Game Play (Rating - 3.0)
My overall experience with game play was decent. Your connection speed plays into the game play in a big way. There was a bit of latency here and there but it wasn't overwhelming for me. For titles that move relatively quick like Virtua Tennis 2009 from Sega, you can see a little pixelation. At times, a button press was delayed by a split secont, however, I found that the more I played, it was pretty easy to adapt to the delay.
My son, on the other hand, is a hard core gamer. He pointed out that even a slight delay when playing a shooter game can make the game frustrating. He played the OnLive Game System and felt that most serious gamers would continue using traditional consoles or high end gaming PCs.
It's important to understand the complexity of trying to match a traditional console or high end gaming PC experience with a cloud based model. If you are the kind of person where the screen graphics must be perfect and a blip on the screen is not acceptable, you might want to stick with your Xbox 360 or Alienware Gaming PC. Cloud based gaming is getting there but it's not quite there yet. But it does have its place in the gaming world.
Wrap-Up
Photo © OnLive
I am really encouraged by the OnLive service. I really like the Arena. As a parent who often spends $60 for a game, being able to "rent" a game is a nice feature. I do think there is room for the catalog to grow. Someday, a cloud based offering will be common for a new release. Right now, this is not the case. Additionally, I think there are license issues that need to be worked out but this will get done. I honestly believe OnLive will be one of the major players in the cloud based gaming space. The MicroConsole is a really great addition to a up and coming new gaming service.
OnLive Game System Rating Summary
- Hardware: 4.5
- Installation and Setup: 4.5
- User Interface: 3.5
- Library of Games: 2.0
- Game Play: 3.0
- Overall Rating: 3.5