OnLive Cloud Gaming Console Review

This week I’ve been spending some time with the Cloud Gaming console from OnLive, while there service has been available for a while now and many of you will be at least familiar with the name, even if you haven’t tried the product.

While everyone leaped on to review this product at launch, I thought it seemed fitting to test it once it has its feel on the ground, all the hype has settled and the service has got into its stride in terms of both user base and its network having undergone countless hours of playtime, making this what I think the perfect time to review the system and reflect on its long term performance.

I’m already a big fan of the OnLive gaming service, which you can download on your PC, Mac, Smartphone, Tablets and even some TV’s have built in support (although non in the UK that I am aware of).

I’ve already been happily playing my way thought a couple of titles late last year via OnLive on my PC, I even managed a little go of Dirt 3 on a HTC Desire, now that was a unique ( and somewhat difficult to control) experience, but the real potential for OnLive is in the shape of their console, which is what we will be focusing on today, just like an Xbox, Playstation or any other console for that matter its a case of hooking it into your TV with a HDMI cable, plugging in your controller and playing a game, so start by taking a look at what OnLive has to offer with their system and then we’ll see how I got on with a selection of games.

OnLive.co.uk – “Founded by noted technology entrepreneur Steve Perlman (WebTV, QuickTime) and incubated within the Rearden media and technology incubator, OnLive spent seven years in stealth development before officially unveiling in March 2009.

OnLive, together with its Mova subsidiary, lies directly at the nexus of several key trends, all of which are reshaping the way we think about and use digital media:

• The shift to cloud computing, displacing the limitations, cost and complexity of local computing;
• An explosion of consumer broadband connectivity, bringing fast bandwidth to the home;
• Unprecedented innovation, creativity and expansion within the video game market.

Pioneering the delivery of rich interactive media to the home and beyond, OnLive is changing the way entertainment applications are created, delivered and consumed.”

The main console its self comes in this gorgeous presentation box, while at the end of the day a box is just a box, this one oozes style, with the logo on the front and a simple gloss texture applied make this feel more like something a nice watch would come in rather than a console. 

In the box you will find a whole host of goodies, the OnLive wireless controller, the OnLive gaming system (yes it really is smaller than the controller), some simple setup instructions, a HDMI cable, RJ45 ethernet cable, USB cable and a power adaptor, everything you need to get you started is here.

 One thing I wasn’t expecting was an extra controller, OnLive were kind enough to pack a spare for us, which again comes in a slick presentation box, while the other controller has some kind of built in wireless, this one also comes with a USB dongle that you can use on either PC/Mac or even some Tablets and Smart-phones will pair directly with the controller without the dongle much in the same way you can with the OnLive console its self.

The console its self is a simple looking thing, but if you look closely you can see on the front here we have two USB ports for your controllers and a tiny power button in the centre.

Around the back of the console they have managed to cram in a HDMI and AV port (just below the HDMI), analog (TRS 3.5mm Stereo Mini-jack), an optical out and an Ethernet port, so a big win on connectivity.

The controller is a combitnation of the best features of both the Playstation 3 Dual Shock and the Xbox 360 controller, with a proper 4-point D-pad, dual analogue sticks, and rumble features, all add up to making this one fantastic controller, you’ll also notice a set of multimedia buttons on the controller that you can use to record and playback gaming clips at any point in any game, which are then saved to your account to share with friends on Facebook and other social site.

Around the back of the controller we have two top shoulder buttons and two analogue triggers, which I must say are some of the nicest triggers ever to have grades a console, they have a really smooth action to them that you just don’t find on any other controller, but its a difficult thing to explain until you try them out.

The controller has support for both a rechargeable battery pack or a dual AA battery clip, both were included with the controller.

One of the interesting features of OnLive is that it doesn’t really have a local operating system, while both the console and the software feature a basic login screen and in the case of the console, some basic AV settings, that’s about it, everything else is done in the cloud, so when it comes to browsing menus, selecting games, viewing trailers, the whole thing is a streamed video and dealt with server side, just like the games.

Hit the central OnLive button, either on the menu or on your controller and your presented with a selection of options that allow you to send messages and chat to friends, view your recorded video game clips and quick launch other games from the pause screen, something which I demonstrate in the video at the end of this review.

While graphics options are out of the equations here, you do have a choice on audio, you can disable it altogether, opt for standard stereo output, or if you are playing a compatible game the OnLive console is capable of pushing out 5.1 surround sound, should you have a surround sound capable system of course.

The market place is simple enough to use too, allowing you to browser games by name, genre and rating, watch trailers and even see live video streams of other people playing the game.  It’s also where you can select instant free trials, rentals or of course purchase the game.

Performance is what really matters when it comes to a system like this, that actual hardware under your tv is little more than through put device, it contains a video scaler and some network hardware, but little else, there is no big CPU, no real graphics card to speak of, not even any built in storage, everything you do with OnLive is handled in the cloud with the OnLive data servers, working much in the same way as services like Netflix, Youtube and many other streaming services, the only difference is your playing games.

So when you fire up the console, you need an internet connection, no internet, no games, its as simple as that. When you login, even the startup and menu screens are being streamed to you as video, select a game and OnLive loads your save game on to the server that will be doing that hard work of rendering for you and your game loads and it loads very quickly too.

Graphics are a big part of gaming, thanks to the way OnLive works, there is no concern over having the latest graphics card at your disposal or any other components required for that matter, with games like Batman Arkham city which can require a fairly expensive PC to run being streamed to you at their maximum graphics settings via OnLive.

Obviously this required a good internet connection, while OnLive state that a minimum of 1.5mb connection is required, I get optimal results on a 5mb connection, while services like speedtest.net might say you have a fast connection, it only measures your burst speed, or peek rate, while OnLive requires an internet connection that can handle a sustained download speed and ideally one that doesn’t have a usage cap applied to it, since a short gaming session of two hours is much like streaming 720p movie end to end, your data rates could go through the roof if you don’t have the right package from your internet provider.

Ping time is another important factor to consider here, when you think in terms of the time from your button press on the controller, lets say the accelerator on a car in Dirt 3, to the time that action actually happens on screen on a home console can generally be around 40-60ms, that amount of time includes your TV in put lag, processing and rending time by both the games engine, graphics card and cpu. When using Onlive a good internet connection ping time is vital to enjoying the experience, anything over 150ms will tend to cause a visible delay in response times. Fortunately this isn’t an issue, while it was a problem that was around when OnLive launched, things on their end in terms of rendering time and server speed has definitely improved and brought those times down to something close to consoles, meaning that in all my gameplay, I couldn’t feel any lag compared to playing the games locally on systems like the PS3 and 360.

While some games (at least on my internet connection) suffered from a few video compression artefacts while using the PC software for OnLive this really wasn’t the case on the console version, I don’t know how that is possible, but may have something to do with the dedicated video scaling hardware in the console its self, but playing the PC editions Arkham City and Dirt 3 in HD, with maximum graphics settings on my 46″ TV, with a console the size of my wallet is certainly an impressive technical achievement.

Games available on the service range from casual puzzle titles, indie games and AAA titles like Batman, Dirt, Borderlands, Darksiders and 100’s more, with no need to download or install the games before play you’re able to select a title, pick how you want to play, 30min free trial offers you a timed trial of the game, but instead of a demo, you get the full title for that 30 min, bonus is you can trial the same game over and over as many times as you like, although save games are not maintained in this mode, you can rent a game for 3-5 days for a small amount, meaning you could work your way through the latest Assassins Creed for only a few pounds (or dollars if your from the US) and not have to worry about returning the title once the rental has expired, or you can purchase the title out right, which is a strange concept, considering you don’t actually “get” the title, it just permanently unlocks it on the service.

The last option is the most notable one, the OnLive Playpack, which is essentially a subscription that costs £6.99 ($9.99) a month, which unlocks a whopping 200+ (235 at time of writing) games and OnLive claim this to be “the best deal in gaming” and to be honest, I think they might be right, since I subscribed I have been able to play some amazing titles from this list, ok there is a lot of junk in there too, but more than enough to keep you entertained and way more than enough to justify the asking price of the package.

Please check out the video below, where I demonstrate how easy it is to login and get playing via OnLive, show a little gameplay, some of the menus involved and how quickly you can change games.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEvYEJREc2o&hd=1[/youtube]

Please note the video was captured on the PC software for OnLive using fraps, due to not being able to capture video via the HDMI cable, the overall video quality on both the software and especially the console its self was a lot sharper than is displayed in the video and is in no way an indication of the final video quality the console provided.

While the console its self does appear to be modelled on a door stop, with a really nice gloss finish to it it really stands out, unfortunately so do any finger prints that you will inevitably leave on it, but given how tiny this thing is it snuggles in nicely under you TV in even the smallest of spaces, or in my case, right between my PS3 and 360, just next to me Kinect.  The controller looks and feels just right and the overall style of the interface and menu systems involved mean a big win on style for both the service and the hardware.

You can play on your PC right now by visiting Onlive.co.uk / Onlive.com, or you can pick up a console new for around £60, making this the best value deal in gaming at the moment in so many ways, assuming you’ve got the network capability to handle the service.

There is something magical about the whole setup, when I joined the service it was solely to mock them, prove how much it doesn’t work and how bad it was going to be… then I used it and was forced to eat my own hat, while its in my opinion no replacement for local solutions like games consoles or PC gaming, of which I partake in both regularly, it compliments them perfectly, its just another way of doing things, it provides me with the quickest way of trying demos, its the perfect games rental service and it also provides a way for you to play the latest most graphically intensive PC games on devices like low powered net-books that would struggle to run a PC games from 10 years ago, so for that reason alone I have to award the OnLive games service our Bang For Buck award.

But while you can play these games on your phone (with some titles having built in touch support too) the console is that really shines through, bringing streaming cloud gaming direct to your TV is the most innovative feature here and for that I also award the console its self our Bang for Buck award, a complete library of streaming games for a whole range of budgets.

And as a final thought I can’t wait to see what develops of this technology in the coming years.