Free NVGs This Easter Weekend!

MW2 Night Vision Goggles (NVGs) free for XBox Live avatars this Easter Weekend! Pictured, NVGs modeled by my XBL avatar.

Cloud computing, is there anything it can't do?

Cloud computing is a tour de force of convenience, it has many critics but that's not going to stop its ever increasing influence on our day to day lives. Cloud gaming is already out there but come June 17 2010, a new service will take it to a new level.

OnLive Gaming Service is "cloud based gaming on demand' service. Games are processed on the OnLive's servers and streamed to a customers computer.

OnLive will be available to PC and Mac gamers with the help of a browser plug-in. If gamers want to play via TV, they can do so utilising the MicroConsole TV Adapter. Mobile phones will also receive the service in a yet to be announced date. Since a game will be saved on OnLive servers, the issue of being fixed to one platform doesn't even factor in. For example, player starts a game on a PC at home, goes away on holiday to a sunny paradise, paradise is soggy and boring. Solution? Plug in the MircoConsole in the hotels TV. Visiting the folks interstate? Need I say more?

With Steam arriving on the Mac this April, it could be a pothole for OnLive. Mac users, who broadly speaking aren't traditionally keyboard and mouse gamers, could become converts. Converts who will already have allegiance to Steam by the time OnLive is released. Or will Steam act as a catalyst for Mac gamers, paving the way for OnLive?

The live streaming game service has its far share of evangelists and critics, those who believe this will be the death of consoles as we know it and those who think that it will be a massive flop. The naysayers say that PC gamers will stick to their mecha, Steam. They Steam has too much going for it; the game library, the service and most importantly, the user base.

Although Steam does have a massive stable of games, OnLive will not be left with the nags. Juggernaut's like EA International, THQ, Warner Bros & Ubisoft are on board with their block buster titles with many more announced. Scores of additional developers and publishers are to be announced early June 2010, just in time to create some pre E3 hype. There are a few competitors cropping up around the advent of OnLive, I'm sure CEO Steve Perlman isn't sweating it too much, those cats don't have the backing of major publishers and developers like OnLive does.

Also, there are worries of latency issues, the server has never had more than a few hundred players on at once during demonstrations. The demos were during a showcasing at GDC and E3 in 2009 and performed without any major hiccups. Although, a few hundred is a massive step to 25,000 users, let alone a full roll out to the American public. Will the OnLive servers be able to keep up with the processing demand? Surely they will have to look at a staggered roll out.

The beta release date coincides with E3 2010, and will be available to the first 25,000 eligible registrants, of which will get 3 months of the subscription fee waived. There are a handful of beta servers dispersed across USA's west, east coasts and southern states. Each centre has a 1000 mile service radius, leaving two chunks of overlap and one bare patch mid north USA. It is suggested to be well within the 1,600 km radius to receive optimal service.

Initially it will only be released to American states, with a UK and greater European release to be looked at the over the consequent year. Perhaps they will rollout servers to Australia if all goes according to plan? Or maybe they will cut corners like Blizzard, with their cheekily named Oceanic servers.

I think OnLive will be chomping at the bit to get to Australia once the National Broadband Network is rolled out to metropolitan centres. With a target of 90% of Australian homes to have 100 Mbps download and the remaining 10% to receive 12Mbps, they'll be like bees to a honey pot. Even if the NBN falls below its goals, it is still beyond the recommended 4-5 Mbps for HDTV gaming. What better environment for them to show off their wares? The big issue though is cost per GB for broadband.

"The OnLive Game Service creates a new opportunity for consumers to play the latest games without spending hundreds of dollars on a hardware system to make it happen," said Mike McGarvey, COO of OnLive.

Will it do well in the light of erasing the necessity of console hardware? With Microsoft charging for $49.99 for a HDMI cable, $129.99 for 120 GB hard drive or memory unit and $99.99 Wireless Network Adapter, gamers may see it as a godsend. A middle finger to the "evil" corporations that make them bend over and pay through the ass.

The pricing plan is $14.95 US per month, a service fee that covers game demos, gamer profile, and chat, it does not cover the cost of buying or renting games. The pricing model is not unlike Xbox Lives gold service, which can be purchased from low as $47.95 for 12 months. PS3 gamers thumb their noses at service fees, they are the ones who miss out on a superior multiplayer experience and customer service.

$14.95 US per month is fairly expensive compared to other gaming options out there. Even with the proposed reward discounts for purchasing bulk months, it dosn't even factor in the cost of games, but it does waive the hardware expenditure.

The pricing plan of renting and buying games will be released at a pre E3 event. How much would the games sell or rent for is something else entirely. If they were to follow in the footsteps of XBox Live games on demand, would they crank up the pricing of games on demand titles compared to the physical copies? Yes, the publishers who jumped into bed with OnLive wouldn't want to injure their relationships with the outlet giants, after all that's where the majority of their sales originate.

There is also the OnLive Game Portal option, where gamers can waive the monthly service fees and the service perks that come with it. Game Portal will act as a tasting plate, to allow gamers to rent games and give the service a try. The rental pricing model will have customers paying for blocks of time to play a game or pay per play.

Personally, I hope OnLive is a success enough to get it to the southern hemisphere. I would love to see the service realise it's potential in Australia. Not to mention possible revolution it could poise for MMORPG's.