OnLive does "everything" Wii U does

By Wesley Yin-Poole Published 13 June, 2011

Steve Perlman casts doubt on consoles.

Nintendo believes Wii U will change the way we play games, but according to OnLive boss Steve Perlman, everything it does UK gamers will be able to experience this autumn.

OnLive is the cloud-based gaming system that allows users to play high-end games through the internet as opposed to a home console.

The tech, which makes its UK debut this autumn, works through touchscreen devices such as smartphones and tablets - and it's this fact that leads Perlman to cast doubt on the Wii U.

"Nintendo announced a really cool thing, but, well, I can hold up an Android screen or an iPad screen and we can do exactly what they're doing," he told Eurogamer.

"In fact, if all you want is touch, I can do it with a smartphone as well, but I'm not tethered to my Wii. I can take this away and use it in a room by itself.

"Everything they demoed at their announcement is going to be available in the UK this autumn.

"Then again, people are going to want Mario and Pokemon. So those aren't going to go away. There's going to be an evolution to it."

Some commentators believe cloud gaming services such as OnLive and Gaikai mark the end of home console gaming.

Perlman believes consoles are under threat, but their extinction will be a drawn out process.

"PC gaming is always going to be there," Perlman said. "I hope it's always there. In fact, these are the guys who are pioneering the future.

"But console gaming, look, we're six years into what is usually a five year console cycle.

"Much as what has happened with the video and music world, mainstream people just want to play the games. They don't want to deal with downloads, with obsolete hardware. They don't want to deal with discs."

Game publishers, too, are leaning towards cloud-gaming, Perlman said.

"The reality is the publishers are just getting killed with used games and piracy. The publishers do lower the price when demand decreases. But the problem when the game stores do it is no money feeds back into the development of the games.

"With piracy, the people who do pay for the games are paying for the versions of the games that are pirated.

"Publishers can lower the price of all the games and benefit for the long tail if we control that. Cloud gaming enables that.

"Let's put it this way, it takes a long, long time for an established platform to finally go. For example, Xbox Live is a good example of stickiness. People have got their ranking, achievements and friends. That's going to be something people go back to.

"In that sense, we may see a co-existence."

Picture of Wesley.

About Wesley Yin-Poole

Wesley is Eurogamer's news editor. He likes news, interviews, and more news. He also likes Street Fighter more than anyone can get him to shut up about it.

Read more articles from Wesley by visiting the Wesley Yin-Poole archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (47) Latest comment 12 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Ryze #1 12 months ago

    ...apart from OFFLINE PLAY.

  • randompanda #2 12 months ago

    OnLive is also priced by Satan himself.

  • Progguitarist #3 12 months ago

    It also doesn't have Mario, Zelda or the other franchises nintendo peoples love.

  • chrisjm #4 12 months ago

    With added lag and pixelation

  • SBfistfun #5 12 months ago

    Nice try but that's utter bs.main thing olive offers is latency.

  • SBfistfun #6 12 months ago

    Mmm olives...lol

  • StolenGlory #7 12 months ago

    "...apart from OFFLINE PLAY."

    And unique, exclusive IP.

    Steve Perlman = Cockend.

  • AcidSnake #8 12 months ago

    Except the whole buttons thing...And it doesn't require lightning speed DSL connections...

  • kenzo88 #9 12 months ago

    so i can use my motion controls with OnLive?.....

  • chrisjm #10 12 months ago

    its impossible with current broadband for a controller in the same room to have the same latency as when on the cloud.

  • Mnia786 #11 12 months ago

    Yeah but UK Internet is still shit slow compared to the rest of the world - I am on a 50MB Virgin line with unltd downloads whereas most of the people in the UK are being done over by BT's line rental and sub-par peak time speeds of about 10mb.
    Maybe when the government decides its time to stop fucking over the NHS and invest money in the Internet infrastructure of the UK, this will be more feasible for us.

  • -cerberus- #12 12 months ago

    It does? Cool, then I won't be buying either of them.

  • peterfll #13 12 months ago

    When I tried to download their E3 video, it went into buffering turnaround. Which kind of is ironic, and one element I wouldn't expect to see on the Wii U.

  • brseg #14 12 months ago

    My connection struggles to keep up with xbl online games, let alone streaming the entire screen image/sound along with it. This stuff is fantasy until the UK network is completely redone, and even then the ISPs will price it out of existence (sadly).

  • Darren #15 12 months ago

    I was impressed by OnLive's technical achievement of delivering games instantly through its admittedly slick Xbox 360 Guide-like user-interface but was far, far less impressed with the image-quality on offer in the games. At best the games' visuals were akin to blurry PS2 era graphics and distinctly un-HD like and at worst like a horribly compressed low-res YouTube video with macro-blocking, colour banding and all kinds of ugliness. I have an up to 24 Mbps connection too.

    Maybe in a decade's time this technology will be feasible but right now it's an interesting curiosity that would undoubtedly disappoint and annoy me if it was my only means of playing video games. For now I'll still with actual consoles and PCs, ta!
    Edited by Darren at 13/06/11 @ 14:04

  • mk-1601 #16 12 months ago

    More horseshit from a desperate man.

  • Zaiz #17 12 months ago

    OnLive isn't going to catch on until internet speeds get massively faster, and bandwidth becomes so cheap they can make the pricing affordable.

    Oh, and it also has to not look like shit.

  • Mark1412 #18 12 months ago

    "They don't want to deal with downloads, with obsolete hardware. They don't want to deal with discs."

    On the contrary, I quite like discs.

  • TonyHarrison #19 12 months ago

    Yeah, this guy obviously knows nothing about how terrible UK broadband is...

  • Eoin #20 12 months ago

    I'm not exactly sold on the Wii U, but clearly - totally crystal clearly - it does things that OnLive doesn't do. Even one of the simpler demos showed someone flicking ninja stars on the U controller's touchscreen and them appearing on the larger TV screen. Can OnLive do that? If it can, it's never been demoed or even hinted at as far as I'm aware.

    Perlman seems to have looked at the Nintendo conference and decided that the main message was "streaming", mostly, it seems, because he runs a video game streaming service. Everyone else looked at the conference and decided that the main message was that the console would have a unique controller with a screen that offered a secondary display.

  • Sid-Nice #21 12 months ago

    Every Cloud...

  • CallousB #22 12 months ago

    If the OnLive style of streaming games was truly viable for the majority of the public....the likes of Nintendo would be using it (they like to save money after all).

    The reason why Nintendo is limiting their cloud between a console and a nearby controller..is because they can guarantee it will actually work well..and without lag.

  • Vistrix #23 12 months ago

    Even if you're lucky enough to have fast UK broadband speeds, OnLive isn't cutting it.

    I have a 40mb/10mb connection and its still incredibly pixelated. The slight lag is only just bearable...

  • Toothball #24 12 months ago

    I'm sure you could use OnLive on a tablet, but can anyone think of any games that will support play on a TV and tablet simultaneously? I'd wager most developers aren't going to be taking that into account as they can't assume that people will have a tablet available. As we've seen with many pieces of optional hardware (Motion+ on Wii for example), unless it's required and everyone has it, it generally doesn't get supported that much. Also, people have been moaning about touch screen control options for years now, which is presumably why the U controller has buttons on it too.

    There are no doubt many things that OnLive can or could do that the U does, but plenty of other things that it doesn't.

  • Whitster #25 12 months ago

    Surely it doesn't do the whole duel screen aspect?

  • Ahskay #26 12 months ago

    He's right in a way. I would love to have a traditional controller and a tablet or pad for other things to view. Like inventory, map, ... That would really serve me as a gamer.
    I want to bet you can use multible pads or tablets aswell. Sony, how about making the S1 and S2 work like this?
    Edited by Ahskay at 13/06/11 @ 14:39

  • eltonpr0n #27 12 months ago

    Who cares about onlive? Looks like an expensive digital rental service to me.

  • Gambit1977 #28 12 months ago

    This is coming to iPad right? Hate touch screen sticks but if they can come out with an add on I'll be tempted.

  • Markusdragon #29 12 months ago

    For it to do what the WiiU does, it would need software developed to use both a tablet and main screen as standard. And nobody's going to develop that for the tablet-owning minority of the OnLive-using minority.

  • sega #30 12 months ago

    I have to say I do get a little annoyed when people predict the future as being completely online like we'll all just be plugged into the bloody Matrix. Games consoles arn't going to go away, people still like to own their games and their music and films. People like to unplug once in a while - even if they're constantly around the internet. Just as the high street won't also die because people like to go outside and shop once in a while and meeting up with friends won't be replaced with social networks.

    I do agree it's kind of annoying to have to have to ditch your entire games collection to upgrade with new hardware but backwards compatibility is helping there and, besides, nothing beats the excitement of getting new hardware and discovering what it can do. Life is more than just convenience.

  • RawNinjaKid #31 12 months ago

    if anything Wii U does a lot of things that your even shittier OnLive console does not!

    You're just a fuckin online software application, while Nintendo, Sony and even MSFT are moving in a way that uses proprietary hardware to enhance games.

    You guys loose before our Internet connections become very fast and reliable.
    Edited by RawNinjaKid at 13/06/11 @ 15:39

  • Raiten #32 12 months ago

    While the idea of OnLive is nifty and all that but...
    You'll never own the games on the service, you can't play anything no matter how cheap it is when you stop paying.
    Don't have acces to intternet? well no point having the device, can't connect on intternet? well sucks for you, you aint gona play anything.
    But honestly, who here realy wants to play any of the console or pc games on without doubt the worst controller ever, aka the touchscreen? at least Wii Us touchthingie controller has buttons, d-pad and little twidly sticks !

  • RawNinjaKid #33 12 months ago

    even if Cloud gaming takes off, I still see the main platform holders being MSFT, Sony and Nintendo. (maybe only Apple can join them!) The industry will still be hardware related, but not on raw power but on control mechanisms.

    You already see it with Move and Kinect. And now the Wii U (is it starting to make sense now? - I am still not convinced!)

    Anyway, Internet HD streaming speeds are about 10 years away for most gamers WW. By then I do expect the way we play games to be very different.....



    Edited by RawNinjaKid at 13/06/11 @ 16:14

  • Mister-Wario #34 12 months ago

    "They don't want to deal with downloads, with obsolete hardware. They don't want to deal with discs."

    I don't really mind downloads, and frankly given the option I'd have hard copies of all my games, storage be damned!

    And games consoles like the Wii show us that you don't need vast amounts of power for a good time.

  • nuanimal #35 12 months ago

    The problem with OnLive & Gaikai - which I think both camps clearly miss, is that there are massive dependancies in using them. Dependancies that force heavy constraints, which you don't get in console and PC gaming.

    - No offline play
    - A descent net connection
    - A captive pricing scheme
    - Loss of visual fidelity
    - Public perception & feeling towards media

  • StooMonster #36 12 months ago

    Mnia786: Yeah but UK Internet is still shit slow compared to the rest of the world

    UK average speed 6.2Mbps (according to latest data from Ofcom) USA average speed 3.9Mbps

    Yep there are a few places faster, but you might be surprised to know that most of the rest of the world is really crap -- even in places like Australia, one of my mates moved there and his greatest winge about the place is the unbelievably poor broadband where he lives (and he lived in Cornwall before there).

  • Brodie #37 12 months ago

    Nintendo don't even seem to know what WiiU does, so how the hell does this guy?

    Corporate Espionage!

  • Videogamer. #38 12 months ago

    Remarkably frank dude. I admire the honesty.

    It all boils down to the dynamic of ownership, really.

    If you download the title, you're dependent on the hard drive, in total, essentially. Potentially costly annoyance, to say the least.

    But consider the remarkable fact that you, the end user, can then purchase a new interchangeable hard drive at a brick-and-mortar within something of a stone's throw, plug it into the wall, and log into some in-game menus to reclaim your lost information from various outlets across the net...at the touch of a button. Incredible. Truly futuristic.

    So yeah, regarding ownership: the lack of interchangeable physical media does, at times (See PSN), interrupt and second guess the pronounced user experience - it's like getting a bad scratch on your favorite album. Long term upsetness. Perhaps all these hackers are luddites, or whatever they're called. :)

    Bottom Line:

    As the consumer, the core question is answered by way of another question: "Do I care to be tethered?"

    And go from there. Keeping in mind the fact that your dollar is your vote, of course. The bills in your wallets are your votes, literally. Vote with your opinion. (Ed: borderline soapbox. :)

    Okay, I'm gonna go play Dreamcast - just got Half-Life. I've never played this game before. :)

    But, interestingly, I've played its sequel - not to be confused with "successor" - two and a half times. So if this game is half as good, my excitement is justified. :)

    And, in the effort of giving credit where credit is due: I played Half-Life 2, one and a half times on the original Xbox, via CRT.

    Thanks on that one, Valve. Transcendent stuff. :)

    Okay.

    Peace, Eurogamer. :)

  • Collymilad #39 12 months ago

    What year is it?

  • layleeloo #40 12 months ago

    YES THEY DO WANT TO DEAL WITH DISCS! I wish fuckwits like this would realise the casual noobs do not make the voice of the nation where format preference is concerned.

  • 32768Colours #41 12 months ago

    "Publishers can lower the price of all the games and benefit for the long tail if we control that. Cloud gaming enables that.

    If that ever happens I'll eat my control pad. We can already see what happens when we hand more control of content over to publishers; full rrp on digital content, activation codes, pre-order exclusives... basically doing anything to maximise profit.

    It only seems old fashioned to live in a world of physical media because we're being made to feel that way by those with a vested interest in eroding our consumer rights . All they're really interested in is making sure consumers relinquish as much control of content as possible.

    Its going way beyond protecting themselves from piracy and 2nd hand sales; they're just as obsessed with finding ways of making extra money from people who legitimately buy software 1st hand. It wouldn't surprise me if publishers have entire departments devoted to concocting new schemes to keep the money rolling in. Its an ugly and infuriating aspect of modern gaming, particularly as I've never pirated a game in my life and see no reason why games should be any more exempt from 2nd hand sales than any other consumer product.

    OnLive may provide the capacity to do Wii U style stuff, but at least Wii U games will still be mine in 20 years time, playable when my internet goes down, or still worth something if I decide to sell them. If cloud gaming doesn't just end up being yet another way for publishers to exact their money-grabbing plans, I'll be utterly amazed.

  • redcrayon #42 12 months ago

    In other news, an Xbox does everything a PS3 does, a DS does everything a PSP does, and a PC does everything an Xbox does.

    Nothing to choose between them, no games, functions or hardware differences that make it worth owning more than one.

    Nope, not at all.

  • CloudXIV #43 12 months ago

    YouTube gaming... Somehow I can't see it. At least not yet. I also don't like the idea of not owning my games. This is something we are already experiencing, at least partially. Back in the days you owned the game, you owned the system and no one could change that. Today you can lose your games if you lose your account or stop paying for some subscription. Nintendo went even further and threatens to brick your 3ds if you piss them off... We're getting screwed and everybody seems to like it, that's sad...

  • mr_pink #44 12 months ago

    "In fact, if all you want is touch..."

    Well, I also want physical buttons and sticks. I think it's stretching it a bit far to say, "I can hold up an Android screen or an iPad screen and we can do exactly what they're doing".

  • KimboDice #45 12 months ago

    So I can expect Zelda Onlive eh!
    Edited by KimboDice at 14/06/11 @ 09:39

  • CamberGreber #46 12 months ago

    "They don't want to deal with discs." HA HA HA Yah Right.

    A Developers wet dream paying full price to rent games that you will never own.

    Onlive can suck it.
    and from reading these comments I can see that they will only have 1% of gamers supporting them.

  • Kevf #47 12 months ago

    I live in the Netherlands and tried Onlive this weekend and I was really impressed! Even with servers only in the USA I was able to race in Dirt 2, play some Just Cause 2 and look at some other players playing. All without noticable lag and more than decent graphics and not unimportant, with my 360 controller plugged in! This on a laptop without a graphics card (only a chip) and a 20mbit connection

    When this will hit Belgium I will be sure to try it out again!

    For all the haters: just try it, the account and demo's are free and you're up and running within minutes