Thursday 26 March 2009

[News] OnLive: Reaction

Just a quick update for you folks!

BBC News have done an article on the upcoming OnLive service, which can be found here

EuroGamer.com have a new article online, as they look to answer the all important question 'Will it ACTUALLY work?'.

Meanwhile, Penny Arcade's Tycho compares OnLive to the Phantom (remember that?), and have posted a new comic strip for the occasion, which is below:

For those of you who don't read Penny Arcade, you really should...

With thanks:
BBC News: Streaming Games Service Launched
Eurogamer: Why OnLive Can't Possibly Work
Penny Arcade: Lunch

Tuesday 24 March 2009

[News] OnLive: A New Era for PC Gaming?

Over in San Fransico at the moment is the Games Developers Conference. Aswell as previews of the new Crytek engine, and new features for the Unreal Engine comes a new little device that could banish the need for upgrading/buying a new PC.

The device I'm talking about is called OnLive. In essence its a little adapter which can be plugged into a low budget PC and yet allows you to play the latest PC games, on their maximum graphical settings.


How does this work? Put it this way, you'll basically be streaming the game via your broadband connection from a server that has the game installed on.

Taken from popular gaming site Kotaku:

Using patented video compression in tandem with algorithms that compensate for lag, jitter and packet loss, OnLive delivers video at up to 720p resolution at frame rates up to 60 frames per second. Of course, the quality of the video feed relies on your connection.

For standard definition television quality, a broadband connection of at least 1.5 megabits per second is required. For HDTV resolution, a connection of at least 5 mbps is needed.

What about lag, you say? OnLive's technology "incubator" Rearden Studios claims that its servers will deliver video feeds that have a ping of less than one millisecond. Its patented video compression technique is also advertised as blazing fast, with video compression taking about one millisecond to process.

All very fancy? It certainley sounds like an interesting product. It also has the big names on board already, such as EA, Atari and Epic Games.

It's currently being beta tested internally, with a possible launch being penned in for the end of this year.

Kotaku have posted 2 Tech Interview videos on their site, the first is below. To view the article and to see the second video, here's the link



For the full article by Kotaku about OnLive can be found here.

What does everyone think? Could this mean no more need to splash the cash on a new gaming rig? Or will the promise of lag-free streaming gaming be too hard to pull off, especally in regards to playing online matches? Post your comments!

With thanks: OnLive Makes PC Upgrades Extinct, Lets you play Crysis on your TV
See OnLive in Action

Monday 23 March 2009

[Update] Playing Catch Up

Well, its been a while!

My apologies for not posting for a while! I've been experiencing PC problems, and have been kept busy with work and whatnot. However, back down to business...

I'm off work for 2 weeks, so I'm going to get new content posted online, and put the finishing touches to a couple of articles I've been writing. One being the 2nd part of the Year Ahead article started back in early February.

The results from the sites first poll are in. Thanks to all those who made their selection.
Leading the way is the 360, with the Wii in last place. Somewhat surprised to see the PSP with 1 more point than the Wii. I'll look at re-doing that particular poll once the site becomes a tad more popular, so that we can hopefully get a few more votes!

In the up and coming weeks I'm going to try my hand at writing preview and reviews, and then posting my attempts on here.

Keep your eyes open for a contest aswell (altho don't expect a super amazing prize!)

Monday 16 March 2009

[News] New Sega Mega Drive set for April

The BLAZE SEGA Mega Drive is dated for the 24th of April 2009 and is available to Pre-order at PLAY.com.

"The Blaze Sega Mega Drive two player console is the ultimate home retro games console, bringing back the glory days of the Sega Mega Drive!

This stylish 2-player console features 15 Sega-licenced games built-in, including Sonic And Knuckles, Alex Kidd, Golden Axe and many more! As well as these built in games, you can use original Mega Drive and Genesis cartridges from all regions!

Easy to set up straight out of the box, the Sega Mega Drive Twin Player Console really is the perfect home retro console."

The console will be delivered by the same company who brought you the SEGA Megadrive Handeld and Megadrive Twin pads.


The console will be delivered by the same company who brought you the SEGA Megadrive Handheld and Megadrive Twin pads at a RRP of £39.99

PLAY.com
SEGA Mega Drive