OnLive to Offer On Demand Gaming Without a Graphics Card

Imagine playing Crysis or Half-Life 3 on your computer, laptop, netbook, or TV - without having a fancy graphics card or 2GB+ of memory. This all is becoming true this winter when OnLive, unleashes its cloud gaming service. The days of high powered gaming rigs are no more, meet the new way to game and new digital distribution service.

OnLive's CEO Steve Perlman presented the OnLive service at SF Museum of Modern Art on Tuesday night to a room full of high-end developers and journalists. The "Games on Demand" service offers instant access with no downloading or patching required to all of the high-end games. The CEO demoed the service on an old Macbook, TV, and a Dell Studio 15. The service worked just as well on the old Macbook and TV as it did on the Dell Studio 15. It doesn't matter what the end-device looks like or high much performance it has, the processing and rendering all takes place on the cloud servers at OnLive. Think of it almost like a terminal session that you are playing through.

"OnLive combines the successful components of video games, online distribution and social networking into one affordable, flexible platform that offers a new way for game fans to access and enjoy content," said Mike McGarvey, COO of OnLive. "By substantially lowering the barriers between content and consumers, OnLive has created an environment that is highly beneficial for every facet of the video game ecosystem. With OnLive, gamers can play what they want, when they want, how they want. That level of freedom has never been possible until now."

Once you click on a game from the "Games Icon" in the system you can choose to Buy the Game now or even demo it before buying it. You can also find reviews and trailers for the game there as well as parental ratings and more. Another cool feature is when you stop playing a game, you can always pick up where you left off - even if the game itself doesn't support it - OnLive makes it happen. Think of like "Pausing" a virtual machine. This is similar to how it would work.

Through a partnership with Epic Games, an industry leading developer of triple-A games and cross-platform game engine technology, the award-winning Unreal Engine 3 is compatible with the OnLive platform. Games leveraging the cutting-edge technology and versatility of the Unreal Engine will easily run on the OnLive service.

Want to show a friend a cool move in Mortal Kombat or want to show someone a live walk-thru in Crysis? OnLive offers 'Brag Clips' which allows players to record and share their live gaming experience - all done with nothing being stored on your computer or TV. Think of OnLive as a "thin client" almost.

How does all of this work? A small bit of hardware is required if using a TV. You'll have to use a small hardware box about the size of an iPhone which plugs up to your Ethernet, TV, Keyboard and Mouse. If you're using a computer, no hardware device will be needed - all that is required is a 1MB plug-in for your web browser. After that, you are ready to begin playing games. No other software or installs required. You'll need a connection with a 5MB download speed in order to play games at 60FPS with a 720p resolution. If you have a slower connection, the service can automatically adjust the resolution and FPS to match it.

The OnLive Game Service will be offered through a monthly subscription in Winter 2009. OnLive will be available in a variety of different pricing packages and tiers, competitively priced to retail.

More Information: OnLive.com