Onlive puts gaming in the cloud

[Commander Fury]

 

One of the main attractions at this years Eurogamer Expo was the Onlive stage. Already a hit in the United States, Onlive has now hit the shores of the UK.

I queued for quite a while at the expo to get my hands on one of the micro consoles and while there I was able to try some of the 200 titles already available which include Batman: Arkham Asylum, Warhammer 40.000: Space Marine and Deus Ex: Human Revolution to name a few.

 

Since the expo I have been trying out the console and its features to see if all the hype is really justified. The box when I got it home included the console (obviously) a network cable to connect it to your broadband connection, a HDMI cable to connect to the TV and a wireless controller with rechargeable battery pack. Once you have registered on the Onlive website you can connect the console and it will update with the latest software. It will also test your internet connection which needs to be at least 1mbps or it won’t connect which may effect some people in slow areas and is something to keep in mind.*The PC/MAC version is also a simple set-up, once you have logged in you have to download an app to your computer then*that’s*it.

 

 

There are three ways that you can play the games in the library, you can play a demo of the game to see if you like it first, you can rent the game for 3 or 5 days, or *lastly you can choose the Playpack bundle and pay a set fee each month for access to 100 or more games. This*flexibility*along with all these games at the touch of a button or click of a mouse really puts this system up there, change isn’t always good, but this is a good one.

 

But how does it play? well it is very responsive and the best part is you don’t need top range hardware to play these games, they just play. The games themselves are well documented and their playability is not the issue, the issue is if you can play the game in the first place.

 

So, will this change the face of gaming? Well it is a very good piece of kit and has a good range of games already with the list still growing. To be able to go on-line or fire up the micro console and rent a game and play it there and then or if you have the Playpack to just turn on and play, is a major leap in gaming. Yes there are sites like Steam who offer games on-line, but there is no downloading here, just click and play and this is what will cause people to sit up and take notice. This has already made a big impression both sides of the water, and I think it will continue to do so.

 

 

 

 

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