OnLive Teams Up With GameSpot To Embed Game Demos In Reviews

Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He has written for the TechCrunch network since 2007. Some posts he’d like you to read: The Dangers of Externalizing Knowledge | Generation i | Surveillant Society | Choose Two | Frame Wars | The User’s Manifesto | Our Great Sin His personal website is coldewey.cc. ? Learn More

Game reviews are always inadequate, in that while they can describe how it feels to control your guy, or how the level design is frustrating, you can only kind of get it. Video reviews help, but you can never be sure you and the reviewer are on the same page — more so than with books and movies, I’d say. OnLive and GameSpot are hoping to change that up a bit by adding instant game demos to reviews, so if you’re curious how a game plays, you can just… play it.

You can see it at work on their review of Red Faction: Armageddon here. Unfortunately you need to download a plugin, free of course, but even that low barrier might be too much for people just skimming the review.

They’re not the only ones doing this: in February we saw a very impressive showing from Gaikai, which pushes games to your browser with no plugin at all. I’ve got Crysis 2 running in the next tab over right now.

That said, who does it first isn’t really the point. Both companies have impressive streaming technology and the winner will be the one with its fingers in the most pies come 2012 or 2013, when streaming gaming really goes mainstream. I love the idea of clicking to fire up a demo, not just because it makes the review more effective (the reviewer can even say “try this in the demo below”) but also because demos these days are gigantic. It’s almost as much trouble to download and install the demo as it is to actually buy the game.

This partnership should be fruitful, and it brings up the whole question of exclusivity for demos — instant play on reviews could be one of those “premium” features reserved for registered or paying members. People tend to find away around those barriers, though.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

OnLive Adds Group Voice Chat, Parental Controls And Facebook Achievement Sharing

Jordan Crook studied English Literature at New York University before entering the tech space. Prior to joining TechCrunch, Crook dabbled in mobile marketing and mobile apps as well as doing device reviews for MobileMarketer and MobileBurn. Crook is fascinated with alternative energy production and greentech. She is now a writer for CrunchGear. ? Learn More

Cloud gaming service OnLive has been getting better and better. We had a blast checking out the OnLive booth at E3 this year, and you better believe the service’s usage will have gone up since GameStop inadvertently gave OnLive a ton of great publicity yesterday. But OnLive isn’t resting on its laurels, as new features are rolling out today.

The first on our list is Parental Controls, which is kind of a necessity on just about any gaming platform. Where there are games, there is gruesome, violent, and profane content. Definitely not suitable for small kids. Parents can now set certain restrictions on the account to block M-rated games, chatting with strangers, Brag Clips, or spectating.

OnLive has also introduced a beta version of Group Voice Chat. Before today, OnLive already had a strong social element with its Game chat (for multiplayer sessions) and Spectator chat (for people watching others play). Group voice chat will let you chat with friends whether they’re playing, watching or picking their nose. Even in beta, the Group chat feature should work fine on all of OnLive’s supported devices.

And rounding out our new feature line-up: yet another opportunity for you to brag on Facebook. OnLive has today integrated Facebook achievement sharing, which automatically posts any game achievement direct to Facebook. OnLive has already been doing this with Brag Clips, which are little videos of certain stellar moves or big-time wins you’ve done within a game. If it just so happens that your game has Brag Clip Achievement configured, the achievement will get blasted out to Facebook alongside a Brag Clip, so your friends have proof of your ability to dominate.

OnLive says these newest features are the product of customer requests, and that they’re far from the last. So if you’re an OnLive junkie and have a great idea to make the platform better, ask and ye might receive. No harm in trying, right?

Onlive develops server-based video game processing, allowing games to run without game consoles or high-end computers, moving away from a system in which games are purchased and downloaded....

Learn more

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.