Onlive Streaming Gaming Service Enters Open Beta - Looking for a few good broadband-connected guinea pigs - dslreports.com

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Onlive Streaming Gaming Service Enters Open Beta
Looking for a few good broadband-connected guinea pigs
08:44AM Friday Sep 04 2009 by Karl Bode
tags: business · gaming · bandwidth

Back in March a company by the name of OnLive unveiled their new broadband gaming service, which aims to replace the traditional game console with a broadband-connected dumb terminal. Under the system, which has been proposed in various forums for years now, major title games are completely streamed over your broadband connection -- for a monthly subscription fee.

Initial demonstrations were on closed networks, and of course everyone wants to see this service in the real world -- where the company admits you'll need to live within 1,000 miles of a data center. Those interested should know the company just entered open beta and is looking for broadband volunteers, who'll need to obviously specify their system and broadband connection specs before participating. OnLive CEO Steve Perlman blogs:

Click for full size

When you sign up for OnLive Beta, you tell us some general information about your ISP, your computer configuration and your location. We use this information to organize Beta testers into test groups so that our engineering team can focus at different times on testing different situations.

If you are a potential fit for a particular test group, we’ll send you an invitation email, asking you to run a detailed Performance Test on your network connection and your computer configuration. The results of the Performance Test will then feed back up to OnLive, and if you are a fit for a test group at some point during Beta, we’ll let you install the OnLive plug-in into your browser. Then, we’ll ask you to spend some time playing…um, I mean…testing games OnLive.

Hopefully you don't have monthly caps.

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Forums » Onlive Streaming Gaming Service Enters Open Beta


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Cheese Premium join:2003-10-26 Naples, FL clubs:	Well.... 1000 feet is going to rule out a LOT of people and this service will ultimately fail IMO.
	permalink · 2009-09-04 08:54:26 ·

OSIU Where is my "change"? Premium join:2003-11-12 00000 clubs:	Uhhhhhh.. 1,000 miles (1st sentence of the second paragraph).
	permalink · 2009-09-04 08:59:57 ·

Cheese Premium join:2003-10-26 Naples, FL clubs:	Re: Uhhhhhh.. said by OSIU : 1,000 miles (1st sentence of the second paragraph). Er yea, still to early
	permalink · 2009-09-04 09:03:45 ·

kapil The Kapil join:2000-04-26 Chicago, IL	O RLY? Video streaming, games delivered over broadband, Voice over IP. Someone should let the ISPs know that they're just dumb pipe providers because I have a feeling that they'll have something to say about that. -- »www.VoIPTrunk.com
	permalink · 2009-09-04 09:14:00 ·

dlewis23

join:2005-04-18
Boca Raton, FL

Re: O RLY?

said by kapil

:

Video streaming, games delivered over broadband, Voice over IP. Someone should let the ISPs know that they're just dumb pipe providers because I have a feeling that they'll have something to say about that.

Actually most ISP would probably like this, because I have a feeling that onlive is going to have to go around and sell this service to them so they can in turn resell it to the customer as a bundled item that will not eat away your bandwidth cap.

Plus onlive is probably going to have to get on ISP's networks to avoid latency.

The HD version can eat up to 1650 GB of bandwidth per month.

Even someone playing for 1/8 of a month would eat 206 GB of bandwidth.

This is going to make peoples bills much higher, so onlive is going to have to do something with the ISP to work on that.

permalink · 2009-09-04 10:04:50 · Print ·

Mattie_B

join:2008-05-16

Re: O RLY?

said by dlewis23

:

said by kapil

:

Video streaming, games delivered over broadband, Voice over IP. Someone should let the ISPs know that they're just dumb pipe providers because I have a feeling that they'll have something to say about that.

Actually most ISP would probably like this, because I have a feeling that onlive is going to have to go around and sell this service to them so they can in turn resell it to the customer as a bundled item that will not eat away your bandwidth cap.

Plus onlive is probably going to have to get on ISP's networks to avoid latency.

The HD version can eat up to 1650 GB of bandwidth per month.

Even someone playing for 1/8 of a month would eat 206 GB of bandwidth.

This is going to make peoples bills much higher, so onlive is going to have to do something with the ISP to work on that.

If they resold this service to ISP's and bundled it with their packages, without going against your cap wouldn't that be part of this whole Net Neutrality debate?

permalink · 2009-09-04 11:46:28 · Print ·

dlewis23 join:2005-04-18 Boca Raton, FL	Re: O RLY? Yea kinda. But how else are they going to do it? Onlive is never going to work when ISP's have caps. Even if comcast had a 1TB cap, there are a lot of people who would blow through that just based on this service.
	permalink · 2009-09-04 11:54:02 ·

Mattie_B

join:2008-05-16

Re: O RLY?

said by dlewis23

:

Yea kinda. But how else are they going to do it? Onlive is never going to work when ISP's have caps. Even if comcast had a 1TB cap, there are a lot of people who would blow through that just based on this service.

Don't get me wrong I completely agree. A service this bandwidth intensive will never work with these caps in place. I watched their original press conference and they downplayed the whole cap situation.

I personally don't think its even going to work. It's a nice idea but I don't think it will work in the real world.

permalink · 2009-09-04 18:16:33 · Print ·

KrK Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy Premium join:2000-01-17 Tulsa, OK	They have plans to deal with upstarts like this. It's called Caps, and high overages.
	permalink · 2009-09-04 23:17:12 ·

Tristan

join:2006-09-10
Nepean, ON

·Rogers Hi-Speed

Why?

But I don't want to be online in order to play video games, nor do I want my gaming experience to be jeopardized by a sometimes-slow, sometimes-down internet connection.

What is the point of this again? When it comes to video games, I buy the titles I like, and if I really liked the game, I'll play it again down the road. I like the DVD and Blu-ray formats for software delivery, because it puts the access to the game in my hand, not in the hand of some company that could choose to pull the content because they decide it's too old or because of some other criteria.

I also like to be able to sell my used games down the road should I feel the urge.

The concept is akin to DRM, except that it will deliver an even worse experience for some people. Remember what happened when Microsoft shuttered their music store?

In other words, not in my house! There is no value in the service for me. If it became the last refuge for gamers, I'd focus on buying games for older systems (PS2, PS3) - there's nothing wrong with these systems, and the games are fun.

permalink · 2009-09-04 09:30:02 · Print ·

Skippy25 join:2000-09-13 Hazelwood, MO	Re: Why? Well there ya go.... Tristan has made it very clear he/she does not want it so OnLive needs to pack it up and find another business to get into.
	permalink · 2009-09-04 19:20:11 ·

TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ

·Sprint Mobile Broa..

New source of non-stop gamer complaints to ISPs

Gamers already heavily complain about ping times(latency) where the games are limited to sending update info compressed in to coordinates. Now with this new service, the game will be sending screen updates and screen handling won't be done purely by a local application. Needless to say latency will be even more critical with this service.

I can just see the customer service call to the ISP. "My game is sucking big time and I keep getting shot and it is all because of your lousy service where my pings are 103 ms. And Onlive Streaming says I am at 999 miles from data center and I should work just fine. So it is all your fault and I am calling my Congressman because you are a crummy monopoly and that is why my ping times suck."
--
My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page

permalink · 2009-09-04 09:31:14 · Print ·

truth

join:2009-08-29

Re: New source of non-stop gamer complaints to ISPs

Hmmm maybe the complaints would stop if the ISP ever bothered to upgrade their equipment to handle the demand? Maybe they're hoping the squeaky wheel gets the grease? Perhaps they should just think about the stockholder's dividends and just shut up?

Actually 100ms is pretty lousy for only traveling 1,000 miles. Any decent ISP should be able to manage ~50ms over 1,500 miles. One side of the US to the other should be about 100ms.

permalink · 2009-09-04 10:14:37 ·

TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ

·Sprint Mobile Broa..

Re: New source of non-stop gamer complaints to ISPs

said by truth

:

Actually 100ms is pretty lousy for only traveling 1,000 miles. Any decent ISP should be able to manage ~50ms over 1,500 miles. One side of the US to the other should be about 100ms.

Those are average numbers. And games live & die on max delay times. Onlive games are by the very nature of their business plan going to deliver a worse service than existing games platforms.

P.S.>> from whois displays of Onlive IP addresses, it appears that Amazon's EC2 cloud service will be providing the infrastructure.
--
My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page

permalink · 2009-09-04 10:34:03 · Print ·

DrModem
Premium
join:2006-10-19
USA

Re: New source of non-stop gamer complaints to ISPs

That's 50ms to onlive, on top of 50ms+ more when playing on internet servers.

Now you say, most gamers can play fine with 100ms, and that is true. But for those gamers currently playing with 100ms, it is from whatever machine they are using(PC, console) direct to the server they are playing on. Onlive introduces controller lag, because your controller is 50ms away from the actual gaming machine. And you will feel it. And it will be terrible.

And unless there are special "Onlive Users Only" servers for games, like there are console only servers, it will be an extreme experience in frustration, because all your opponents will not have any controller lag, just net lag, and they will be completely dominating you because of it.

You will even be being beaten by people on dialup.

Most likely anyone who uses onlive will quit it and end up getting a console or a PC, or just stop gaming. And gamers who already have consoles or PCs will not use Onlive period because of what I just detailed.

permalink · 2009-09-04 10:41:20 · Print ·

KrK Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy Premium join:2000-01-17 Tulsa, OK ·AT&T Yahoo ·AT&T DSL Service ·Cox HSI ·AT&T Southwest	Re: New source of non-stop gamer complaints to ISPs I tend to agree.... I don't see how this is going to work out. Lag will be an absolute bitch kitty on this setup. On the positive side, all he pansy-cheating wusses will be SOL. -- "Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
	permalink · 2009-09-04 23:23:23 ·

DrModem Premium join:2006-10-19 USA ·EarthLink ·1and1 ·PeoplePC	Re: New source of non-stop gamer complaints to ISPs said by KrK : On the positive side, all he pansy-cheating wusses will be SOL. Lol, how much you wanna bet? There are hacks for everything including consoles and browser games. Onlive shouldn't be any different. Enterprising game hackers will be working round the clock for ego points if anything.
	permalink · 2009-09-05 10:46:05 ·

KrK Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy Premium join:2000-01-17 Tulsa, OK ·AT&T Yahoo ·AT&T DSL Service ·Cox HSI ·AT&T Southwest	Re: New source of non-stop gamer complaints to ISPs Well, with all the action happening on the server, and just your control inputs on your end, I see it being hard to cheat. No "Head Shots while flying thru the air spinning by a guy with a pistol across the map." -- "Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
	permalink · 2009-09-06 02:23:25 ·

truth

join:2009-08-29

Average ping time should be close to what its lowest time is. There shouldn't be any huge fluctuation over time. I get 50ms ping to servers 1,500 miles away and that's consistent over a span of many hours. There shouldn't be fluctuation by more than 10ms at most over a period of time. That is if the ISP cares enough to invest in the network to meet demand - barring anything major like the backbone provider having problems.

Trust me I'm not trying to defend the onlive system because even with a 10-20ms to their server I still think it would be a bad experience. Just wanted to put some accurate numbers with regards to ping and distance out there.

permalink · 2009-09-04 11:00:32 · Print ·

digitalfreak join:2005-12-09 49533	said by TKJunkMail : So it is all your fault and I am calling my Congressman because you are a crummy monopoly and that is why my ping times suck. That sums it up the issue perfectly.
	permalink · 2009-09-04 15:33:31 ·

munky99999 Munky join:2004-04-10 canada clubs:	Congestion If the ISPs are complaining about massive congestion to where they need to throttle all the time. Add on top of that; the extremely low level of caps on ISPs. Wont be long until the ISPs start sending out very very large bills due to high usage and poor networks requiring constant resending of data.
	permalink · 2009-09-04 10:19:37 ·

DrModem
Premium
join:2006-10-19
USA

Fail

You'd be better off saving your monthly fee and spend $600-800 to buy a real gaming computer...

Because with a real computer, you can do all the games onlive can, and more stuff, with no monthly fee, no having to have an ultramegafast connection, and no gameplay-crippling control latency, and no having to stop playing games when your internet inevitably crashes or is congested.

And best of all, when onlive dies after people realize how unusable it is for what they thought it could do, you won't lose any games.

We are no longer live in a world where it costs $2,000+ to build a really fast computer.

permalink · 2009-09-04 10:31:00 · Print ·

Cthen

join:2004-08-01
Ypsilanti, MI

Re: Fail

So agree there.

Also there is a plethora free games out there that aren't just your typical web based applications. Then there is the other free gaming market that are total separate game applications themselves. All for free and no monthly fees. Hell, you don't even need to live close by to play them either.

Looks like to me a few execs got together and created themselves a paycheck rather than starting a real company. Did the Phantom console not teach anyone something?

--
"I like to refer to myself as an Adult Film Efficienato." - Stuart Bondek

permalink · 2009-09-04 11:47:03 · Print ·

Smith6612
Premium
join:2008-02-01
united state

·Verizon Online DSL

·FrontierNet Intern..

FAIL Routing

Heck if both of my DSL providers didn't insist on taking me to New York City (Verizon) or New Jersey (Frontier) bringing my latency up to a minimum of 22ms and adding in a 400+ mile long loop and local peering was much better, if OnLive had some of their servers in my area that would be great. Too bad I'm more likely to go to NYC and bite the latency as I always have to do. Heck for me to ping some local servers in my area in data centers, I'll ping 70ms to them :\

Heck just for me to ping the nearest Limelight or Akamai server, I have to go to NYC and I'm already at 22ms. They do have some servers in my area in which T1 lines are pinging below 4ms to them.
--
It's all fun and games in a Team Fortress 2 battle until your sentry gun is sapped by the Spycrab!

permalink · 2009-09-04 12:25:25 · Print ·

Captain456 @gci.com	Re: FAIL Routing A server on a T1? what is this 1991?
	permalink · 2009-09-04 19:56:05 ·

ctceo
Premium
join:2001-04-26
South Bend, IN
clubs:

·magicjack.com

·HughesNet Satellit..

Overpriced & Underrated

These services usually fail by design. Either the price of the game rental or the time cost to use the service monthly. In this case it will be bandwidth. Who wants to possibly pay twice for a game, or rather the game and the cost to download it, and then have to pay yet AGAIN their monthly internet costs.

It reminds me of a service Comcast had once.
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sega_Channel

FAIL!

Please read the petition.
--
Would you like your ISP to govern how much you can use the web in a month? Well it might happen if we don't do something NOW! »www.ipetitions.com/petition/PMDBI/

permalink · 2009-09-04 18:28:42 · Print ·

gmoney_indy join:2004-01-29 Fishers, IN	Not an Open Beta, Karl It's still invitation only. It's just a Beta...not an Open Beta. That signup page has been there for months, btw. Just didn't want people thinking they could just sign on and play, cause you can't yet.
	permalink · 2009-09-04 19:01:13 ·

Natedog321 join:2001-01-10 Newburgh, NY clubs:	ahh memories sega channel was f'ing amazing
	permalink · 2009-09-05 23:40:54 ·

yolarry join:2007-12-29 Creston, WV	No CD-ROM? then no sale.
	permalink · 2009-09-06 00:23:57 ·

axiomatic join:2006-08-23 Tomball, TX	To the haters. All you "haters" need to get on board with this service as it is an excellent mechanism to bust down these ridiculous ISP bandwidth caps. I see the bandwidth caps as a clear net neutrality violation for this "onlive" company to be able to burgeon its business. Most of the "haters" on here claim to be pro-business. So put your money where your mouth is on this topic. Caps are bad.
	permalink · 2009-09-08 11:25:31 ·

your comment..

Forums » Onlive Streaming Gaming Service Enters Open Beta


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