OnLive CEO Provides Details On Cloud Gaming 136
eldavojohn writes "OnLive is a new cloud gaming service that is in beta testing. While it might sound like nothing more than corporate buzzwords creeping over into the gaming world, a new video reveals how the CEO claims his service will work. Perlman explains OnLive's solution to the video game compression problem and talks about the '80 ms latency budget.' It's pretty interesting to listen to him figure out this budget and where the 'costs' come from. (Video only.) Now, this all hinges on the 'microconsole,' which — as he reveals at the beginning of the video — is so cheap they plan to give it away. We may also see it incorporated with TVs and other electronic devices. He goes on to talk about perceptual science and dealing with packet irregularities on the internet."
Re:A transcript, please (Score:2, Informative)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
How to Deliver Online Gaming, Minus the Lag
OnLive CEO Steve Perlman explains how his cloud videogame service deals with real network conditions.
By Erica Naone
This March, a company called OnLive promised a gaming technology that seemed almost too good to be true. The company said it could deliver graphics-heavy video games over the Internet to any computer or to a miniconsole hooked to a television. This includes games such as the first-person shooter Crysis, which is normally beyond the capabilities of anything short of a multi-thousand-dollar gaming machine.
Today at Technology Review's EmTech@MIT conference, OnLive founder and CEO Steve Perlman presented a live demo of the system in action.
Video
OnLive has met with skepticism from hardcore gamers. The big question is whether the system can transmit high-end games over the Internet without serious lag, and many have said it can't be done. OnLive is currently in an open beta, which involves testing its technology on a variety of real networks and computers.
Though OnLive has developed its own compression technology, Perlman says that this is "just one piece of a complex problem."
The main issue, he suggests, is dealing with real-world network conditions. The company has spent the last seven years in stealth mode learning to do just this. Years ago, Perlman says, OnLive's technology worked perfectly under ideal network conditions. Since then, a lot of work has gone into addressing less-than-perfect conditions.
When streaming something like a video, a computer builds up a buffer to protect against network problems. The buffer buys some time to check whether the stream is flowing smoothly and to ask the server to resend any information that gets lost or corrupted along the way. In the case of a video game, which is inherently unpredictable, Perlman says that such a technique is out of the question.
Instead, OnLive's system uses perceptual science to keep the gaming experience smooth. The company's algorithms adapt what's shown so that it seems to be a complete image while the screen is moving, even if it wouldn't look that way if the picture were still. This allows some leeway for network hiccups. "Each frame may not look good, but we always deliver the data," Perlman says.
The company plans to launch to the public this winter.
Re:Linux? (Score:1, Informative)
Does it run on Linux? I mean I know this question is often used in jest, but I'm serious.
Yes. Did you RTFA?
Re:Wait... (Score:4, Informative)
Your memory's faulty. The Phantom was essentially Steam or Xbox 360's version of Live before the infrastructure existed to support such a thing. It was still supposed to be a client-side games console. Server-side rendering is a different animal. A ridiculous animal, mind you, but a different animal none the less.
Re:The cost-benefit analysis (Score:3, Informative)
You don't need monstruosities unless you are deeply in love with diminishing returns.
Re:Oh! (Score:3, Informative)
Not all. I don't play the MMOs, my Korean isn't good enough, but I have a very infrequently updated blog where I walk people through how to sign up and play various games that don't require much Korean. There are some there that I enjoy. FPS, and MMOs lend themselves best to the whole vanity stuff. You can't break into the RTS market with a bomb because of Star Craft. I've found 1 or 2 Korean made RTS out there, but they're not currently running, they seem to be down for revamping. There is a decent scorched clone called Taan. Its cutesy, but interesting. Raycity is a decent MMO, interesting concept, also interesting to see a good portion of seoul mapped, with actual building fronts being used (circa 2006)
Not all of the shooters are boom-headshot like counter strike.
Bubble Fighter and Metal rage are two that I played which aren't that style.