Onlive(ish) Video Compression - How could it be done?
Online (www.onlive.com) announced a new service at this years GDC. The service allows users to connect to a remote “cloud” of servers that process a video game’s logic and your input. They send back a high-definition stream of the video and sound, allowing you to play very complex and resource intense games on simple machine (like a netbook or their tiny little “console”).
This is big news for the industry! It could prevent piracy, lower the cost of console hardware, and maybe even lower the cost of games (we will ignore the fact that you don’t own the game anymore for now)… But, many of the blogs and articles I have ready are saying it just can’t be done. Much of the concern is that it is not viably possible to send compressed video through the interwebs to your computer. I think it is highly possible. I think they have figured out a way to do it. And, I think it is one way it can be achieved (less the fancy compression algorithms).
Will McGuire on April 10th 2009 in Game Design