Cloud-based video game streaming service OnLive unveiled support for tablets with new iPad and Android apps that will release in the U.S. and Europe this fall.
Like the company's MicroConsole TV Adapter and Windows/Mac application, the OnLive Player App for iPad and Android will enable subscribers to stream and play "virtually all" of its 100-plus-game catalog on demand.
Gamers will be able to use the devices' touchscreens or OnLive's new Universal Wireless Controller to play. The OnLivePlayer App also integrates with HDTVs so subscribers can use their tablets as touch/motion controllers with their display.
The app will feature full voice chat-enabled multiplayer. OnLive says it will provide "the exact same functionality" on Apple and Android smartphones, too, allowing them to be used as game systems themselves or as controllers with an HDTV or PC.
Furthermore, the company revealed a 10 gigabit cloud-based browser or iPad, Android, and HDTV, which is designed to to deliver online content through the 10 gigabit/second web connections on its cloud-based servers.
"The power of the cloud is definitely the theme this week, displacing what had been assumed to be platforms that could never be displaced," says OnLive founder and CEO Steve Perlman.
He continues, "The OnLive Player App for iPad and Android shows how with the power of the cloud, the question is not whether cloud gaming will be able to catch up to consoles, it will be whether consoles will be able to catch up to cloud gaming."
Oh yeah! Wireless controller. Now we're talking. I was at the first GDC presentation that they gave two years ago and I was telling one of the co-founders that I felt that it was crucial for wireless functionality to be implemented.. At that time, he said they were still thinking about that, but most likely it was going to be too complicated to implement. Glad to see that they changed their minds on this. Playing a AAA title release on my iPad is very appealing.
Spot on. Apple is going to own the living room. While Sony/Nintendo are fragmenting with too many consoles, with Apple you only need to own one gaming device.
It's an interesting approach. I've long been skeptical of On Live, but solely for technical reasons - do we have the bandwidth/latency yet? But once we do it certainly becomes compelling.
