Pandora For Online Gaming

[zohnnyg]

As crazy as it still seems, Onlive (http://www.onlive.com/service.html) now claim their games will work on phones. So you could actually be playing the latest PC games on the Pandora if the plugin is made available for ARM.

Interesting because it is highly likely that the service will be blocked by Sony/Nintendo/Other console manufacturers. Not by us though, I might actually send onlive a Pandora with a crate of beer attached.

wooot! go for it cragix! ive been watching onlive news since it was announced. i never even thought of it running on pandora. that would be awesome! onlives competitors are these guys for anyone curious www.gaikai.com and www.otoy.com

 

[emil10001]

It seems I mixed up On-Live and Streammygame regarding beta-testing in the other thread. On-Live is not the only promising platform to enable remote gaming.
http://www.gp32x.de...n-uve-got-wifi/

That's true, but the big difference with OnLive is that you don't need to host the game yourself. You are playing games that are being processed on one of OnLive's servers. It also looks like it'll be a subscription to get you into any of their collection of games, although that's just a guess. I would certainly pay for a subscription to something like that, especially if it runs well on the pandora. For StreamMyGame, I'm not sure that I would even be able to use it, since I don't have a box that runs windows. Also, OnLive would give me access to games that I would normally not have access to (since I don't run windows). From my perspective, OnLive has a lot of potential value, whereas StreamMyGame has little potential value (again, just for me).

EDIT: It looks like it's not a subscription, rather you have the option to buy, rent or demo the game. I'm not sure that I like that idea as much as just a monthly subscription.

 

[mali]

Oh, I see. I didn't do any research. It was just something I read casually while surfing the web. So you are basically renting the game and the server?(Just saw your edit)

 

[juniorm33]

I believe it's up to the publisher from what I remember from vid.
Sounds like there could be lots of models (rent, buy, subscription, combination?). He did mention subscription though.

 

[emil10001]

Oh, I see. I didn't do any research. It was just something I read casually while surfing the web. So you are basically renting the game and the server?(Just saw your edit)

I just finished watching an hour-long presentation about it. Basically the model is this, you pay a subscription fee for access to OnLive, then it's up to the game publishers to charge for content. Demos are free, then there will be rentals, purchases, subscriptions, episodic purchases (buy a level at a time), or whatever else the publisher decides to do. (They likened their model to xbox live, where you pay to get gold live service, and then pay for content as well, where content does not have a flat rate.) I don't really think that I'd ever want to buy a game on such a service, just in case the company went out of business, I would lose access to my content. But rentals or subscriptions I would be interested in. They are also only in beta right now, so my guess is that their pricing structure could change.

In terms of how it works, it's pretty complicated, but basically they are leasing servers (upgrading to the latest and greatest hardware every 6 months) and running virtual machines for the games. Higher-end games might get an entire gpu, mid-range games might share a gpu, and low-end games may even be run on the cpu. They have put a lot into limiting the latency to 80ms (what they feel is not perceptible), and have a special algorithm and video codec that is hardware encoded on their end for gaming, as well as a second stream that is hardware encoded for viewing clips of the game (played by you or someone else). Apparently, they designed the live gaming stream such that it works with a connection that's not completely reliable, and as long as you've got a 1.5mbps (SD) or 5mbps (HD) connection you're good to go.

From there, the game is the game. They talked about sports tournaments where they would get teams of players to play against each other, and then multi-cast the game to up to 100,000 people, who all feed in their voices back to the game for a live stadium effect.

One issue at the moment appears to be a lack of linux support. They have iphone support (looked like he was playing a game from his iphone), but we'll have to wait and see if we get supported. Hopefully Craig sends some good beer.

 

[juniorm33]

I think regardless if it's a long term success or not, after watching the vid I think it would be a good idea if OP sent them a Pandora. It would be another thing to say it can do and is supported, and free marketing also.
You could only really play over a WIFI connection, but even then that would be a good selling point.
When Craig mentioned it I was a bit suspect until I watched the vid, I'm not saying its going to be perfect or anything, I think there's enough there to get on board with though, instead of him only showing an iphone, he could whip out the Pandora and say and well you thought that was amazing, look at this!

They played a couple games via the iphone (burnout and mirrors edge from memory), but he said that it's really only for spectating/watching brag clips etc at the moment though.

 

[Trip]

They played a couple games via the iphone (burnout and mirrors edge from memory), but he said that it's really only for spectating/watching brag clips etc at the moment though.

That's mainly due to phones trying to run it over 3G connections and not having decent controls though, not the lack of power needed to run the software

 

[juniorm33]

That's mainly due to phones trying to run it over 3G connections and not having decent controls though, not the lack of power needed to run the software

Yea sorry I should've made that clear.
That's why it can only really be played over WIFI.
Could you imagine if he pulled out a Pandora with those controls after showing the iphone, it would've just been amazing. :lol:

 

[Trip]

Could you imagine if he pulled out a Pandora with those controls after showing the iphone, it would've just been amazing. :lol:

People will finely shut the hell up about playing Crysis on the Pandora

 

[juniorm33]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Vlynndar]

Could you imagine if he pulled out a Pandora with those controls after showing the iphone, it would've just been amazing. :lol:

People will finely shut the hell up about playing Crysis on the Pandora

Been thinking about that.
Show it to someone, rave about how good it is and can barely emulate old consoles. Wait for him to ask, "ah, but will it run crysis?"
Pull it out of a pocket, open it and show him the screen.
"Yes."

 

[Pleng]

Ye coz they'll be well chuffed shelling out for the console based on the fact that they'll be able to play Crysis on the move only to find out that they need to be AT HOME (where, of course, they could be playing it on the big screen) or at leat in range of an accessible internet connection to play it in the first place

 

[DaMummy]

dude its frickin crysis on a frickin pandora......dude!

 

[Pleng]

I have no idea what Crysis actually is. I'm just saying, you know. Sounds like the kind of marketing ploy somebody like Apple might use.

 

[juniorm33]

I have no idea what Crysis actually is. I'm just saying, you know. Sounds like the kind of marketing ploy somebody like Apple might use.

As long as it's made clear WIFI is required, it gives further options and I'm sure a few people has access to one a lot of the time.

Or even the ability to play games in bed or something.

 

[Vlynndar]

I have no idea what Crysis actually is. I'm just saying, you know. Sounds like the kind of marketing ploy somebody like Apple might use.

Crysis is a game. With graphics such that you need, according to who you listen to, a hypothetical supercomputer FROM SPACE or a computer you paid for with your soul. And even those cry trying to run it.

It is very, very pretty. (Sure, people will disagree with me. Aren't opinions lovely :lol

 

[mali]

I got Crysis as a Christmas present in 2007. My laptop was too weak for it so I bought a new one. I played it for 10min or so and put the DVD back into it's case. It's collecting dust since then. Military FPS are just not my thing :huh:

 

[WhiteBat]

I bet you could play it without that service. Yes most modern computers suffer while playing crysis, but not at 800x480 resolution
Just use your own computer with that streaming software we talked about before (I cant find the thread)
Seeing as your most likely limited to your house to use that service, i dont see how you couldn't just use your own computer instead. (i don't recall starbucks having high-speed broadband)

 

[Trip]

I bet you could play it without that service. Yes most modern computers suffer while playing crysis, but not at 800x480 resolution
Just use your own computer with that streaming software we talked about before (I cant find the thread)
Seeing as your most likely limited to your house to use that service, i dont see how you couldn't just use your own computer instead. (i don't recall starbucks having high-speed broadband)

You could play it with StreamMyGame, but you would need a PC that's fast enough to run it + an even faster PC if you want to run it with all the effects enabled and you would be tied to using your home network.

OnLive would allow you to play it at the right speed, with all the effects enabled and from anywhere with a wired or fast enough wireless Internet connection.

OnLive wins hands down when it comes to playing something like Crysis

 

[kattle87]

Crysis on Pandora = that kind of marketing TONS of companies do.

On the other side: playing those things on a 3G connection is really problematic I think. For what I know, 3G suffers for bad pings, a little packet loss, and the connection is not really stable (at least here in Italy).

Getting a port of OnLive on the Pandora would be an AMAZING way to get attention. Craigx, if you want, I can send you some italian liquor to attach, too