I’m so excited about this I don’t even know where to begin!
OnLive in general has always excited me really. When I was able to play Assassin’s Creed II on my big screen TV through the little Nettop that I had attached to it for media purposes with very intermittent lag (which was never in game play) I was kind of hooked. At the time the game selection was down so that was a bit of a bummer and I already have a 360 and gaming rig so I kind of left OnLive on the shelf. I did get excited again when they announced their TV accessory that was roughly $99 but again, there was no reason for it; the lack of game availability, pricing model and the fact that I already had ample and sufficient gaming equipment.
In the back of my mind though I had always wanted OnLive to succeed and when they announced the pending $9.99 monthly subscription for unlimited game play I became excited all over again. For $9.99 I could test out countless new games before buying them and then if I didn’t feel the game was worth purchasing outright I could just play it through OnLive. Unfortunately by the time the $9.99 plan was announced I had once again put it on the shelf.
Then today, like the several times before, OnLive grabbed me by the belt buckle and yanked me towards it before undressing me and doing things to me that would require a NC 17 rating on this post. I enjoyed it thoroughly as did my light saber…. GET YOUR MIND OUT OF THE GUTTER! At least while mine is in there with you anyway. Unless you are a hot chick then come on in. Ahem, back to OnLive and it’s legal services.
OnLive now runs on Android Tablets and Phones with iOS devices coming soon! In addition to touch screen support there is a universal controller coming out that allows you to control OnLive on any device. This is an amazing announcement for many reasons:
- Because I said so.
- OnLive is now on just about every medium possible (actual phone and tablet support unknown though)
- There is a universal controller that can be used for the OnLive service no matter what hardware is running it.
- Unless they plan on blocking the ability any phone or tablet with an output to the TV is now, in theory, an OnLive TV Console which will allow you to play, with the controller, on the big screen.
- The $9.99 membership unfortunately doesn’t include unlimited play for newer games but does include a fairly good selection. This coupled with the 30% off purchases (which I believe also includes the 3 and 5 day passes) makes for a damn good argument in regard to trying out new games before you buy them. Some of the newer games even have a “free” play of their goodness (or suckiness) which I believe is based on a time limit and/or so far into the beginning of the game.
In short, OnLive offers a slew of options for many different gamers of various walks of life. From those with the equipment already who want to try out new games, to the same demographic who maybe wants to be more environmentally friendly by consuming less energy when playing games, to those that can’t afford the heavy lifting on their own but have a decent internet connection. There are so many goods that come from OnLive with almost no bads (the fact that you don’t have a physical copy of the game and that in theory the license that you purchase isn’t always “for all time” AND could be revoked if something goes sour between OnLive and the developer is a decent bad one but it depends on what you like/care about). Either way, OnLive is hot, sexy and downright naughty (in a totally acceptable sort of way) and I may sign up just for the idea of supporting their endeavors so, hopefully, in the near future it will grow even larger!
The Collective!