in the 90's 


but i c a bleak future ahead of this first console. its going to be a head fight for em. but if they can beat the odd's 3-1 they become this gen champions but  . . . . .

hears sum'n how would this system operate there games? All three Sony, Micro, Nintendo used tech in there controls that would cost to much to buy each type and to compress that into one controler? Wow. Sony and N's motion since differ so much and the Micro has the whole body motion since coming out.

This doesnt even add the fact that the above mention tech is all copy righted too.   

[Founder of SonicX]

I remember when sega was streaming musinc into homes in the 90's 


but i c a bleak future ahead of this first console. its going to be a head fight for em. but if they can beat the odd's 3-1 they become this gen champions but  . . . . .

hears sum'n how would this system operate there games? All three Sony, Micro, Nintendo used tech in there controls that would cost to much to buy each type and to compress that into one controler? Wow. Sony and N's motion since differ so much and the Micro has the whole body motion since coming out.

This doesnt even add the fact that the above mention tech is all copy righted too.   

Well has the rights to all the above titles so there is no conflict but I do believe that this Micro Console is ahead of its time

[MirageAtoli]

You actually want competition in some form or another to drive diversity whether that is based on the array of games or the properties of each console.

[Megabyte]

I actually got a glimps and read of this thing (he OnLive) a couple months ago in Game Informer...and let me answer one of the questions or points that someone brought up. It doesn't matter what the console companies think or want as the OnLive service is dependent on the actual game developers...I know that Ubisoft is one of the companies already onboard, and this allows them to have their games on the service. Of course that means that we PROBABLY won't see games like God of War on the OnLive service as it is prduced by SCEA (I think) and the same goes for Mario and Zelda titles. Other than that, from what I read they are still working on the thing and that is one of the reasons that they aren't talking about price just yet; they want to focus on working the kinks out of the service first. I say, like everything else, don't put it down before it even has a chance to show you what it has to offer. Give them a chance to show us something new, and then decide whether it'll work for you or not. If it doesn't then just say so and move on...no need to gripe about how it can't possibly work cause of 'this, that and the other'...no offense, but none of you/us work for the companies developing EITHER of these new 'systems' so I think we can't bury them yet and claim that this and that are 'impossible'...just wait 'til it gets released, be thankful that there are peeps out there thinking outside the box and trying to bring something new, and accept both/either system with an open mind.

[Rage]

Well has the rights to all the above titles so there is no conflict but I do believe that this Micro Console is ahead of its time

it not really ahead of its time. one of my college instuctors were the testers for this tech in its beta stage about 99-03 sum were in that time frame.

at that time it was a whole room that read ur movements.

[Founder of SonicX]

it not really ahead of its time. one of my college instuctors were the testers for this tech in its beta stage about 99-03 sum were in that time frame.

at that time it was a whole room that read ur movements.

There were no Beta Testers back in 99-03 cause they didn't start building the console till late 05 cause Steve Perlman couldn't really get any sponsors. And when I said ahead of its time I meant as the Users not the company itself.

I actually got a glimps and read of this thing (he OnLive) a couple months ago in Game Informer...and let me answer one of the questions or points that someone brought up. It doesn't matter what the console companies think or want as the OnLive service is dependent on the actual game developers...I know that Ubisoft is one of the companies already onboard, and this allows them to have their games on the service. Of course that means that we PROBABLY won't see games like God of War on the OnLive service as it is prduced by SCEA (I think) and the same goes for Mario and Zelda titles. Other than that, from what I read they are still working on the thing and that is one of the reasons that they aren't talking about price just yet; they want to focus on working the kinks out of the service first. I say, like everything else, don't put it down before it even has a chance to show you what it has to offer. Give them a chance to show us something new, and then decide whether it'll work for you or not. If it doesn't then just say so and move on...no need to gripe about how it can't possibly work cause of 'this, that and the other'...no offense, but none of you/us work for the companies developing EITHER of these new 'systems' so I think we can't bury them yet and claim that this and that are 'impossible'...just wait 'til it gets released, be thankful that there are peeps out there thinking outside the box and trying to bring something new, and accept both/either system with an open mind.

I hear your word on this and I understand where you are coming from this console is made directly for the Developers. With this Console there is no limit in size so the Developers can do what ever they want and go outside the box. And if you have been to our website you will see that there are some titles that are released but a lot more is in stored for the customers. 

[xPreatorianx]

Well wether it hits big time or not. I doubt I will ever buy it just because of the fact I have a PS3,Xbox360 and a PC. I only upgrade my PC every 4 years and its just about due for an upgrade. Id rather have a solid product then my purchase/rent being streamed from there server to my home. I just want to pop in the disk or *cough* ISO *Cough* and play. I don't want stuff being streamed to me. Plus of ISP's are not gonna like that unless the people from Onlive are gonna specifically setup some stuff with the major ISP's. ISP's wether they be big time rich (COX,Verizon, Comcast) or small time don't like one person hogging a huge amount of bandwidth. This system will do just that because you are streaming directly from the internet an entire game. So of ISP's are not gonna be happy with customers that do that because it will bog down the other customer's who do not do that at all.

So they better have something worked out before this thing launches or expect of people bitching that their ISP throttled them and they cannot enjoy the game the way the developers intended.

EDIT: But don't get me wrong this will revolutinize gaming if they can get it right. But there are of variables involved other then the actual hardware. Specifically ISP's.

[Founder of SonicX]

Well wether it hits big time or not. I doubt I will ever buy it just because of the fact I have a PS3,Xbox360 and a PC. I only upgrade my PC every 4 years and its just about due for an upgrade. Id rather have a solid product then my purchase/rent being streamed from there server to my home. I just want to pop in the disk or *cough* ISO *Cough* and play. I don't want stuff being streamed to me. Plus of ISP's are not gonna like that unless the people from Onlive are gonna specifically setup some stuff with the major ISP's. ISP's wether they be big time rich (COX,Verizon, Comcast) or small time don't like one person hogging a huge amount of bandwidth. This system will do just that because you are streaming directly from the internet an entire game. So of ISP's are not gonna be happy with customers that do that because it will bog down the other customer's who do not do that at all.

So they better have something worked out before this thing launches or expect of people bitching that their ISP throttled them and they cannot enjoy the game the way the developers intended.

EDIT: But don't get me wrong this will revolutinize gaming if they can get it right. But there are of variables involved other then the actual hardware. Specifically ISP's.

Well Comcast was already spoken with and to to be honest they loved the idea (don't ask me why). And the same with Verizon I guess because majority of their customers are gamers that do a whole bunch of "Online Gaming". And I was wondering the same thing until I spoke to Steve.

[Rage]

There were no Beta Testers back in 99-03 cause they didn't start building the console till late 05 cause Steve Perlman couldn't really get any sponsors. And when I said ahead of its time I meant as the Users not the company itself.

I hear your word on this and I understand where you are coming from this console is made directly for the Developers. With this Console there is no limit in size so the Developers can do what ever they want and go outside the box. And if you have been to our website you will see that there are some titles that are released but a lot more is in stored for the customers. 

hey dont tell mke what i know and dont. Im not talking about this man or who er ur talking about im talking a bout the tech thats used for the motion sincing. at the later 90's early 20 there was tech that was being developed that would inmurse u in a 3d gaming world. They had a room rig up with a project that projected images on three walls. the wall in front of the user, one to the left and one to the right. the user would wear these googles, glasses or what ever and it would appear as if the user was in a 3d world. They had sincers sett up to pick up the movement.  The problem at this time was they they could track the movements if they were to fast and since it was on three walls there was no turning around or back traking. this was a beta.

[xPreatorianx]

Well I was thinking they did end up talking to the major ISP's but you confirmed it thats awesome. But i'm still skeptical because of the simple fact I like hard copies of my games. But I won't completely shoot this one out of the water till I can try it. Just hope its not ungodly expensive. Well i'm doubting the actual tech will be but what about the subscription? I guarantee there is gonna be a subscription so ill just wait and see.

[Founder of SonicX]

Well I was thinking they did end up talking to the major ISP's but you confirmed it thats awesome. But i'm still skeptical because of the simple fact I like hard copies of my games. But I won't completely shoot this one out of the water till I can try it. Just hope its not ungodly expensive. Well i'm doubting the actual tech will be but what about the subscription? I guarantee there is gonna be a subscription so ill just wait and see.

Yea there is a subscription fee.

hey dont tell mke what i know and dont. Im not talking about this man or who er ur talking about im talking a bout the tech thats used for the motion sincing. at the later 90's early 20 there was tech that was being developed that would inmurse u in a 3d gaming world. They had a room rig up with a project that projected images on three walls. the wall in front of the user, one to the left and one to the right. the user would wear these googles, glasses or what ever and it would appear as if the user was in a 3d world. They had sincers sett up to pick up the movement.  The problem at this time was they they could track the movements if they were to fast and since it was on three walls there was no turning around or back traking. this was a beta.

And I do know that there wasn't a beta tester for this project. But hey

[BigJ]

This looks interesting, although I don't think I would give up other consoles features just to have cheaper games. For example, voice chat. Didn't read the full article btw so sorry if I missed anything.

[Founder of SonicX]

Yea Voice Chat is a feature that is available but there is no hard copies of the game sad to say. It was stated that this is a chance for developers to make games and not worry about them getting copyrighted.

(Steve stated this should inspire some young talent)

EDIT:Added Video to First Post