This is somewhat of a suspect title, but it’s true, in a round-about way.  Not only does Sony think it can work, but many forget that they are actually doing it right now, it is called remote play.  Hook a PS3 up to the internet, relate it to your PSP and you can manage the console and even play some PS3 games streaming to your PSP via the internet.  This is all done without a specialized hardware encoder/decoder infrastructure or tricked-out server farm.

We are going to delve into the numbers a bit on this one, but we have done the math for you so don’t worry too much.  Now keep in mind that the numbers used here for each scenario are based on company claims and anecdotal evidence.  In the case of Sony we used numbers from session-dump data and for OnLive we used the claimed 1.5Mbps for SD number.  Also keep in mind that both systems are capable of using less bandwidth when needed and often will– these are the peak numbers.

The first things that need to be pointed out here are the discrepancies in resolution and throughput needed by each system.  Sony’s remote play sends a 480×272 pixel as compared to OnLive’s 720×480 pixel stream, and if this seems like a big difference, it is.  This is 130,560 versus 345,600 total pixels respectively with OnLive’s system streaming over 2.64 times as many pixels just with the SD option.  The interesting thing is that the Sony stream caps-out at 1.02Mbps whereas OnLive’s does so at 1.5Mbps.  Doing the math, this shows that although OnLive is sending 2.64 times as many pixels, it only requires 1.47 times as much bandwidth.  This puts Sony’s streaming right at about 56% efficiency when compared to OnLive’s.

These numbers show that OnLive is using a compression method that is much less demanding than Sony’s.  Whether this means the actual picture quality of Sony’s system is better than OnLive’s is hard to say, but all eyes-on reports seem to point to the fact that OnLive’s is very good, so we can assume it is at least comparable.

Keep in mind that Sony’s mechanism, baring control issues not related to latency, results in a pretty playable experience while serving from a home connection even to a PSP connected by respectable wi-fi.  If we remove the inconsistency of wi-fi, assume a solid tethered home connection and account for video being served by specialized high-speed servers as opposed to a home “server,” we should find that things run considerably smoother.  Even with all of the choking-point variables, Sony’s method already technically works rather well.  With OnLive’s implementation promising to be revolutionary, it should be at least noticeably better.

This is all just food for thought though.  This comparison does not take into account actual visual quality of the streams, just the amount of pixels that are being accounted for.  Looking at Sony’s implementation, the SD option of OnLive’s platform seems completely doable.  Once we start considering HD, the current practicality becomes harder to judge without having the system in the wild.

[Sources PS2Dev Forums | Bandwidth conversion calculator]

Note: We are in no way streaming video geniuses here, but we thought it would be interesting to crunch some numbers and make some comparisons.  If there are any huge misconceptions or errors in calculation please let us know.

Over at Gamindustry.biz Crytek, the developers of Crysis, had a few things to say about the streaming technology behind OnLive, not the lest of which being that it will not be workable until 2013 at the earliest.  That is a good 4 years away.  Does Rearden Studios know something that they don’t?  “We had our research in 2005 on this subject but we stopped around 2007 because we had doubts about economics of scale. But that was at a time when bandwidth was more expensive,” says CEO Cevat Yerli.He went on to say “We saw that by 2013 – 2015 with the development of bandwidths and household connections worldwide that it might become more viable then.”

“It doesn’t take a lot to make a video-based renderer, but what you need is the right infrastructure that is beyond the technology we have, it’s more like cable net providers and communication networks.  They have to provide fast bandwidths and connectivity in order to allow such technology to excel. So as it was dependent on somebody else, we decided to wait.”  This doesn’t exactly sound like a ringing endorsement.  He went onto say “We’re not involved, we just allowed Crysis to be tested on it.”

Everyone’s stance seems to be the same, it’s just too early for this kind of technology.  Although the promised 720p 60fps claim seems somewhat optimistic, maybe if the focus was moved to more Wii-level 480p 3ofps gaming it could still be a good start to gradually building-out the infrastructure.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

Things have slowed down in the OnLive world.  There are still previews and interviews coming out from GDC, but no real new information.  Don’t expect too much news until summer with E3 and the public beta happening then.  In the meantime we have another roundup of articles and interviews that have popped up around the web.

• OnLive May Draw Google, Microsoft and Apple as Suitors – GameDaily
• OnLive’s CEO answers a few questions – GameSpot
• Giant Bomb at OnLive – Giant Bomb
• GDC09 interview: OnLive founder Steve Perlman wants you to be skeptical – Joystiq
• GDC09 interview: OnLive founder Steve Perlman, continued – Joystiq
• Crytek: The Internet Isn’t Ready For Streaming Game Services – Kotaku

As usual, video after the break.

Many are very skeptical of OnLive even working, and if so, how well.  So we thought a roundup of hands-on reports might not be a bad idea.  Of course, so far these reports are all of very controlled demos.  The real test will be when people get a chance to play with it in the wild.

Let us know if we missed any and we will add them to the list.

• OnLive Streaming Games: Hands-On Impressions – Gizmodo
• GDC 09: Will OnLive Change the Future of Gaming? – IGN
• OnLive Makes PC Upgrades Extinct, Lets You Play Crysis On Your TV – Kotaku
• Hands-On With OnLive Streaming Gaming Service at GDC 09 – PC World
• OnLive Hands-on Impressions: A Blocky View of the Future of PC Gaming – Shacknews

[Image via Gizmodo]

Ready for a good dose of skepticism?  Richard Leadbetter over at Eurogamer has more than a few things to say about OnLive and the “inevitable” failure that is inherent in its conception.  He obviously knows his stuff and makes many intelligent points about the viability of being able to achieve OnLive’s claims.

The first point touched on is simply being able to power the graphics behind the scenes under heavy user-demand time periods.  In the case of graphically intensive games such as GTAIV, for example, with many people clamoring to play it immediately upon release “the computing and rendering power we’re talking about is mammoth to a degree never seen before in the games business, perhaps anywhere.”  What it basically comes down to is OnLive needs to essentially buy a high-end rig for each player without introducing queues.

Another big problem, maybe the biggest of all, is the task of serving near-lagless 720p HD resolution video at 60 frames per second. Putting things in perspective, “…bear in mind that YouTube’s encoding farms take a long, long time to produce their current, offline 2MBps 30fps HD video. OnLive is going to be doing it all in real-time via a PC plug-in card, at 5MBps, and with surround sound too.”  This is an extremely bold claim and that is exactly why OnLive has so many in the gaming industry excited, but doubtful about its viability.

It’s not all doom and gloom though.  The application of presumed technology has a high probability of success if things are just taken down a few notches.  Reduce the quality down to 480p at 30 frames per second and the prospect “is intriguing and has a much better chance of working out.”  An example of what this might look like is provided.  But this is really removes a lot of what excites about the service.

Leadbetter’s video examples of the current video compression quality provides some good insight into his grounded apprehension about OnLive’s technological claims.  He also offers a few of potential solutions, none of which seem ideal or even likely.  Let’s hope OnLive really does have some streaming and compression technology the like of which we have yet to see.

[Via Eurogamer]