The future of gaming is here folks and thanks to OnLive, playable cloud games are hitting a tablet and smartphone near you. It’s been in the works for quite some time but looks like beginning today OnLive will finally make the experience available for a number of devices on the market via an Android application. Our friends over at The Verge managed to get a sit down with the OnLive folks in which they provided a demo of the software running on the HTC Flyer and Motorola Xoom as well as an iPad 2. There aren’t a ton of touch games as of yet, however, there were demos of Defense Grid Gold and Split/Second which happened to work very well. Defense Grid Gold is a tower defense game which supports pinch-to-zoom and finger scrolling and Split/Second is a fast-paced arcade style racing game which allows you to use virtual joysticks, sliders and buttons to maneuver. OnLive has been working with some popular names as well to work hard in getting good quality touchscreen games to the market. One such game, L.A. Noire, will implement touchscreen controls as well and will allow you to manipulate criminal evidence with your fingers.
In order to make the most out of this gaming experience you’ll require a decent Internet connection to play seamlessly and with ease. The folks over a The Verge managed to provide a demo of the app running on both a 2.4 GHz WiFi connection and a 5 GHz connection on an iPad 2. It’s been noted that the game ran fine on the 2.4 GHz connection but much better as expected on the 5GHz. OnLive’s CEO, Steve Perlman, touts the fact that you can literally drive up and down Highway 101 in Cali with an LTE tablet and have an uninterrupted gaming experience. Those testing the app at The Verge noted that there was a slight discrepancy between playing the game on an Android tablet verses playing it on the iPad 2. It was noted that the iPad 2 delivered higher quality images when streaming than the Android tablet provided.
To top off the experience, OnLive is offering an “OnLive Universal Controller” to enhance your gaming experience which the company will offer very “soon” for $49.99 or £39.99 in the UK. The company utilizes proprietary low-latency wireless technology for pairing the handheld which they say the protocol already exists in most devices and just needs to be woken up. With a USB dongle, you can connect up to four controllers to a single OnLive Microconsole or PC. It will also offer Bluetooth for legacy devices that most people already own. The controller is not available yet and as we mentioned will be coming “soon”. So hang in there. The app will be available in the Android Market and will gradually be rolled out to devices. However, Perlman states that it will arrive for “most” handsets but that certain devices will require testing first before the software can be made available to them. According to The Verge, the Kindle Fire version is waiting on final publisher approval, so that’s a plus for new Fire owners. Furthermore, there is word that Google TV will also receive a version, just in case you were wondering. Check out the video demo below provided by The Verge and don’t forget to let us know what you think in the comments below. Happy gaming everyone.
[via The Verge]