E3: OnLive Provides Wii U Alternative

By Gabriel Perna: Subscribe to Gabriel's

June 10, 2011 3:31 PM EDT

The biggest headlines this week at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) were reserved for Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft - but that didn't stop OnLive from trying to steal the show.

Share This Story

Palo Alto, Calif. based OnLive Inc. announced this week its introducing an iPad and Android based app that will be able to integrate games onto tablets. The company, which offers instant cloud gaming, stores the games on a server and makes them available for game play on its app.

Similar to the Wii U, the tablet app can also work in conjunction with the HDTV OnLive platform as a touch or motion-based controller. OnLive, which can also run on cell phones, blu-ray players, computers and set-top boxes, is pushing for a world without consoles. The cloud gaming company offers consumers a selection of popular titles, such as Duke Nukem Forever and Deus Ex.

"The power of the cloud is definitely the theme this week, displacing what had been assumed to be platforms that could never be displaced," Steve Perlman, founder and chief executive, of OnLive said in a statement. "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."

The OnLive app is free itself, but there are costs for the entire system itself. It costs $99 for the TV adapter and one controller and $120 for a year of unlimited access to 50+ games. Plus, you need an HDTV and a tablet.

Follow us

In addition, full voice chat-enabled multiplayer is supported through the OnLive App. Essentially OnLive is doing what Nintendo will be doing in a year with the Wii U. However, it has a head start.

Naturally as with any gaming done through a server, there are some concerns about latency. OnLive told TechCrunch that it has addressed latency through "hardcore engineering."

Follow Gabriel Perna on Twitter at @GabrielSPerna

This article is copyrighted by International Business Times, the business news leader
Sponsor Link:
Join the Conversation
Global Prenuers

World
Canada Commits 300 Million to Afghanistan, But No Troops

Recommended for you
  1. The LeapLeap Motion Brings 3-D Motion Control Technology To Laptops And Desktops [VIDEO]
  2. How Does An Accelerometer Work In A Smartphone? Bill Hammack, "The Engineer Guy," Explains [FULL TEXT]Accelerometers are devices that can measure acceleration, but in smartphones, they're able to detect changes in orientation and tell the screen to rotate. Basically, it knows up from down.