# History of video games/Platforms/OnLive
## History
### Development

OnLive was in development for seven years before it was announced at GDC 2009.
At GDC 2009 the microconsole was publicly shown.
The company tried a number of strategies to entice users, including offering a $99 streaming microconsole, and having a $9.99 a month PlayPack subscription service for getting access to a library of games.
OnLive and semi-competing service Gaikai did not have a good relationship, despite reported attempts by Gaikai employees to be cordial.

### Launch

On September 22nd, 2011 OnLive launched in the United Kingdom in preparation for a full European launch.
The Onlive Microconsole had a December 2nd, 2010 release date announced. The microconsole sold for $99 US dollars or 70 British pounds.
In February 2011 some microconsoles were given at now additional cost to users who preordered the game Homefront.

### Legacy

By 2012, OnLive had nearly gone bankrupt, despite massive investments. Most OnLive staff were laid off, with the service only having at most 1,600 simultaneous users.
After being purchased by Sony, OnLive was shut down on April 30th, 2015.
Some in the industry saw the story of Onlive as one which jaded them to cloud gaming technologies, or as a cautionary tale of sorts.

## Technology
### Cloud system

Little is known of the technical specifications used by OnLive on the backend.

### Microconsole
#### Compute

The OnLive microconsole uses a Marvell 88DE3010 SoC, which uses dual modified ARMv5 Architecture PJ1 Sheeva processor cores clocked at one gigahertz. The microconsole has one gigabyte of DDR2-800 SDRAM for system memory. Persistent storage on the microconsole is handled by NAND SLC flash storage with a capacity of two gigabytes.
The 88DE3010 SoC also included hardware video decoding capabilities. Compression used by the service on the microconsole was noticeable.

#### Hardware

The microconsole has an gigabit ethernet port for network connectivity as well as an HDMI port for AV output. Twin Component video output was supported with an optional adapter. Audio could alternatively be output over a 3.5" audio jack or optical S/PDIF port.
USB ports on the front of the microconsole allowed for alternate input devices.
The OnLive microconsole takes 12 volts DC at 1.5 Amps, drawing as much as 18 watts of electricity. However Engadget said in their review of the microconsole that the system only used 6 watts of power.

#### Controller

The controller was known as the "Owl".
The wireless controller reduced wireless latency by using a proprietary wireless protocol said to be similar to IEEE 802.15.4. OnLive boasted that their wireless protocol had a lower latency then a wired USB connection.
The controller had built in rumble support. The controller also featured a "BragClip" sharing button.

## Notable games

Most games offered through OnLive were AAA titles.

## Datacenter Locations

Proximity to Datacenters was important for OnLive users, as latency issues made the service suboptimal beyond 1000 miles (1609.34 kilometers) from a datacenter. Known datacenter locations for OnLive Include:
* Virginia / Washington DC
* Santa Clara / Bay Area
* Atlanta / Georgia
* Chicago / Illinois
* Dallas, Texas

## OnLive Game System

* OnLive Controller

## External Resources

* Video Game Console Library - OnLive Game System page.

## References

* ↑ Remo, Chris. "GDC: OnLive Announces Cloud-Based Gaming Service". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
* ↑ Mangalindan, J. P. (15 October 2020). "Cloud gaming's history of false starts and promising reboots". Polygon. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
* 1 2 Lowe, Scott (18 November 2010). "OnLive MicroConsole Review" (in en). IGN. https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/11/18/onlive-microconsole-review.
* 1 2 3 Hollister, Sean (28 August 2012). "OnLive lost: how the paradise of streaming games was undone by one man's ego". The Verge. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
* ↑ Savov, Vlad (21 September 2011). "OnLive launches in the UK today, September 22nd; rolling out to rest of Europe soon". The Verge. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
* ↑ Parrish, Kevin (September 23, 2011). "OnLive CEO: We Are The Next-Generation Console" (in en). Tom's Hardware. https://www.tomshardware.com/news/OnLive-Xbox-PlayStation-Wii-U-Steve-Perlman,13502.html.
* 1 2 Perlee, Ben (18 November 2010). "Review: The OnLive MicroConsole and Controller" (in en-CA). Destructoid. https://www.destructoid.com/review-the-onlive-microconsole-and-controller/.
* 1 2 3 Orphanides, Kat (November 13, 2011). "OnLive MicroConsole & Service review" (in en). Expert Reviews. https://www.expertreviews.co.uk/games/51262/onlive-microconsole-service-review.
* ↑ Orl, Kyle (25 February 2011). "OnLive Offering Free Microconsole With Homefront Pre-Order" (in en). Game Developer. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/console/onlive-offering-free-microconsole-with-i-homefront-i-pre-order.
* ↑ "HTC to book loss of $40 million US with OnLive". Windows Central. 20 August 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
* ↑ Lowensohn, Josh (2 April 2015). "Sony buys streaming games service OnLive only to shut it down". The Verge. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
* ↑ Bashir, Dale (5 April 2022). "Dissecting The Rise of Game Streaming Services With Antstream Arcade CEO Steve Cottam" (in en-sg). IGN Southeast Asia. https://sea.ign.com/atari-1/183838/news/dissecting-the-rise-of-game-streaming-services-with-antstream-arcade-ceo-steve-cottam.
* ↑ "The failure of OnLive is a lesson for Stadia and xCloud" (in en). Android Authority. 21 November 2019. https://www.androidauthority.com/throwbackthursday-onlive-service-1056966/.
* 1 2 3 4 "OnLive Game System Teardown". electronics360.globalspec.com. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
* ↑ S, Ganesh T. (March 11, 2011). "Nixeus Fusion XS Brings Marvell into the DMA Market". www.anandtech.com. https://www.anandtech.com/show/4214/nixeus-fusion-xs-brings-marvell-into-the-dma-market/2.
* ↑ "Company - Newsroom - New Marvell HD Media Processor System-on-a-Chip Brings Award-Winning Qdeo Processing to Next-Generation Consumer Electronics Devices - Marvell". www.marvell.com. https://www.marvell.com/company/newsroom/new-marvell-hd-media-processor-system-on-chip-brings-award-winning-qdeo-processing-to-next-generation-consumer-electronics-devices.html.
* ↑ "OnLive MicroConsole" (in en-gb). PCMag UK. 20 July 2011. https://uk.pcmag.com/first-looks/20571/onlive-microconsole.
* ↑ "The Escapist : Forums : The News Room : OnLive's MicroConsole Aims to Make Console Gaming Easier". v1.escapistmagazine.com. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
* ↑ Leung, Justin (September 15, 2011). "OnLive MicroConsole (Review) | Skatter". skatter.com. https://skatter.com/2011/09/onlive-microconsole-review/.
* ↑ Ackerman, Dan. "OnLive MicroConsole review: OnLive MicroConsole" (in en). CNET. https://www.cnet.com/reviews/onlive-microconsole-series-review/.
* 1 2 Nelson, R. (November 18, 2010). "OnLive MicroConsole review: The hardware and experience". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2010-11-18-onlive-microconsole-review.html.
* ↑ Pikover, James (22 November 2010). "Ars reviews the OnLive microconsole, service" (in en-us). Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2010/11/onlive-1/.
* ↑ Chen, Jason (18 November 2010). "OnLive MicroConsole Streams Cloud-Rendered Games to Your TV" (in en-us). Gizmodo. https://gizmodo.com/onlive-microconsole-streams-cloud-rendered-games-to-you-5692903.
* ↑ Purchese, Robert (20 September 2010). "OnLive MicroConsole dated, priced" (in en-gb). Eurogamer.net. https://www.eurogamer.net/onlive-microconsole-dated-and-priced.
* ↑ "ONLIVE PARTNERS WITH SAMSUNG TO BRING AAA GAMES TO NEW SAMSUNG GALAXY DEVICES". www.gamasutra.com. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 "The infrastructure behind Stadia and the next evolution of cloud gaming". Techerati. https://www.techerati.com/features-hub/opinions/edge-data-centre-cloud-gaming-stadia-google-5g/.
* 1 2 3 4 5 "OnLive CEO does live demo, launch details 'soon'". GameSpot. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/onlive-ceo-does-live-demo-launch-details-soon/1100-6251495/.