Archive for June, 2010

OnLive at Day 10, a Milestone, and a Contest!

Posted in OnLive 2010 with tags , , , , , , , , , , on June 28, 2010 by Steve Perlman
LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4

Ten days ago, following our E3 booth wrap-up, we hit the button to start inviting founding members to the OnLive Game Service. By then, the OnLive waitlist had grown far larger than expected, and we knew the initial flood of new users would be pushing OnLive’s data centers to their very limits, regardless of how fast we added capacity. OnLive’s maiden voyage would be at full throttle from the get-go.

Each day, as increasingly more users were invited, we saw the load on our data centers rapidly mount as we repeatedly hit new session highs. We were blasting into completely uncharted territory: cloud gaming on a massive scale. Theory put to practice with no margin for error.

Now, ten days later, I’m happy (and relieved) to report the OnLive Game Service has been running 24/7 since launch, with games being played every day, around the clock, from every corner of the 48 States, despite the fact we’ve accommodated far more members at this stage than ever anticipated.

As I mentioned in my last blog, there would be some bumps on takeoff, and there were. As with any new technology, some small bugs have surfaced that we are fixing now. Also, while we have been installing data center capacity as quickly as we can, it looks like it will be about a week until we’ve balanced capacity across all US Internet regions. This will improve response time for some users as we fine-tune Internet routing, and it will also enable us to invite users from the waiting list more evenly across regions.

We appreciate the patience of our users while we iron out these bumps and continue to ramp up the OnLive Game Service, and we’re doing our best to keep up with the unexpected demand. If you’re still waiting to get in, hang tight, we’ll get to you as soon as possible.

We are also working hard to bring more great games to the OnLive Game Service. We announced an exciting slate of great new and coming soon games at E3, and we are rolling them from Beta into public release as fast as we can. In addition to these, we anticipate many more new game announcements in the coming months. In fact, here’s the first one:

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 is being released tonight at 12:01AM PDT on Tuesday, June 29th. What makes this a major milestone for OnLive—and showcases an awesome benefit of instant gaming—is OnLive members will be playing the game before anyone on any other platform. No waiting for a store to open or waiting in line to buy a physical disc. No downloads, updates, installs or authorizations required. (And, no Windows required if you are a Mac user.)

With OnLive you Just Play. It’s better than being first in line!

To commemorate this milestone, we’re going to have a contest! The first OnLive member to make it all the way through LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 will win an Apple iPad™, and the next 5 OnLive members will win an Apple iPod touch®. The six winning entrants will:

  • Have a PlayPass for the game to participate in the contest, so if you are logged in just prior to the game going live, we recommend you log out and log back in at 12:01AM to be sure your Marketplace list is refreshed and all PlayPass options appear for the game.

  • Take a Brag Clip™ video showing collection of all 200 Gold Bricks in the game and reaching the final bonus level. Specifically, winning Brag Clip videos must show you have collected all 200 Gold Bricks in the game and have become Lord Voldemort in the final bonus level. You must enable “All players” to view your Brag Clips video under the Privacy settings in the OnLive Game Service Dashboard.

  • Send an email to community@onlive.com with your Player Tag (associated with the Brag Clip video of the game completion screen), First Name/Last Name, Address, Telephone Number and Date of Birth in the body of the email as soon as you have completed the game. Entrants will be ranked based on when OnLive receives a properly completed email.

  • Receive a contest confirmation email from OnLive to confirm receipt of your validated entry. Remember that your OnLive Account will only save your last 15 Brag Clip videos, so wait until the winners of the contest have been announced by OnLive before making any more Brag Clip videos that might delete the game completion Brag Clip video.

For full contest rules and eligibility please click here.

So, OnLive is now 10 days old, and despite growing up much faster than expected, other than a few bumps, so far, so good. Again, we are grateful for all of you who have been patiently waiting for OnLive, and we are working as fast as we can to get you in.

For those of you who have tried OnLive, we do hope you like what you’ve seen so far. But, remember, this is only OnLive’s very first step. In every dimension, OnLive will get way better from here.

—Steve Perlman, OnLive Founder & CEO

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Let the Games Begin

Posted in OnLive 2010 with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on June 21, 2010 by Mike McGarvey
OnLive's Booth

OnLive's Booth

We just finished up an amazing week here at OnLive. The enthusiasm for the OnLive® Game Service demonstrated by those who visited our booth at E3 has been incredible. Countless articles, tweets and other social commentary have reinforced the promise of OnLive’s “Just Play™” instant gaming experience. Early feedback confirms that our first step toward offering an all-new game play experience has been well-received.

As you may also be aware, the OnLive Game Service officially launched to the public at the conclusion of the E3 show in Los Angeles. Demand to this point has been overwhelming and we are working diligently to activate new members as quickly as possible.

If you’ve already signed up for the Founding Members Program presented by AT&T or are one of our Pre-registered members, we will be adding you to the Game Service on a first-come, first-serve basis in each regional geographic area over time. We appreciate your patience in the coming weeks and months as we work our way through the waiting list. By the way, if you haven’t signed up for the Founding Member Program do so quickly–it is a limited time, limited availability offer. To sign up click here.

I also want to extend our warmest gratitude to our over 20 publishing partners without whom creating the instant play experience that is the hallmark of the OnLive Game Service would not have been possible. Knowing that great content is the cornerstone of every successful game platform, we are committed to adding new publishers and great games in the days, weeks and months to come.


As a result of the commitments from our publishing partners, Founding Members will enjoy a launch selection of over 20 of the hottest games available for instant play. You’ll now find games for every type of player spanning various game categories. As new members get activated and sign in to the Game Service, I encourage you to check out the instant-play demos as well as the 3-day, 5-day and Full PlayPass options. One of the values of cloud-based gaming is enabling various play experiences with the added convenience of having all of these options available at your finger tips at all times. 
  
As new members get activated, I wanted to quickly point out a couple key features you should know about when you first log on:


  • Arena is your home for watching live gameplay. Instantly view a friend’s game or any public session on the OnLive Game Service. Develop new friendships with other Founding Members or view people playing through various levels of games before choosing the PlayPass purchase option that is right for you.
  • Brag Clip™ videos allow you to record your greatest in-game hits for all to see or to share specifically with only those you’ve selected as friends. You can rate other member’s Brag Clips and view key highlights from great games.
  • Marketplace is where you’ll find Demos and PlayPass options. It is here where you’ll punch in your ticket to instant gaming.


While we still have much work ahead of us to hone and improve the OnLive Game Service, our official launch marks an important first step toward delivering the instant play experience. In the end, our goal is simple: to enable as many ways as possible for players to quickly engage and have fun with many of the best games currently available. We look forward to your feedback and active participation, both of which are instrumental in our mission to bring the “Just Play” experience to gamers across the US.



See you all OnLive. Enjoy and have fun!



—Mike McGarvey, COO, OnLive, Inc.

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Welcome to OnLive!

Posted in OnLive 2010 with tags , , , , , , , , , , on June 15, 2010 by Steve Perlman

Founding Members Program

Founding Members Program

It is with great pleasure that I invite you to the opening of the OnLive Game Service for PCs and Macs, beginning this Thursday, June 17, 2010 at 9:01 PM EDT/6:01 PM PDT.

And the best news is that we’re going to make it as easy as possible for you to give OnLive a try!

I’m very excited to announce the OnLive Founding Members Program, presented by AT&T, which is a limited-time, limited availability offer of a FREE 1st-year OnLive membership, with an optional 2nd year at $4.95/month, month-to-month! It’s an awesome deal delivered on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to availability, so sign up here today.

(No purchase is necessary for the free first year, and while there are lots of demos and other great stuff that are also free, this offer does not include games, features and other services that are for purchase. Eligibility requirements and other terms and conditions are detailed here.)

We’ll have more than 20 games available on the OnLive Game Service at launch, and with dozens more in the pipeline, we’ll constantly be adding new games over time. To mention just a sampling, we’ll have Assassin’s Creed 2, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction from Ubisoft; Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age: Origins from Electronic Arts; Batman: Arkham Asylum and Just Cause 2 from Square Enix; Borderlands, NBA 2K10 and MLB 2K10 from Take Two; Red Faction: Guerilla from THQ; Fear 2: Project Origin from Warner Bros. Interactive Games; and DiRT 2 from Codemasters along with other great games from publishers, both large and small, representing a wide range of genres.

While June 17 marks the end of a very long journey for the OnLive team, our partners and, of course, our Beta testers, what it really marks is the beginning of a much longer journey: the emergence of a new era in videogames that stands to utterly transform the way we create, distribute and play games and interact with each other when playing them.

The OnLive experience is unlike anything that has existed before. Click on a hot new game and typically within a few seconds the game is playing. Dive into a game or pick up where you left off, even if you’ve changed locations or are using a different computer. No discs, no giant game downloads, no patches or updates, and no high performance computer needed.

You Just Play.

And, instant-play games are only the beginning. OnLive creates a massive live video social network. Every game in play (when permitted) can be spectated, and you can record and share your best (or worst) moments in Brag Clip™ videos. Make Friends after watching their moves in the Arena or in a Brag Clip video, and then check out what all your friends are up to by watching them play live.

These features and more are possible because OnLive fundamentally changes what videogames are:

Without OnLive, videogames are apps requiring specialized hardware and discs, downloads and/or updates.

With OnLive, videogames are digital media, just like digital video and audio. And, like digital video and audio, OnLive games will be playable across a wide range of devices which will provide enormous flexibility in how we distribute and share game experiences among users. The PC, Mac and, soon, TV are just the first devices that will play OnLive games while massive spectating, Brag Clip videos and live video Friend Profiles are just a few early examples of what is possible with the OnLive user experience.

Despite the enormous potential of OnLive technology, it is important to emphasize that the OnLive Game Service is a very different way to experience videogames. We are using the Internet and computers in ways that have never been tried before and, like any brand new technology, you can expect a few bumps on take off until we reach cruising altitude and achieve a smooth flight. OnLive has been tested in an enormous variety of locations using a vast number of combinations of computers, ISPs, displays and input devices. Even so, there are endless possible combinations. So while most OnLive testers report good results with their gameplay experience, we still run into situations where the user may have to take some action (e.g. reset a cable modem or use a different mouse), or unique situations that we have not yet accounted for and require further changes to OnLive technology. And, of course, there are still some rough edges and plain old bugs that need to be fixed. So, if you run into problems, please let us know, and we will do what we can to address them.

Lastly, while most people who have tested the OnLive Game Service report a great experience right from the get-go, sometimes you need to tweak your configuration (our Technical FAQ has lots of tips), and even then, the OnLive experience is not for everyone. The best way to find out is to give it a try. It’s free to sign up, and there are lots of free demos in a variety of game genres. And, whatever you think of OnLive, please send us your feedback to support@onlive.com. We will continue to evolve our technology and user experience in many dimensions, and this early feedback is crucial in helping us shape the future direction of OnLive.

So, at long last, OnLive is opening its doors to the public! Now it’s time to…

Just Play.

—Steve Perlman, OnLive Founder & CEO

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