Items tagged with OnLive
OnLive, the promising cloud gaming service that launched in June 2010, is going dark. In a somber message posted on its website, the streaming games pioneer explained that Sony is in the process of acquiring key parts of Onlive -- patents, in other words -- and that the service as you know it will shutter on April 30, 2015. "After April 30, 2015, our data centers will shut down and the service will be offline. All accounts will be closed, and all data deleted including game save data, achievements, and credit card data will be deleted," OnLive said. "If you purchased a Steam game from OnLive, that game will still be available on Steam. No refunds will be available for any game purchases,...
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When Sony bought the Gaikai streaming service and announced it was building custom PlayStation 3 boards to drop into servers for its PlayStation Now game service, a lot of folks got excited by the potential. This type of service delivery could mark the future of gaming, make backwards compatibility a non-issue, and in the long run, completely transform the console business. Over the long run, a game console might function more as a media and control hub than a standalone rendering machine -- and Sony seemed to have their finger on the idea much more firmly than Microsoft, which was off chasing Kinect and offering vague statements about cloud rendering. Unfortunately, this is Sony we're...
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Certainly, the Google TV platform has promise, but like a lot of intriguing projects, this one has needed more hardware makers to jump on board. The latest to get into the game wholeheartedly is LG, which announced its lineup of Google TV products for 2013. It appears that the Korean company will roll out 42-, 47-, 50-, 55-, and 60-inch TVs running Google TV, and they should have the sleek look of bezel-less displays and striking stands. Unfortunately, the release didn’t include much more detail than that, focusing instead on the many features the TVs will offer thanks to Google TV 3.0. Fortunately, that’s a lot of juicy stuff. The latest version of Google TV incorporates voice search,...
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The OnLive saga continues. While the story really isn't glowing for the employees involved, we're now learning a bit more on how the company will continue on in the days, months and perhaps years ahead. The cloud-based gaming company announced the following: "On August 17th all of its assets were acquired by a newly formed company that will continue to operate under the OnLive name." Strange, no? OnLive is a new company, but the name remains the same. In fact, most people who aren't following the ins and outs of technology news may never know the difference. And honestly, that's the goal. Under the circumstances, no actual services should be disrupted. OnLive's current initiatives will...
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We've covered OnLive, the plucky little cloud gaming company that recently partnered with Ouya and had plans to drive cloud gaming to a ubiquitous future. Now, that future is suddenly in doubt; a report from Mashable claims that the entire company's staff has been fired. Reports from Twitter and Kotaku have backed up the claim. OnLive will reportedly close by the end of the day and is planning to file for bankruptcy. Kotaku quotes one employee as writing: "by the end of the day today, OnLive as an entity will no longer exist. Unfortunately, my job and everyone else's was included. A new company will be formed and the management of the company will be in contact with you about the current initiatives...
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One of the biggest questions swirling around the Kickstarter-funded Ouya console is whether the device would be able to build an adequate game library. Ouya explicitly eschews the vendor lockdown imposed by Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, in favor of a hackable architecture. You're encouraged to buy the product, take it home, and modify it to your heart's content -- and therein lies the problem. Publishers are notoriously wary of piracy, and Ouya is designed for the kinds of modifications that make piracy a cinch. Today, the cloud gaming service OnLive answered a substantial portion of that question. The company's announcement reads: OUYA is rethinking the console business, making waves by using...
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For better or worse, cloud gaming seems to be the next major "thing" in gaming as a whole. A few years ago, motion gaming was it. Now that we've embraced that (and to some extent, 3D), companies like Sony are investing heavily in the cloud. But it's not just Sony. Marvell and OnLive have teamed up to push the notion one step further. OnLive is utilizing Marvell's Armada 1500 HD Media System-On-Chip to power on-demand gaming in Google TV devices. Looking for company takes on the news? "I believe this is a major breakthrough that demonstrates Google TV's progress in addressing the interactive big screen for any type of live content. We are thrilled to collaborate with OnLive in transforming any...
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It looks like cloud gaming service OnLive was holding back on us, waiting for the E3 show to unleash some tasty new features and games. New games coming to the service include Aliens: Colonial Marines, The Cave, Darksiders II, Hell Yeah!, Hitman: Absolution, Inversion, London 2012 – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games, Metro: Last Light, Ravaged, Saints Row: The Third: Enter the Dominatrix, Sid Meier's Civilization V: Gods & Kings, and South Park: The Stick of Truth. But the games are just the tip of the iceberg. OnLive is also demoing games on Google TV-packing LG G2 Smart TVs. The TVs boast LG’s L9 dual-core processor and, with OnLive running directly on them, would...
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OnLive seems to be the only online gaming persona still out there with a cloud focus that's keeping on track, with many other cloud-based gaming outfits folding as demand faltered. But OnLive is branching out into all sorts of new things, including a new Desktop App for Android tablets, which brings full Microsoft Office apps, Adobe Reader and -- with OnLive Desktop Plus service -- gigabit-speed accelerated browsing regardless of the tablet's local Internet speed and local computing capability. It's a free app, and it's out now in the Android Market exclusively for tablets. It promises Office compatibility that Android users have longed for, and if you pony up the extra $4.99/month for the Plus...
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OnLive is on quite a tear. Emerging out of beta less than two years ago with a cloud gaming service, OnLive has already far exceeded its original scope. The initial service rollout was followed by gaming hardware for the TV, mobile capabilities, integration with a number of different types of devices, and even rumors of a Netflix rival movie streaming service. Last month, OnLive unveiled OnLive Desktop, an iPad app that effectively delivered a Windows 7 desktop experience, complete with full-featured Microsoft Office applications and a modicum of storage, via OnLive’s cloud, bringing it into an entirely new market. Now, the company is making something possible with OnLive Desktop Plus on iOS...
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For a phone that's geared for playing, there hasn't been a lot of playful news surrounding it of late. But that's changing today. OnLive has delivered a new app update that brings console-class gaming to Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play smartphone. The company best known for cloud-based gaming announced that its free OnLive app for Android has been updated to support the slide-out game controls on the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY smartphone, enabling gameplay of almost all OnLive games, including the latest AAA console-class titles. The Xperia PLAY combines Android smartphone touchscreen control with what every console gamers dreams of: slide-out dedicated gaming keys, analog touch joysticks and shoulder...
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Cloud gaming company OnLive already lets you game on your computer or HDTV (via an OnLive device), but now its service is expanding to include mobile devices, as well. The company announced today that it is now bringing ”console-class gaming” to smartphones and tablets, enabling gamers to remain transfixed on their games even when out and about and giving anyone who enjoys gaming a good excuse for buying a tablet. The new mobile capabilities allow users to game via WiFi or a 4G data connection using a free app that is available from the OnLive website or app stores. A number of popular titles have been converted to allow for a touch interface, but you can also use the OnLive wireless...
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Last week, we covered GameStop's decision to first pull coupons from Deus Ex: Human Revolution from game boxes and the company's subsequent decision to stop selling the game altogether until Square Enix provided it with boxed versions that didn't include a coupon for OnLive's gaming service. Now, GameStop has pulled an about-face and is offering a public apology along with other goodies for gamers who bought a copy of the game and didn't get the OnLive coupon. The company has sent out the following letter:Earlier this week, GameStop removed a competitor's coupon from standard edition PC versions of Deus Ex: Human Revolution, a recent release by Square Enix. We were not aware that the product...
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Most companies, when caught removing something from a game box that the publisher meant to put there, might express shame or at least pretend it was an accident. Not GameStop. Yesterday, news broke that the massive retailer had given orders to open all copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution and remove the coupon for a free copy of the game, courtesy of OnLive. OnLive, for those of you who aren't familiar with it, is a gaming service that streams titles to a diminutive MicroConsole (if you want to play on a TV), or can be set up to stream titles directly to a Mac/PC. It's an online service that purports to be the future of gaming through digital download, and while it's not exactly in Steam's league,...
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Could OnLive get any bigger? Maybe. This start-up company has been all over the tech news with the release of their MicroConsole, which enables games to be played from anywhere that a broadband connection and HDTV is available. But it looks like the company may not be satisfied with stopping there. Gaming is a big industry, no doubt, but there's more to be had in the content universe. With Netflix being the dominant content streamer out there, OnLive is reportedly considering a rival service. OnLive Chief Executive Steve Perlman recently stated: "Streaming technology is available to anybody. We want to work with the studios. All of these guys want to offer content, we're just here to distribute....
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Is there a future to online game streaming? Maybe. InstantAction was recently forced to shut their doors after their embedded gaming platform didn't catch on, but OnLive seems to be onto something. The idea of being able to plug a simple box into a broadband connection and then stream any major title available is definitely appealing, but we have a long way to go before consumers are willing to go over the expectations of needing a physical console nearby to play a game. The MicroConsole, introduced this week, could go a long way to changing that perception though. The mini console is coming along with an attractive $9.99 per month flat-rate video game plan, which is titled "PlayPack." It's available...
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The annals of history are filled with the wreckage of gaming consoles, their darkling masoleums* lit only dimly in the candle of nostalgia. The barriers to entry are such that even being in the right place at the right time is insufficient; would-be contenders must achieve both of these prerequisites and secure the funding of a multi-million dollar corporation. Despite such difficulties, there's a new face in the PC/HDTV gaming market and an intriguing new service launching in the next few weeks. The microconsole is about the same size as an iPhone Newcomer OnLive, which launched its streaming game service this past summer, has designed what they call a microconsole (the name is apt), paired...
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Just when you were beginning to think "vaporware," OnLive has delivered in the clutch. Nearly a year after being introduced to the world as the future of remote gaming, this service has finally left the "informational" stage at the GDC Expo in California. For those who missed out on last year's news, OnLive is basically an online streaming service that enables users to play games regardless of their location, so long as their home Internet connection has enough upload speed to push content to your current location. Announced this morning in a San Francisco presentation, OnLive has finally opened up to the public after eight full years of development. Starting on June 17, 2010 (during E3), the...
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A new video game company is attempting to compete with the big three console makers by creating a “cloud-based” gaming system with on-demand access to games and no lag time. The company, called OnLive, says its service will let users play games on any TV and nearly any personal computer, even stripped-down models such as netbooks and PCs that lack graphics processors. OnLive’s MicroConsole for TVs is slightly larger than an iPhone. It connects TVs and broadband connections to the OnLive service. Once connected to the Internet, OnLive delivers games run on servers in the cloud rather than on your local PC. These servers do the heavy processing and can stream the game play with just one millisecond...
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