Game Streaming Coming Soon

[Ian]

A game streaming service called OnLive has been announced at GDC 2009, which promises to deliver high end gaming to low spec PCs, and direct to TV via a small micro-console. All of the processing power that would usually be done on the console/PC is now performed by a computing cloud at a datacentre:

"OnLive, which was started by WebTV founder Steve Perlman and former Eidos CEO Mike McGarvey, is aiming to launch a system--seven years in the works--that will digitally distribute first-run, AAA games from publishers like Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Atari, and others, all at the same time as those titles are released into retail channels. The system is designed to allow players to stream on-demand games at the highest quality onto any Intel-based Mac or PC running XP or Vista, regardless of how powerful the computer.

The system will also stream games directly to a TV via a small plug-in device, and players can use a custom wireless controller as well as VoIP headsets in conjunction with it. "

• More on this at TechRadar here.
• You can join the Beta here if you live in the US (the UK launch hasn't been mentioned yet)
• Official Site
• OnLive Forums
• BBC Article covering OnLive

 

[Ian]

I'm very interested to see if/how this actually works... it seems more like an early April fools joke! I just can't see how this would work without horrible lag (perhaps minesweeper online would work!).