Onlive Tablet App Review. Includes Free Lego Batman !!

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Developer Onlive

Platform Onlive Cloud Gaming

Release Date Out Now. 

Onlive is just about a year old now and in that time they have really started to transform the cloud gaming service. Despite people having doubts it has gone on to wow anyone who has tested it out. The Free app for the PC and Mac allows users to play full console quality games on their PC,  Mac, or internet enabled TV/Blu-ray player.

This week however see’s the biggest announcement from the company with the release of their brand new mobile enabled App  that takes full console games to your Android and iOS tablet and Smart Phone. No more will you be forced to play simplistic touch controlled games, but instead full titles like Saints Row The third, Assassin’s Creed, Metro 2033, Dirt 3 and LA Noire to name just a hand full of the games currently available. 

They also have a huge collection of titles that are free to play as part of their playback subscribers pack. Everything from the Original Fallout Series to Batman Arkham Asylum, in total there are around 150 games that are free to play at any time once you subscribe to the Playback package.

Many of the titles are new to the Tablet market and as such needed a small bit of work to get them playable on the touch screen. LA Noire for example needs the Wireless controller but you can also interact with the items on screen, turning pages in a file for example or picking up clues. Other games such as Dirt 3 have a built in virtual control pad on the screen with the buttons mapped out for you. It takes a little getting use too as any new controller does but it does work incredibly well in place of a normal control pad or mouse and Keyboard.

I have spent the last few days messing around with it on my Android Tablet and it works incredible well, one of the main advantage with the system is the trail a game feature. You no longer need to download a 1-2 gb file wait for a 4 hours then test out a game,  you simple press the “get trail” button and start playing for the first 30 mins of a game !

The controls that are built in on top of the game work well but do take a little getting used to like any new controller but they are responsive and accurate. Adding the wireless Universal Controller available from Onlive will make it a more natural experience for console gamers. As the controller is wireless you can take it with you and the Tablet on long trips or holidays. Yes you can now play your favourite console games sitting by the pool!

The Onlive App manages to let you play such amazing games on your tablet by shifting the heavy lifting back to their own servers rather than your tablet. So even a modestly powered Tablet or Phone can run the Onlive App. You are best off playing this on your Wi-fi connection, it will work over 4G but just be careful your service provider package allows for adequate traffic so you don’t end up with a hefty bill.

Its time to dust off that old Tablet and get your Onlive App up and running, downloading the Free App also nets you a free copy of LEGO BATMAN !! PS The App is currently only available in the USA and the UK the Irish Market will follow soon.

In the mean time here is some more info from the company.

OnLive, Ltd., the pioneer of cloud gaming, announced that it is bringing console-class gaming to mobile tablets and phones with the revolutionary OnLive app for mobile platforms. The latest, top-tier, high-performance games—previously limited to only consoles and computers—will be available for instant play via the free OnLive app on over 500 million mobile devices over Wi-Fi or mobile networks in the US and UK. A growing library of 25 console-class games have been adapted for touch-screen control, including the gritty, award-winning hit L.A. Noire from Rockstar Games and family titles like LEGO: Batman, which will be given free to anyone who downloads the OnLive app. Additionally, almost all games in OnLive’s growing library of nearly 200 games are playable with the new OnLive Wireless Controller, compatible with most tablets and many phones.

OnLive harnesses the power of the cloud to instantly deliver high-end games on demand over the Internet with the simplicity of streaming video. OnLive’s breakthrough cloud gaming technology has enabled gamers on PCs, Macs and TVs to instantly jump into console-quality games on demand, without discs or lengthy downloads, regardless of the performance of their local device. With today’s launch, gamers can experience the same instant-play, top-tier games on mobile tablets and smartphones, despite the fact that these games require vastly higher performance than is achievable on a mobile device.

“Today marks a major milestone: OnLive is now delivering the latest, console-class, top-tier games—literally to your fingertips—on mobile tablets and phones for instant on-demand play anywhere, anytime,” said Steve Perlman, OnLive Founder and CEO. “Through the free OnLive app, tablet and smartphone gamers can play top console and PC titles like Assassins Creed: Revelations and L.A. Noire—one of the most highly acclaimed, graphically sophisticated games to date—with exclusive OnLive Cloud Touch controls or with the new mobile-compatible OnLive Wireless Controller. Tablets and smartphones, the fastest-growing consumer product categories in history, are now capable of running the hottest, highest-end games. Gaming and mobile devices will never be the same.”

Marking the most dramatic departure possible from the side-scrollers and 3D puzzlers that have defined the current tablet gaming marketplace, the award-winning L.A. Noire  is now the first high-performance console video game developed specifically for touch-enabled play via mobile cloud gaming—with exclusive distribution on the OnLive Game Service. The release of a game this immersive and cinematically engaging heralds a new era—and new market—in high-end gaming.

Over 25 OnLive titles, including L.A. Noire, family titles like LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and 5-7, and indies like Defense Grid Gold, will work with touch control on tablets and smartphones. And most of the nearly 200 games in OnLive’s growing library, including recent top-tier releases like Batman: Arkham City, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations and Lord of the Rings: War in the North, are immediately playable on virtually any device with the OnLive Wireless Controller, which utilizes OnLive’s exclusive adaptive wireless technology to automatically find an optimal wireless connection for a given tablet, smartphone, PC, Mac, TV or Blu-ray player. The OnLive Wireless Controller will be available soon for purchase in the US, and the UK, for $49.99 and £39.99 respectively.

As always, any game purchased on one OnLive app device (TV, PC, Mac or mobile device) can be played instantly on any other OnLive app device with full cloud save game data intact, allowing users to start play on one device, and continue playing on any other device, whenever and wherever they want.  OnLive’s cross-platform capability extends to multiplayer gaming, enabling, for example, a tablet gamer to play with TV, PC, Mac and smartphone gamers. OnLive’s exclusive social features, such as international massive spectating and Brag Clip® videos, are available on mobile devices, as well as chat and Facebook posting of videos, messages and achievements. And unlike downloaded games, OnLive games are streamed over the internet just like streaming music and video, never taking up storage on the mobile device.

In addition to play over Wi-Fi, OnLive is also unveiling compatibility with AT&T and Verizon’s 4G LTE cellular service, enabling full, HD-resolution, low-latency cloud gaming everywhere there is 4G coverage on devices such as the HTC Jetstream, Samsung Galaxy Tab and Motorola Xoom. With this new compatibility, OnLive is truly playable everywhere, whether indoors, outdoors or even in the back seat of a car at highway speeds, for the first time bringing complete mobility to console-class gaming.

The OnLive app is available for free download for mobile devices starting today (release dates and times subject to mobile app store certifications). The OnLive Wireless Controller is available for purchase in the US and soon in the UK through the OnLive web store at www.onlive.com/store and www.onlive.co.uk/store. As always, OnLive games purchased on one device or through the OnLive website can be played on all devices, and L.A. Noire and other touch-adapted games will continue to work with controller and/or keyboard/mouse as they did before, including with the OnLive Wireless Controller.

 

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