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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 45,820
cobra kai 15000+ posts
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OP
cobra kai 15000+ posts
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 45,820 |
Could The Future of Gaming Be Console Free?
By Brian Crecente- Last week's annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco gave gamers a tantalizing glimpse at things to come in the world of interactive entertainment.
While the week of talks, demonstrations and press conferences was packed with news, the biggest attention grabbers included a device that promises to deliver high-end PC gaming without the computer and Nintendo's latest upgrades to their popular populist Wii console.
OnLive is a video games on demand service that requires only a low-end computer and high-speed connection to play the most technologically advanced computer games at home.
The system, developed by Rearden, does all of the number crunching and heavy-duty processing at remote server clusters. All a gamer would need is a light-weight computer or a low-cost micro console which would handle the controller input.
The idea is that the device would send your controller input to OnLive's servers which would be running the game and would then send a video signal back to your television or computer monitor.
The big issue seems to be the potential of lag, something that is inherent in a system that sends signals over any distance. But Reardon promises any delays won't be noticeable.
If true, OnLive could take cloud computing out of the clouds.
While it's still in its testing phase, OnLive became the topic de jour at the conference, with developers imagining the impact such a device could have on the future of gaming.
The thing that excited the likes of developers Warren Spector, Will Wright and Peter Molyneux is the idea that by storing games somewhere other than on a disc or at a person's home, you could move gaming toward a universal console.
It could, Wright says, fundamentally change games, making them more like modern television.
The more immediate news coming out of last week's conference, was Nintendo's latest upgrade to the Wii.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told the gathered developers during his keynote that his company has now shipped more than 50 million Wii worldwide.
He also announced that Nintendo would start selling classic arcade games on the console through its online store.
The biggest hardware news, though, was Nintendo's solution for the Wii's memory storage problem. One of the issues the Wii faced when initially released was that it had a relatively tiny amount of storage space, just 512 MB of built-in flash memory.
With the ability to purchase games online, that storage space can be quickly filled up. Initially Nintendo defended their position, saying gamers should delete games when they're not using them. But last week's press conference was an unusual acknowledgment by Nintendo that they had miscalculated.
Instead of announcing an add-on hard drive, though, Iwata announced that a free system update, made available last week, would now allow gamers to store games onto SD memory cards.
While the game doesn't need to be transferred back to the Wii to be played, the console will need to have enough memory to run the game.
Nintendo's solution for the Wii's storage woes comes about eight months after the company announced an add-on for their Wii remote controllers. Wii Motion Plus, a snap-on device for the remote due out later this year, makes the controllers more accurate, answering complaints some developers had about the remotes.
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 10,539
I'm just sayin' 10000+ posts
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I'm just sayin' 10000+ posts
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 10,539 |
Hmmmm.Reminds me of the Sega channel days.Granted you needed a Genesis console to hook up the thing to your TV,but still it was cool to be able to play a bunch of games that I didn't have to buy.I'm surprised this hasn't been tried yet as Sega Channel was back in the mid-90's.
It's a dog eat dog world & I'm wearing milkbone underwear.
I can get you a toe.
1,999,999+ points.
Damn you and your lemonade!!
Booooooooooooooobs.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 24,593
Timelord. Drunkard. 15000+ posts
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Timelord. Drunkard. 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 24,593 |
I think there was a system that was supposed to be just that, but it never actually got made. G4 used to talk about it every chance they got. They got to the point that they just made fun of the system for never showing and even gave a 'yeah right' to the head of the company working on it when he came on AOTS to say that it was coming out soon.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet." Our Friendly Neighborhood Ray-man said: "no, the doctor's right. besides, he has seniority."
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 24,593
Timelord. Drunkard. 15000+ posts
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Timelord. Drunkard. 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 24,593 |
It was called The Phantom. From Wiki: In 2002, the startup company Infinium Labs issued a press release to all news outlets stating that they would soon release a "revolutionary new gaming platform" that would offer an on-demand video game service, delivering games via an online subscription. The press release contained no specific information, but did include a computer-generated prototype design. Due to the excessive use of buzzwords and a suspicious lack of details, the product was derided almost from the start by news sites such as IGN and Slashdot and the comic strip Penny Arcade. In an episode that gained wide publicity, the hardware and gaming site [H]ard|OCP researched and wrote an extensive article on the company and the operation, and faced a defensive lawsuit in turn. It also received the first place in "Vaporwares 2004" in Wired News.[1]
Rise and fall of the console
The Phantom was first seen in action at the May 2004 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) as a working prototype. Infinium Labs claimed it would go on sale that November for the holiday season, however the company still had not developed the online delivery software, licensed games or found any retailers. The company missed all those deadlines, while at the same time sending thousands of faxes claiming the system would be ready and launched in January 2005.
When that deadline passed, Infinium predicted the system's release to be around March 2005. That date passed and Infinium Labs did not appear at the 2005 E3.[2] There were hints from Kevin Bachus, former Infinium CEO, that the Phantom would be released around the same time as the Xbox 360 in Autumn 2005, but that date was also missed.
On February 21, 2006 it was reported that The Phantom video game console has been delayed indefinitely "pending further funding".[citation needed]
As of August 15, 2006, the Phantom Console is not listed on the Products page of the website and has been cancelled.
whomod said: I generally don't like it when people decide to play by the rules against people who don't play by the rules. It tends to put you immediately at a disadvantage and IMO is a sign of true weakness. This is true both in politics and on the internet." Our Friendly Neighborhood Ray-man said: "no, the doctor's right. besides, he has seniority."
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 34,236 Likes: 15
"Hey this is PCG342's bro..." 15000+ posts
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"Hey this is PCG342's bro..." 15000+ posts
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 34,236 Likes: 15 |
Yeah, it was a Phantom all right...
"Are you eating it...or is it eating you?" [center] ![[Linked Image from i13.photobucket.com]](http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a275/captainsammitch/boards/banners/blogban3.jpg) [/center] [center] ![[Linked Image from i13.photobucket.com]](http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a275/captainsammitch/boards/banners/jlamiska.jpg) [/center]
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308
Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
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Who will I break next? 15000+ posts
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 46,308 |
onlive is made by a bunch of old webtv guys.
November 6th, 2012: Americas new Independence Day.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 53,734
Educator to comprehension impaired (JLA, that is you) 50000+ posts
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Educator to comprehension impaired (JLA, that is you) 50000+ posts
Joined: Oct 2000
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 47,810 Likes: 2
Hip To Be Square 15000+ posts
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Hip To Be Square 15000+ posts
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 47,810 Likes: 2 |
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Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 21
ask a question... I have all the answers! few posts
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ask a question... I have all the answers! few posts
Joined: Feb 2009
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