OnLive on the iPad
Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 7:01AM | Print Article I'm not normally one to post an article about gaming, however OnLive is not a normal gaming platform...
Unlike the PS3 or X360, OnLive is a gaming-on-demand service that utilises cloud computing to stream games over the Internet. All of the computing power required to play the game is at an OnLive data centre with only a highly optimised video stream being sent to the end user. This means that any device (regardless of computing power) that can access the video stream, can theoretically play the game.
When this technology was first shown at the Game Developers Conference in 2009, it sounded way to good to be true and I didn't hold out much hope for it actually working in the real world. However this week at E3 OnLive was demonstrated being played on an iPad and I have to say it looks great. When watching the video below don't focus to heavily on the controls, but keep in mind these are high end PC games being streamed (and played) directly from the iPad over Wi-Fi.
Although the OnLive rep stated they current have no plans to bring the service to the iPad, it does show how versatile the service could be when connecting to new hardware platforms.
OnLive is already available in beta across parts America and it is believed BT have just signed a deal to bring the service to the UK, which could fit nicely with the FTTC rollout. After seeing it in action I will certainly be keeping a close eye on this technology.