I’m Russell. I’ll be writing for The Mac Gamer.
Chris Roper with IGN wrote a perspective on OnLive, a bit of gaming technology that could ubiquitize gaming across platforms.
Just announced at this year’s GDC, OnLive is an on-demand gaming service. It’s essentially the gaming version of cloud computing - everything is computed, rendered and housed online. In its simplest description, your controller inputs are uploaded, a high-end server takes your inputs and plays the game, and then a video stream of the output is sent back to your computer. Think of it as something like Youtube or Hulu for games.
Why’s that good? Hell, I don’t know. Titles that play regardless of my platform, titles accessible through my Mac or my television? Well, quite frankly, that slaps me giddy. As Chris Roper write:
The service works with pretty much any Windows or Mac machine as a small browser plug-in.
There will also be a console-esque device for television use. At my most vulnerable state, I could give my first born for such a service. We’ll keep an eye open.
This really could change gaming forever.
Also, the end of piracy? If it’s effectively streamed, how the hell can people pirate it? You’d have to have the correct credentials for their servers and then the little OpenLive box.
If this works, amazing. No more “Macs can’t play games”. Gaming will be ubiquitous and it’ll be irrelevant what platform you’re on. This is true real platform agnostic gaming!
I wonder how the dev community will react…
“Also, the end of piracy? If it’s effectively streamed, how the hell can people pirate it?”
–Exactly. Video and sound are streamed one way, controller inputs the other. Though there exists the opportunity to packet sniff/edit control data, that isn’t piracy, just cheating. I assume there’ll be measures to thwart such silliness.
–”Agnostic gaming” could become an industry term for a while, then subside to simply “gaming” if OnLive’s model becomes the popular choice.
I have to make my thoughts known. My feeling toward the announcement is one of intrigue (I enjoy new technology) and apprehension. You see, I am one of those people that want to own their games. I want the physical disc. I don’t want to “rent” or “buy virtual space” for my games. The concept of OnLive and the benefits it brings, I get, there is just something in me that doesn’t want to let my discs go.
I will kick and I will scream, but I will likely try the service all the while doing the former.
That’s a fine observation. It may seemingly remove the second-hand game market, which is something I’ve gravitated toward as I age.