I know it's been a weekend but I needed the time to be able to play some of the games on OnLive to really get the true feel of it. So I thought it would be best try 2 games, 1 game I'm familar with and the other I'm not. So the games I decided to were Borderlands, which I own on steam, and Batman: Arkmym Asulym a game that my computer can't even run. Also these 2 games give me the chance to best use my KBAM and Controller (Gamestop Xbox 360 Controller ) so I get the feel how the system is supposed to work. 2 games seemed good becuase of the percise aiming that BL can use and combo system Batman and being a SSFIV nut timing to me is EVERYTHING.

Before we start I figured that everyone should know what Kind of PC I'm running.

CPU: Intel Core Duo 6300
Ram: 2 gigs Corsair XMS 2 DDR 800
Hard drive: 2 x250 SATA 7200
Video card: Nvidia 9400 1gig. EVGA
OS: Windows 7, rating 4.9
Monitor: LG Flattron W2353V (23 inch LCD)

I also test it out on a Apple Macbook Pro (Intel Core Duo 2ghz)

I have Cox Communication handling my Internet here in San Diego and it runs at a modest 6mbps.

...No rest for the wicked, ugh that's a dumb song.

So last time I touched Borderlands was right before the The Secret Armory of General Knoxx DLC came out. So that's a good 5 months. I took the steam version out for a spin and my Brick was still decked out in a few epics though I'm not much of a loot nut in this game because of the easy leveling curve but I digress. The game is as fun as I remember, I joined a few matches as expected little to no problems and even found some of my old buddies still trolling around playing which was fun.. With a good 3 hours under my belt I was able finally reacquint myself with the game and how it played and looked so the it was time to move over to the OnLive version..

Immediately 1st thing I noticed was the big graphical difference. No it wasn't worse but better. I can only Run Borderlands at an acceptable Frame Rate if I'm running it at 800x600 with the settings mid-low range.. So being able to play it at 1280x720 made it a nicer. Textures were more detailed though not particularly sharper. Then again I run my monitor natively at 1920x1080 so there is a "stretch" factor. The Apple Laptop ran it surprisingly well sadly though the wifi does not work at all so it was a bit of a pain to have to hard wire a laptop when it's intention is to be portable. But when wired up it ran and looked even better but that is also in the case of running that monitor at a lower resolution than my pc's monitor.

The controls worked satisfactory. I picked a Hunter specfically to have really percise aiming with sniper rifles and such. Now, I did try Borderlands OnLive before this and felt the mouse being not as responsive but after dinking around with my Steam version I did see that the mouse issue wasn't an OnLive issue but a Borderlands one. It's not bad but the mouse in that game, to me, felt not as responsive as I have experienced in other FPS like CS.S or TF2. So seeing that it controlled similarly was reassuring. Now I do say similarly because there was an ever so slight lag difference, more than I was used to. I did adjust accordingly however and I didn't really notice it after level 15. I can only expect the controls to get better over time as the backend gets improved.

The sessioning was way better than I expected. I played for a good hour before I took a break and during that time I didn't have any issue with the streaming. No hiccups, distortions or timeouts during the experience. I also had it running while streaming some world cup games with no issues. I came back at various times during the day (6 am, noon, 6pm and midnight) and the experience was the same with longest session last about 2.5 hours. I left myself spectating another user and that was the only time I was disconnected from the service. I'm not entirely sure if the game being played would affect how the magic happens and as more popular games get implement if that would effect game place

After some time and $6 poorer I was really damn happy with how Borderlands played. It was a substantial upgrade from what I was running natively though I did miss being able to tweak out settings and FOV and other settings I had on my steam version. Ultimately though, I was doing all those tweaks because I was trying to get a better performance out of my machine and in this case it wasn't neccessary. I also couldn't find out if the DLC packs were already included in this version of the game and if not how they were going to be included as well as future packs. So many questions but I'm sure time will tell.. Check back tomorrow for my Batman write up.. Thanks for checking in..

The Sign Up
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So the experience so far has been good. After receiving the email it took me almost an hour to actually sign up but I guess the site was getting pounded. One thing I did find disappointing was the unsupported Chrome Browser, I ended up having to install firefox so I could get it running but after that I was able to use a short created. I'm hoping it'll be worked out so the whole browser will be eliminated from the mix. I know Games like Battlefield Heroes and Quake live use it but it just seems like an unneccessary step. Then soon after it took me almost another 30 mins of waiting before I could log in properly via the website to edit my profile and such. Though when i did use the DSC of the program I got right in so it would appear to be a syncing problem. A few hoops to jump through through but have to expect it when something like this launches. Reasonable expectations people.

The UI
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The UI is really cool, you feel like you are in the movie Hackers. You are given 8 options to choose from the home menu. Arena, which is a spectator mode to see what people are playing and where they are at in a game. Profile, of course which is yours to customize with the limited options they provide. Marketplace for all your game purchasing needs, Coming soon for trailers of games coming down the pipe. My Games, where all your games are housed. Last Played which launches the last game you played, which I found kinda pointless. Brag Clips, where you can record game play and uploaded to show all your friends. Last but not least, Friends which is well.. It's self explainatory.

The experience of the UI itself is kinda cool. Flipping pages, zooming and wooshing through everything makes the mosaic interface feel like you are a mad scientist looking over to trying to decide what to take over.. It's esthetically pleasing and very Apple-esque in it's delivery. It works well without being overly cumbersome to the end user which I found really good. Everything is clearly marked and you know where you are going any at given time. Though I haven't seen anyway to just drop in on a friend or potential friend who is playing a game you may want to join. I suspect that it maybe becuase I haven't purchased any games as of yet. The simplicity does help you navigate though everything quickly and effeciently but I can't help feel as if there should be more but then again this thing JUST launched. Maybe they'll changed the "Last Played" option to something else.

Next Up
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I'm really trying to dig through the demos and I already own some of the game so I'll post up some comparasion pictures tomorrow as well as how it performs..

I got this in my email about 20 mins ago.

"Hi Marcelo Abans,

Congratulations! You have been selected from the wait-list for membership activation and immediate access to the OnLive Game Service "

Awesome! I got into the founding members program of On Live. I know a lot of gamers have dismissed the idea of this service but honestly it can't really hurt.. If it works as good as it says it does I can't see developers NOT supporting it. A wider audience, easier maintenance for updates, no dealing with flipping discs, lower distribution costs.. I know it seems lame to pay for a service for games, then pay for the games that seemingly have a timer on them, etc.. but it's really no different than going out buying a console and using it for 5-6 years.. Price wise anyway. Ultimately everyone's main concern, as well as mine, will be the performance. This has potential to bring gaming to a different level, not sure if it's the next yet because we all know how successful the Sega Channel was.. I'll take tons of pictures and try to keep things updated. Lets see where this goes. If you have any questions ask away, and I'll answer them if I can as well..

I wake up this to all this fat princess business and I see the 1 group I get nothing by joy from is standing up fighting against a non issue. Feminist. HOW I LOVE THEM!!! I love you all!!! Fighting the long battle that has long been won yet you need to find other issues to continue to validate your worth in the world. So sexy, ALL OF YOU!

So the nice women/men at FG have the the unfortunate problem of letting a game get to them, not to mention put themselves in the same camp as Jack Thompson. That's right you feminist. You are now no different than him..

See the "Might Ponygirl" had this to say about Fat Princess in terms of suggesting how to change the game:

"So how about layering, Karamari-style, a bunch of random shit on top of the chest, like shrubbery, rocks, bison, etc, that would also weight it down. That could be cute, and silly, and not reinforce nasty stereotypes about women and the obese."

Here's the problem with that statement. If you believe that then you run into this conundrum: Video Games Create X People. In this case, sexist men.

Yet in her post, The intersection of murder, video games, and media, she drives home the message that that link between video games & violence is non existent.

Lets not forget this gem, So much for those stereotypes…, as well where where she openly praises a study that "...takes a very different tack from others of its ilk, suggesting that playing violent video games as a means of anger release is not necessarily unhealthy." So ultimately agreeing with the idea that video games don't necessarily make violent people.

So my question is, which is it Ponygirl? Seems that your "feminist" side is at odds with your "gamer" side. if you truly believe that:

"If you like games that portray women as nothing more than bubble-headed fucktoys, you are a sexist, just like someone who thinks that lawn jockeys are funny is a racist."

Then by that logic makes you a murderer if you have ever played GTA.

Now don't get me wrong, video games do influence behavior on some level but it's the job of the parent to explain to difference of the 2 to the child. But putting this much weight on Fat Princess is just as nutty as Jack Thompson's argument of GTA being a murder simulator.

A friend of mine has been trying to get me to quit WoW for over a year. His 1st
reasoning was that WoW was just too easy & kiddie. Next it was that Dark Age of Camelot
was better for PVP and more adult. Now he is trying to woo me away with Age of Conan
and the same ol argument about how much less kiddie. Meanwhile I never considered WoW
a kiddie game, actually I never considered any game kiddie really.

I was under the impression games were supposed to be fun; at any age. This
includes, sports, video games, board games, tag, man-hunt, etc.. What I do find interesting
is how video gamers specifically use what video game you play as some sort of "Maturity
Check". This validation of someone maturity level is just DUMB. Why am I more mature for
playing Gears of War than enjoying Toejam & Earl. If the game is fun that's all that matters
right? Well it doesn't to gamers apparently.

Since the launch of World of Warcraft I've heard from so many different sources,
usually people who haven't played WoW, arguing that very point; WoW is too kiddie, easy
and just plain lame. Yet for some reason close to 12 million players think otherwise. Now
popularity can't really be a good litmus test because Backstreet Boys were HUGE. In that
aspect video games different because a great story & graphics can be ruined by shitty
controls, so at some level it's the sum of all it's parts that player has to enjoy. I'm fairly
certain a teenage girl who most likely wouldn't like BSB if 1 guy was singing off key, ALL
THE TIME. It's something that hits that chord with them and that is all that matters really.

Nintendo has been a victim of this for at least 15 years. I'm basing this on the whole
MK debacle back in 1993 where gamers felt the Genesis version of Mortal Kombat was
better than the SNES version just because it showed blood. By proxy it made Nintendo look
like the "Disney" of gaming an image they have been shaking off ever since. Granted the
Wii doesn't really help much but regardless it shouldn't matter if the game is
good.



Sad thing is that it's easy to get caught up in the argument, especially as you get
older. I'm 32 years old and I know I get pissed if someone talks to me as if I was some
snot nose kid. As you grow and accomplish certain goals in your life and there is a sense of
self worth that comes with it. Like a child learning to walk then run then ride a bike. You
feel change and the experience affect on how you handle situations. I know that I handle
things much more diplomatically now than I did when I was in my 20s. Now if someone
questions it, yeah it fucking bothers me. I made my bones in life and to have someone
question my maturity would bother me. Except it doesn't bother me with video games and
maybe it's elitism but I honestly believe that I'm above that shit.

If you like video games, board games, etc you are most likely being perceived as
doing something childish and that's ok. At least till all these old fucks who are in charge die.
In the meantime stop fighting for fucking scraps over some sort of status of being "adult"
through games. It's not meant to be used for validation but for entertaining, nothing more.
I'm sure preaching to the Choir but anytime you find yourself defending your maturity level
about a game, sport, console, movie or book for being too kiddie, take a step back and
realize how dumb your argument really is. Just enjoy the fucking game. Flame on..

*Goes Back to playing Pokemon for NDS 8/10*

Being that the internet is filled with keyboard cowboys and megabit muscle men I figured I'd
post something that has peaked my interest lately and open myself up to some good 'ol
flaming. Now the term "casual" doesn't mean shit since playing a game is a past time and blah
blah blah blah you know the deal. Anyway I kind of wanted to gauge everyone's thoughts with
this pointless post and see how many would be interested in seeing reviews for some of the
better (if there is) flash based games and/or "casual" web based games out there. Thoughts?

PS
If someone already has this going on please feel free to inform me. Love you honey toes...