What is OnLive?

In short, OnLive is a gaming service unlike any other.

OnLive has the marketing potential to crush existing services such as Xbox Live, the PlayStation Network, WiiWare and Steam. The proprietary hardware associated with all of those platforms (the Xbox, PS3, Wii, Mac, etc) is also under assault by OnLive's combination of a low-cost, dedicated hardware component and a software-only solution for existing Macs and PC's.

It has the technical potential to unite console gamers, PC gamers, Mac gamers and even mobile gamers for the very first time in history.

OnLive is based upon a streaming video technology, similar YouTube. The difference is that the video is actual gameplay footage being rendered in real-time and delivered over the Internet to your screen. A 1.5 Mbps connection is required to display games in SDTV resolution (480i) while 4-5 Mbps will be needed for HDTV resolution (720p/1080i). The input from your keyboard, mouse and/or controller are sent over the Internet, and the gameplay video is transmitted back fast enough to feel as if it's being rendered right in front of you.

A low-cost, hardware MicroConsole is scheduled for release in Winter 2010. This will allow gamers to utilize the OnLive service in combination with a standard television, without owning a computer.

The OnLive home screen gives you direct access to your games and all the community features you expect.

List of known OnLive launch titles: tagg.im/thread/39/list-of-onlive-launch-titles

What are you looking forward to most about OnLive?

Edited 2 years ago