Upon arriving at OnLive's booth, I noticed that their big news was proudly on
display just about everywhere...the ability to play OnLive on iOS and Android
devices. It was pretty amazing to be able to play PC games on the Android HTC
Flyer, Motorola Xoom, and (of course) Apple's iPad. Fans will already tell you
that Apps are available to let you 'watch' others having fun playing inside
OnLive's cloud, but finally being able to jump in anywhere, anytime using either
touchscreen or a wireless Bluetooth (universal) controller
While the tablets will feature on-screen touch controls, a Bluetooth
controller is obviously the only way to truly enjoy these games. The App will be
free and you will have to pay for the games, but players can preview any game
for a half an hour for free, and there will be a subscription service available
to play all the games.
Those thinking that the tablets won't have all the titles the PC and HDTV
gamers have access to can think again, as the tablet versions give access to
virtually all the games currently available on the home service. So you can
expect to see heavy hitters like Duke Nukem Forever, Deus Ex: Human Revolution
and F.E.A.R. 3. And to make things even better, OnLive also added the use
Bluetooth headsets, so gamers can use two-way and multi-player chat for
team-based game play. Also, the iOS or Android app can compete with any OnLive
gamer playing on PC, Mac, or on their HDTV, so there's no restrictions on who
you can play against.
The demo we experienced at the show was incredibly smooth and responsive, not
things every OnLive subscriber has experienced in their own personal experiences
with the cloud-based services, but OnLive assures us they're beefing up the
number of available servers to accommodate new players. I wasn't able to confirm
if gaming would be available through both WiFi and 3G services, but considering
the expanding costs of cellular service data plans - not to mention lag - I
think most gamers would agree that WiFi is definitely the way to go here.
OnLive wasn't sure when they'd be releasing either Apps or Bluetooth
controllers, but said they were coming soon. They also didn't say how much the
controller would be except that it would be reasonably priced. Based on what
I've seen, I'm guessing it'll fall into the $30 to $50 range.
