HTC investing $40M in OnLive for smartphone gaming

@shopping bags

sweet comment bruv

@Axcalibur they actually make great android phones. I am pretty sure if you did some research you would know how great the Incredible and Evo 4G are....and they're making better ones right now

@Axcalibur

My Droid Eris would like to disagree with you. It's a fantastic old device.

UMAD?

@Axcalibur

Crappy cell phones? They're the best Android smart phones out there, quality wise. The EVO is an exceptionally well made device.

And as far as gaming goes, this actually makes a lot of sense. How do you compete with the PSP2 and 3DS that have better graphics and better chips? Streamed gaming.

@Axcalibur

O Rly?

My Evo 4g disagrees strongly.

@aray48

I agree, the EVO 4G looked pretty damn sweet, but it's not available in Canada, so I had to opt for an iPhone 4 (and very happy I did).

My comments were based on personal past experiences with HTC (had an S720, it was okay, but the support from HTC regarding problems was crap!). I have no personal experiences with Onlive, but it's pretty clear that it's a crap platform that will see very little success in the future in it's current state. In a time when internet providers are dialing back the amount of bandwidth individuals can use per month, having any kind of streaming service is just going to cause overage charges. Same reason digital distribution will not take over completely for many more years.

When the time comes that everyone gets fast, unlimited internet, then a product like Onlive could work, but for now, it's no good.

@Axcalibur Yup they are decent phones plus they made a $HIZload of profit last year.

@Axcalibur

Comment simplified for the lazy reader:

"I have no current HTC phones, I have never used OnLive... I own an iPhone.......please don't downvote me".

@Shockwave

I don't have an HTC phone because my past experiences with HTC were no good. They're crap when it comes to customer service and the best phone they've produced in years (if not ever) and the only one people seem to be mentioning, the EVO 4G, isn't available in my market.

Regarding Onlive - doesn't take a genius to figure out whether they can succeed or fail. They won't succeed in the bulk of Canadian markets due to bandwidth limitations (bigger cities might be okay). Also, as a gamer who owns all the major consoles (Wii, PS3, Xbox 360), I know that a game console should include some exclusives and not just PC ports to be successful.

As for the comment about my iPhone 4. Haters be damned, it's a sweet device. Beautiful display with some sweet games to be had. It's not perfect, but it'll keep me happy during my 3 year contract - something I could never say about my HTC smartphone.

@Axcalibur

LOL at downvoters - I can't believe how many Onlive lovers are here, it's pathetic.

Unless it's because I own an iPhone 4, then it's just jealousy cause you broke monkies can only afford HTC crap... LOL

@Axcalibur

Name 5 things an iPhone 4 can do that The EVO 4G, Desire HD, HD7 can't do.

@Axcalibur

You find it pathetic that others can see the potential in a new gaming service and you can't?

@Axcalibur

Who said I was an OnLive user? The difference is, I don't tell everyone it's shit because I've never used the service. That's like 360 owners saying PS3s are shit, or visa versa, even though they've never owned or used one.

Last time I checked, it's called fanboyism and trolling. Btw, you're doing a great job of both right now.

@Axcalibur

My HTC Desire Z(Which is available in Canada, I live there) far surpasses the iPhone in terms of screen quality, speed, and pretty much everything....but battery life (I only owned the original iPhone...but I've played around with my friend's 3G :P).

Oh, and it costs more than an iPhone.

Stop talking out your ass.

@Axcalibur

"Unless it's because I own an iPhone 4, then it's just jealousy cause you broke monkies can only afford HTC crap... LOL "

Maturity at it's finest right there..

So we own Androids because we can't afford iPhones? That's funny.. I owned three of them. I guess I suddenly just ran out of money.

It's a little thing called user preference. While the iPhone isn't for me any more (it never changed and didn't offer features I wanted that Androids did), I wouldn't go around saying it's a crappy device. It's meant for a specific audience and I grew out of that.

Your view though, however, is that if I don't own what you own, not only much I be poor, but I suck. And you're wondering why you're being downvoted?

@Shockwave

"Comment simplified for the lazy reader:

"I have no current HTC phones, I have never used OnLive... I own an iPhone.......please don't downvote me". "

Remember that comment? Yeah, don't call me out on being immature when I make a rebuttal at your own level.

Anyways, we're wasting too many words on my stupid comments, let's move on and just wait and see what happens with OnLive and HTC. Come back to these comments in 5 years and we'll see which of us was on the right track :) I mean, honestly - can someone please give me a couple good reasons for OnLive's existance? And if HTC phones didn't feature Android, would any of you be defending them?

@Axcalibur Downvoted for crying about getting downvotes. I'm not too bothered about your opinion, but you come across as an asshole to me.

@Axcalibur

"I mean, honestly - can someone please give me a couple good reasons for OnLive's existance?"

Well, for one OnLive allows users with an older PC to play newer PC games that their computer could never hope to run since the game is computed on OnLive's servers.

It also lets people play the games they're interested in through an on demand model - that way you're not spending $40-$60 each time you want to play a new game, or if you think you might be interested in the game but you're not entirely sure it's for you.

There you go. I could give you more but you only asked for a couple of reasons.

By the way, you spelled "existence" wrong (my cheap insult since you've resorted to them numerous times in this thread).

@Axcalibur I still have the Droid Eris and it is a great phone. I don't know where you are getting your info. Also OnLive isn't bad.

@Axcalibur Yes, because if people downvote you for talking shit about a platform you've never tried out of pure speculation, OMG THEY MUST BE ONLIVE LOVERS M I RITE?

I don't use OnLive seeing as I have a good gaming PC and several working consoles, but you don't see me talking crap about it because in reality, a) it's actually very interesting tech that can be applied to many other fields and b) it has a lot of potential for use in gaming, whether exactly in the form that it's in, or through some other way. I'm happy that OnLive is doing as well as it is because it means the tech powering it isn't currently facing extinction, because we've seen a lot of tech in the past (SEGA Channel, all of the Dreamcast) going to hell just because smug contrarian "gamers" like you like to guffaw at unproven tech just because it defies the norm.

@Axcalibur Crappy platform? Hey look a console elitist!

@RKN

You guys are a sad group of guppies.

"Console elitist"? Your damn right I am - PC gaming has been garbage for over a decade. It's only shining light is MMO's and the Modding community. But regardless of my preferance to consoles, this has NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS CONVERSATION - Onlive as a whole is a crap service.

Re: Onlive - "that way you're not spending $40-$60 each time you want to play a new game" - are you kidding? Look at the "featured games" for OnLive - it's all 3rd party garbage from last year, there is NOTHING NEW TO PLAY.

"Downvoted for crying about getting downvotes" - Not once did I "cry" about downvotes - I was amused, because people are sheep, like you "Hank Hill", never offering an opinion of any relevance, just hating on the hated to get upvoted - trolls like you are pathetic.

Fact 1: Onlive is a crap service that will be dead by year end. The reality is, Onlive as a service and a console has had ZERO impact on Console gaming or gaming in general.

Fact 2: HTC is a crap cell phone company that's recently come into a string of good fortune because it's supported the Android platform. The reality is not one HTC phone has outsold the iPhone 4. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if all the HTC phones put together last year haven't outsold the iPhone 4.

You guys are offering props to inferior devices, and because of it, you are the reason tech is farther behind then it should be. You should support the superior products, so that we continue down the path of innovation, rather than stupid useless tech that Onlive offers or HTC produces. It's like that idiot who mentioned the Dreamcast - get over it, it was a crap console with a few good games that came out at a bad time.

@Faceless Troll

I'd assume they'd only port games that could be done with simpler controls, like a Need for Speed game (tilt steering, touch gas and brake). Then again, with Android phones coming out like the Playstation Phone, you'll have plenty of buttons to use for games such as Batman.

@Shockwave

They said HTC, not Sony. Sony wouldn't want to support a competing company

@Prboi

Kind of like a Sony phone with an Android market, and soon to be playstation market?

Seems to be 2 pretty distinct markets right there...

@liquidsoap89

Sony's not competing with Google for android since Sony doesn't have a phone OS. They can support Android.

@puerrican85 Battery technology is not improving as quickly as the rest of our mobile devices. Services like OnLive could make a huge difference in having the ability to combine high quality graphics and a battery that lasts more than 5 minutes.

@puerrican85 Seriously? How much stronger do you want them to be? Twice as strong so that you get a fourth of the battery life?

It's not about power, it's about investing in the "smart" areas. If HTC can manage to get OnLive to work with a "mobile" versions of games, this could really be a shot in the arm for cell phone gaming. If it works, there'll be no such concern for battery life or the expense of the smartphone itself, it'll be a dedicated "platform" whose games will work on every device with no effort required on the side of the cell phone manufacturer.

That...or just stronger cell phones. Yeah, it's pretty obvious what I'd pick.

@AirIntake I play most of my games with a Wii controller that I tether blue tooth. Would that work?

@Revving Injuns I should mention that I play them on my DroidX. What if...no this is just a what if..I could tether a bluetooth mouse and keyboard and hook it up to my TV with the HDMI out! Also what game on the On-Live service uses 105 keys? Most PC games don't.

@Revving Injuns No, using a Wiimote through bluetooth to control a game on a smartphone is not an acceptable solution.

You're correct that most games don't use all 105 keys, but they usually use more than zero.

@AirIntake
Well seeing as that most games on the OnLive service can use a XBOX 360 controller and you don't have to have a mouse and keyboard, then I think yes, a Wiimote paired with the classic controller would work.

@AirIntake

well it also gives you the oportunity to basically carry your console everywhere you go if you just connect it to a screen and use a bluetooth controller with it... which I think is interesting in its own right...

I really don't see myself playing Mass Effect 3 on a bus in some variation of touchscreen.... or carrying bluetooth everything so I can set it all up in my lap or something.

@whookid

18 give or take a couple seconds.

@whookid I think you missed the point. OnLive on a phone = better battery lifes because the rendering is all done on the cloud, and video streaming is quite cheap battery wise.

I agree with Axcalibur :) too much hating lol