Revolutionary "OnLive" games streaming unveiled

"No high-end hardware, no upgrades, no endless downloads, no discs, no recalls, no obsolescence"

25 March 2009 14:52 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

OnLive has "emerged from seven years of stealth development" to unveil the OnLive Game Service and OnLive MicroConsole.

Announced at the ongoing Game Developers Conference, OnLive is described as "a revolutionary, on demand video game platform delivering the latest and most advanced games instantly, on any TV via a sleek, inexpensive MicroConsole, or on almost any PC or Mac".

If it sounds too good to be true, OnLive is supported by big names in the industry including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Take-Two, Warner Bros, THQ, Eidos, Atari and Codemasters.

"OnLive is the most powerful game system in the world. No high-end hardware, no upgrades, no endless downloads, no discs, no recalls, no obsolescence", said Steve Perlman, founder and CEO of OnLive and a well-known tech entrepreneur.

The OnLive MicroConsole, said to be around the size of a deck of cards, connects to any TV and home broadband connection and is operated by an OnLive wireless controller.

The same experience can apparently be had via a web-connected PC or Mac via a browser plug-in from OnLive.com.

The OnLive Game Service will be offered through a monthly subscription in winter 2009. There will apparently be a variety of different pricing packages and tiers, said to be "competitively priced to retail".

Full tags

Gaming, Gaming hardware, OnLive, Networking, PC games, Games industry, Reardon