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I just hope the iPad becomes cheaper, or the other amazing android tablets that are cheaper get onLive support. this could definitely become a mainstream thing.
I'm all for onlive. i use it and it works so well!
I'm all for onlive. i use it and it works so well!
Interesting thoughts. I bought an iPhone 4 last year as my first foray into iProducts and as an apple customer for the better part of 370 days now, I'd argue that I've drank enough of the Kool-Aid to form a positive opinion of my experience, looking to the future of mobile(not just mobile phone) gaming.
That said, I know full well what tablets can and can't do. The limitations of tablets, and to a lesser extent, of consoles, is what is motivating me to get back into PC gaming in the first place. I'm actually in the process of putting together a new PC system specifically for BF3, since I have such hard nostalgia for BF2, the last PC game I actively played besides WoW.
Speaking of which, in the Tom's Hardware article you linked, Blizzard discusses the (pretty important) limitations of porting WoW(or any game like it) to a tablet. 'Core games'(Yes, I know, I feel dirty just typing it out) require multiple input presses, buttons, to effectively work well.
I love my iDevice, it does so much. But I don't see it(or any tablet, for that mattter) running a 256-player MAG match any time soon!
That said, I know full well what tablets can and can't do. The limitations of tablets, and to a lesser extent, of consoles, is what is motivating me to get back into PC gaming in the first place. I'm actually in the process of putting together a new PC system specifically for BF3, since I have such hard nostalgia for BF2, the last PC game I actively played besides WoW.
Speaking of which, in the Tom's Hardware article you linked, Blizzard discusses the (pretty important) limitations of porting WoW(or any game like it) to a tablet. 'Core games'(Yes, I know, I feel dirty just typing it out) require multiple input presses, buttons, to effectively work well.
I love my iDevice, it does so much. But I don't see it(or any tablet, for that mattter) running a 256-player MAG match any time soon!
Doesn't the PS3 have a browser? So I assume it should be able to go to a cookie making website.
I do kind of want to buy a HP Touchpad for $100 and turn it in to something special, but I'm too lazy to.
I do kind of want to buy a HP Touchpad for $100 and turn it in to something special, but I'm too lazy to.
@Ramm... I definitely agree that tablets can't offer console gaming... yet. I do think however with the way that technology is going and with everyone else trying to jump into the tablet market that the potential is definitely there. Like de5Gravity, I was surprised at how decent the cloud based gaming is.
Currently there are limitations... but also possibilities! :)
Currently there are limitations... but also possibilities! :)
LOL manasteel... but it would be a pain in the ass to move the TV and the PS3 console to the kitchen to enable me to follow the recipe! It's the portability of the iPad... larger than an iPhone (or iPod touch) but smaller than a laptop. It's really an ideal size and I find I use it all over the house (though I do tend to take my iPod Touch with me when I go out... I keep my grocery list on it and have an offline app for my husband's medication that lets me know what foods he can or can't eat... though when I took my Mom to the hospital for an eye surgery I took the iPad for the larger screen to watch a movie while I waited for her - overall, the iPad offers more, while the Touch offers less but has a more conveniently portable size).
Also, when I refer to "tablets" I'm not excluding smart phones... they are getting damn powerful and could potentially be used for streaming games too... though likely wouldn't be as good for gaming when not connected to a TV... but then again there are internet TV's coming out.. and the possibility of simply streaming from the iPhone to any TV in the house.. meh... so many possibilities!)
Also, when I refer to "tablets" I'm not excluding smart phones... they are getting damn powerful and could potentially be used for streaming games too... though likely wouldn't be as good for gaming when not connected to a TV... but then again there are internet TV's coming out.. and the possibility of simply streaming from the iPhone to any TV in the house.. meh... so many possibilities!)
Could iPad be your new console? Sure, it already a console: set hardware and games coming from a source that certifies the content before you can get at it (a closed system)...that is a console.
However, I really have to say that for myself, I have no interest in an Apple console...unless it was more open to more content for more developers. I am impartial towards the hardware as long as it plays the software I want. If Sony allows me to play on more devices...well that cool because it is just about the games for me.
Therefore, it would come down to "Would I buy an iPad?" And, to that, I would have to say, no. Apple has an unhealthy way of closing its system that not even Sony is that fanatical about. To use an iPad you need to use iTunes/iStore and I do not like the way they do business. To use and iPad you need to accept that could cannot have a wide range of choices about connections, removable storage, etc.
Maybe, with Steve gone Apple will admit they have been acting very un-Apple for the past decade and acting like mindless 1984 thugs. To the new Apple CEO & Board Chairman I would say, "Tear down some walls!" Your devices & content delivery either stand on your own, or neither does. If iPad, iPhone, and Mac are SO GOOD then there is no need for the devices to be closed off so completely.
However, I really have to say that for myself, I have no interest in an Apple console...unless it was more open to more content for more developers. I am impartial towards the hardware as long as it plays the software I want. If Sony allows me to play on more devices...well that cool because it is just about the games for me.
Therefore, it would come down to "Would I buy an iPad?" And, to that, I would have to say, no. Apple has an unhealthy way of closing its system that not even Sony is that fanatical about. To use an iPad you need to use iTunes/iStore and I do not like the way they do business. To use and iPad you need to accept that could cannot have a wide range of choices about connections, removable storage, etc.
Maybe, with Steve gone Apple will admit they have been acting very un-Apple for the past decade and acting like mindless 1984 thugs. To the new Apple CEO & Board Chairman I would say, "Tear down some walls!" Your devices & content delivery either stand on your own, or neither does. If iPad, iPhone, and Mac are SO GOOD then there is no need for the devices to be closed off so completely.
Just think, in a decade you want even have to get out of bed to do anything!
Personally I think all these Iproduct are bad things. This might sound drastic but I honestly think they are going to turn humanity into a bad direction. A world where all people do shopping,work,TV,gaming,social things, and everything else on one single device scares me and it's already much a reality. It's simply too powerful, I want people to go out the house, talk face to face with people and not be in front of a screen all day.
Imagine if you could get every single game from service, sounds good doesn't it? It really won't be... No competition will equal high prices, if something goes wrong, no alternative. One service would be too powerful, too much control over the consumers.
Scary times ahead.
Personally I think all these Iproduct are bad things. This might sound drastic but I honestly think they are going to turn humanity into a bad direction. A world where all people do shopping,work,TV,gaming,social things, and everything else on one single device scares me and it's already much a reality. It's simply too powerful, I want people to go out the house, talk face to face with people and not be in front of a screen all day.
Imagine if you could get every single game from service, sounds good doesn't it? It really won't be... No competition will equal high prices, if something goes wrong, no alternative. One service would be too powerful, too much control over the consumers.
Scary times ahead.
I've said it before, I'll say it again... OnLive's bandwidth and server usage have gotta come from somewhere.
When someone's playing Crysis 2 or whatever, there's a server somewhere devoting a chunk of its resources rendering the game and delivering it to you. So OnLive has to pay for the energy consumption every time you play a game, because they're the ones paying part of the electricity bill, not you. On a game you can theoretically play forever, the energy costs for you playing the game are eventually going to nibble away any profits OnLive made from the sale of the game to you. A successful multiplayer title with longevity like Modern Warfare 2 or whatever would kill OnLive. The only games which can succeed as a streaming service are MMORPGS with a monthly fee, provided OnLive can get a slice.
The big thing with OnLive is bandwidth, however. Most Canadian ISPs limit the bandwidth to 100 Gigs a month or less. With OnLive's 3 gig an hour bandwidth usage, that's 33 hours of gaming time for meteorscrap... Provided he doesn't use his internet for streaming videos from his Xbox or online or do anything with the internet whatsoever. Even in the USA, most "unlimited" providers have a clause about excessive usage. Until the bandwidth issue is addressed either by ISPs raising their limits or OnLive somehow fighting that 3 gig an hour bandwidth use down to a more reasonable level, I'm not convinced it's going to take off very well.
Otherwise, though... Good blog. God knows if I had to go back to turning pages like a heathen rather than reading books on my tablet, I'd go bonkers. With a book, you need a light. With a good tablet PC, the book IS the light. Also, curling up in bed with a girl for a good movie propped up on your knees is a lot more intimate than watching a movie on the couch.
When someone's playing Crysis 2 or whatever, there's a server somewhere devoting a chunk of its resources rendering the game and delivering it to you. So OnLive has to pay for the energy consumption every time you play a game, because they're the ones paying part of the electricity bill, not you. On a game you can theoretically play forever, the energy costs for you playing the game are eventually going to nibble away any profits OnLive made from the sale of the game to you. A successful multiplayer title with longevity like Modern Warfare 2 or whatever would kill OnLive. The only games which can succeed as a streaming service are MMORPGS with a monthly fee, provided OnLive can get a slice.
The big thing with OnLive is bandwidth, however. Most Canadian ISPs limit the bandwidth to 100 Gigs a month or less. With OnLive's 3 gig an hour bandwidth usage, that's 33 hours of gaming time for meteorscrap... Provided he doesn't use his internet for streaming videos from his Xbox or online or do anything with the internet whatsoever. Even in the USA, most "unlimited" providers have a clause about excessive usage. Until the bandwidth issue is addressed either by ISPs raising their limits or OnLive somehow fighting that 3 gig an hour bandwidth use down to a more reasonable level, I'm not convinced it's going to take off very well.
Otherwise, though... Good blog. God knows if I had to go back to turning pages like a heathen rather than reading books on my tablet, I'd go bonkers. With a book, you need a light. With a good tablet PC, the book IS the light. Also, curling up in bed with a girl for a good movie propped up on your knees is a lot more intimate than watching a movie on the couch.
For me, the most attractive tablet to buy is the iPad. I hope it becomes a console for a great many people because I'm currently developing games for it. There are tons of ideas going around where I work to provide better control schemes for people to play the games they know and love. But it's hard to make people happy when it comes to first person shooters.
There isn't necessarily as much money being made on the iPad unless you are the rare case, like Angry Birds. But there seems to be less risk developing for iPad right now than on consoles. Lots of people, of course are willing to download a free to play demo, and a 1.99 full release - as opposed to a 60 dollar one time purchase (possibly after a free demo). Our company is making plenty of progress and we're hoping to get profitable next year. It would be MUCH harder for us to develop games on other consoles. That's, in large part, due to developing in Unity - which makes it easier to develop 3d games.
Despite what you hear about companies having trouble with a heavy handed Apple, coming down on small companies and rejecting their apps - most of the BS can be avoided if you adhere to terms of service. For example, we decided to change our in app purchases so that they didn't resemble a real currency. We changed it into more of a 'fuel/consumable' or 'power-up'. I don't know why we needed to do that, but it is best to stay on the safe side if you want to make money and keep having job security.
It is in my opinion that you will never see a game like MAG on the iPad. FPS's were tailor made for keyboard/mouse or dual analog controllers. The touch screen makes for different games with different control schemes. I can't wait to see what people come up with though. Awesome blog Elsa.
There isn't necessarily as much money being made on the iPad unless you are the rare case, like Angry Birds. But there seems to be less risk developing for iPad right now than on consoles. Lots of people, of course are willing to download a free to play demo, and a 1.99 full release - as opposed to a 60 dollar one time purchase (possibly after a free demo). Our company is making plenty of progress and we're hoping to get profitable next year. It would be MUCH harder for us to develop games on other consoles. That's, in large part, due to developing in Unity - which makes it easier to develop 3d games.
Despite what you hear about companies having trouble with a heavy handed Apple, coming down on small companies and rejecting their apps - most of the BS can be avoided if you adhere to terms of service. For example, we decided to change our in app purchases so that they didn't resemble a real currency. We changed it into more of a 'fuel/consumable' or 'power-up'. I don't know why we needed to do that, but it is best to stay on the safe side if you want to make money and keep having job security.
It is in my opinion that you will never see a game like MAG on the iPad. FPS's were tailor made for keyboard/mouse or dual analog controllers. The touch screen makes for different games with different control schemes. I can't wait to see what people come up with though. Awesome blog Elsa.
Tablet computers + cloud computing gaming = mind blown.
I never thought about combing the theoretical barrier smashing of cloud-based gaming with something as approachable as tablet computers.
I never thought about combing the theoretical barrier smashing of cloud-based gaming with something as approachable as tablet computers.
I definitely really like my friend's iPad 2, but I can't see it as the end all, be all game platform yet. I like "Mirror's Edge," "Dead Space iOS" and "Infinity Blade," but paying upwards of $700 for that is excessive right now.
Still, I wouldn't mind a future where I could have alternatives on a tablet. It would be great to bring a huge screen with extremely accessibility with me.
Still, I wouldn't mind a future where I could have alternatives on a tablet. It would be great to bring a huge screen with extremely accessibility with me.
@Monkey... it's not as closed as people think it is... there is still unrestricted access to the internet, so anything you can access on the internet, you can use on an iPad (except flash! ... and other tablets do let you use flash). In terms of content... OnLive has an app, I'm sure that Gaikai is working on one, as would anyone else who wanted to do cloud based gaming.
@DimmuJed... tablets are pretty cool... I probably use mine more than is healthy!
@Pencoin... I've always been an "organizer"... it just used to be paper and pen with a calendar and notepad and personal phone book and grocery list... now it's computerized and all in one place. Most of the data is transferable... my contacts, calendar and writing notes have been transferred between several computers already and now onto an iPad... I don't see it as any different from paper, only it's more convenient.
@meteorscrap.. I do think that the TV conversion from analog to digital (and the new bandwidth opened up) will make a difference. When I converted to 100% digital TV (converters on all my TV units) I was able to upgrade from 25mbps and a 250GB/month cap to 50mbps with a 400GB/month cap for the same price. We also dropped some TV channel packages and stream more video instead, so we actually cut our monthly bill down by about $20.00. I suspect both the speed and the cap will gradually continue to increase over time.
@Fame Designer... the nice thing about the ipad though is that it can easily use a bluetooth controller and a bluetooth keyboard (same as the PS3), and additionally it has the option of touch input. I don't know why an FPS couldn't be played from the iPad. OnLive seems to have their bluetooth controller working just fine with it in their demos. In terms of MAG... I do agree that I don't know that we would see a 256 player game through cloud gaming, but on the other hand, if all the players are simply streaming their data, I guess it depends on their backend servers?? I'm not sure. I do know that Homefront played just fine using OnLive, so I'm sure it would play quite well through the iPad.
@Strider... I think it's the ability to hook it up to any TV, or to simply unplug it and walk away with the tablet screen while possibly even continuing to play the game. Very cool.
@KingSigy... the tablet market is heating up and I think we'll see a gradual increase in power with a decline in pricing.
@Tubatic.. laptops do currently do much more than tablets, and they are certainly better for gaming, however tablets represent better integration by nature of their size. Reading a book or a magazine on a computer is not even close to the experience of using a tablet. Tablets are just so much more portable and the touch interface is a potentially new (and convenient) input in addition to the bluetooth keyboard or controller. Again, tablets aren't there yet... but even in their infancy, the potential is enormous (and coincidentally, rather similar to the WiiU concept)
@DimmuJed... tablets are pretty cool... I probably use mine more than is healthy!
@Pencoin... I've always been an "organizer"... it just used to be paper and pen with a calendar and notepad and personal phone book and grocery list... now it's computerized and all in one place. Most of the data is transferable... my contacts, calendar and writing notes have been transferred between several computers already and now onto an iPad... I don't see it as any different from paper, only it's more convenient.
@meteorscrap.. I do think that the TV conversion from analog to digital (and the new bandwidth opened up) will make a difference. When I converted to 100% digital TV (converters on all my TV units) I was able to upgrade from 25mbps and a 250GB/month cap to 50mbps with a 400GB/month cap for the same price. We also dropped some TV channel packages and stream more video instead, so we actually cut our monthly bill down by about $20.00. I suspect both the speed and the cap will gradually continue to increase over time.
@Fame Designer... the nice thing about the ipad though is that it can easily use a bluetooth controller and a bluetooth keyboard (same as the PS3), and additionally it has the option of touch input. I don't know why an FPS couldn't be played from the iPad. OnLive seems to have their bluetooth controller working just fine with it in their demos. In terms of MAG... I do agree that I don't know that we would see a 256 player game through cloud gaming, but on the other hand, if all the players are simply streaming their data, I guess it depends on their backend servers?? I'm not sure. I do know that Homefront played just fine using OnLive, so I'm sure it would play quite well through the iPad.
@Strider... I think it's the ability to hook it up to any TV, or to simply unplug it and walk away with the tablet screen while possibly even continuing to play the game. Very cool.
@KingSigy... the tablet market is heating up and I think we'll see a gradual increase in power with a decline in pricing.
@Tubatic.. laptops do currently do much more than tablets, and they are certainly better for gaming, however tablets represent better integration by nature of their size. Reading a book or a magazine on a computer is not even close to the experience of using a tablet. Tablets are just so much more portable and the touch interface is a potentially new (and convenient) input in addition to the bluetooth keyboard or controller. Again, tablets aren't there yet... but even in their infancy, the potential is enormous (and coincidentally, rather similar to the WiiU concept)
I wish I had a button I could push that would automatically front page blogs. After being a member of the recap team for 3 years now, you think they would have given me that ability by now.
Because if I did have that ability ... this would have already been front paged!
Because if I did have that ability ... this would have already been front paged!
I took a look at some of the bluetooth stuff. With an added controller, there very well could be awesome potential for FPS's. I think the point I was trying to make is that the touch screen with make no FPS gamer happy, IMO. Also, I don't see why there would necessarily be a limitation on 256 player games. iPad 2 might be able to handle it. Today's servers can handle it so that's not a problem. To get 256 players on the screen at once, there would probably be performance issues, but that won't always be the case.
@jaws... it's hard to believe that the iPad was only introduced in 2010! Tablets have come a long way in only a year and it's exciting to think of what they will be capable of in another 3 or 4 years!
@SilverDragon... LOL! They probably see all the grammatical errors and lack of italics on game names, companies, etc. and realize the corrective work involved. Meh, I'm lazy! What can I say! (though if they had a better blogging system that made it easier to do those things, I would probably use it).
@Fame.. yeah, I totally and absolutely agree that a controller would be needed for FPS games. I really don't much like using the touch controls, though I can see that for some games, they might be useful. I'm actually surprised that Apple hasn't introduced an official bluetooth game controller so that devs can expand what they offer, though I guess that might be waiting on the iPad's next generation or something. I'm sure we'll see one eventually! On the 256 player games, I don't know enough about servers to really comment... but you're right that it may very well eventually be possible.
@SilverDragon... LOL! They probably see all the grammatical errors and lack of italics on game names, companies, etc. and realize the corrective work involved. Meh, I'm lazy! What can I say! (though if they had a better blogging system that made it easier to do those things, I would probably use it).
@Fame.. yeah, I totally and absolutely agree that a controller would be needed for FPS games. I really don't much like using the touch controls, though I can see that for some games, they might be useful. I'm actually surprised that Apple hasn't introduced an official bluetooth game controller so that devs can expand what they offer, though I guess that might be waiting on the iPad's next generation or something. I'm sure we'll see one eventually! On the 256 player games, I don't know enough about servers to really comment... but you're right that it may very well eventually be possible.
If tablets become the new thing I'm going to realize my dream of having a super gaming setup in my bathroom! I enjoyed reading your blog Elsa!
I tried OnLive because my good friend's cousin works there as a developer and he gave me Metro 2033 for free and, I gotta say, while the presentation and interface is slick, running on a 100 megabit connection (pretty standard these days) with a beautiful gaming rig, the game looked and ran horribly. It was on par with PS2 graphics, seriously that grainy. I may have done something wrong, but I tweaked the settings for at least an hour and nothing worked :(
I don't really know, maybe screen size is a factor. They only had 19 or 20" screens at PAX and the other viewing I've done is on the iPad's tiny screen (where it looks great!)... alternatively distance to the servers, the specific game or other factors may be at play.
Still.. the tech is still in it's infancy.
Still.. the tech is still in it's infancy.
