Hardware Check! - OnLive Microconsole

So yeah... it's this thing.

So small and yet so hot... LITERALLY!

So yeah, I got in my Microconsole a couple of weeks ago, right after my final examinations no less.  I suppose a good way to begin is what I think of the online service in general thus far.  OnLive is an online gaming service that streams games to you.  How this works is if you got a decent running PC (if you can view youtube clips, you're already heading towards the right direction), you can use OnLive.  There is somewhat of a community going on as OnLive allows you to spectate any games played by anyone around the world in which you can either cheer them on or crap on them (aka jeer them off).  There's also a friends feature which works pretty much just like X-Box Live.  Now the point of the service is that you can buy a 3 day or 5 day play pass for certain game (aka renting a game), or purchase a full play pass for any game to play for as long as you want.  Even then almost all of their games include a free trial that's time based.  What I mean is you don't play some special demo version of the games they got, but rather the full game itself but under a time limit.

Think Masterpieces, only with bigger time limits and not as pointless!

The games I bought thus far are Red Faction Guerrilla, Unreal Tournament 3, and (for free) Splinter Cell: Conviction.  Although because I got the console, I have been participating in their Play Pack plan which is pretty much having access to their library of older games for $9.99 a month.  Their plan is currently in the beta phase and so far I am loving it as you are given more games to play from, and the library, even in it's beta, is growing.  There was suppose to be a monthly fee to use OnLive's service, however according to their blog, due to their surprising boom in popularity, they decided to make their service free so the only things you have to pay for are the games and/or the play pack plan.  This is a plus since almost every person who is curious about OnLive can experience it first hand and try out the games on a timed trial to see if the games run well.  The idea is to have a good internet service to run games properly.

Technicalities aside, I'd like to look into the Microconsole itself.  The Microconsole itself is $99 for the unit, an HDMI cable, a composite audio cable, two AA duracell batteries, a usb cable for the controller, and a rechargeable battery pack also for the controller.  First thing I'd like to talk about is the OnLive controller itself.  First of, it seems that this controller is essentially a PS3 and 360 controller combined.

What a shameless rip-off!  NYAAAAA!

 Of course I'm only joking with the comment in the picture, but the similarities are there.  The controller is a lot like the X-Box 360 controller with elements from the PS3 controller, such as the analog stick arrangements.  It may just be me but I seem to notice that the thumbsticks can feel a bit stiff in comparison to the other two controllers, especially in first person shooters, although I don't notice it as much when I'm playing other gaming genres such as action games like Ninja Blade and Prince of Persia (2009).  The buttons on the bottom of the controller are there to create and cycle through brag clips which I have never done but it's there if there are people who would like to make such clips.  Never the less, the controller works very well, and functions just as it needs too.  It felt comfortable on my hands and it's something I can familiarize myself with since I commonly play the PS3, 360, and Wii.  What I mean is the controller feels 'welcoming' to me.  Of course if you are a little insecure about changing the controller, you'll be happy to know that this Microconsole supports the X-Box 360 controller (I only tried out the wired controller), or heck if you don't want to use game pads in general (and my dad doesn't) you can plug in a USB keyboard and mouse instead.  I also read from the OnLive website that other game pads for PC may work with this.  OnLive made this convenient and user-friendly for console and PC gamers alike.

Now as for the Microconsole itself.  It's really small in design; I mean I cannot believe how tiny it is.  The actual dimensions are .9x3.2x4.9.  It's so small I can grip it with one hand!  Obviously it's easy to take this thing anywhere.  As with other gaming consoles, setting this up is quite simple.  Plug in the video, audio, ethernet cable to connect to the internet, and the power.  My only real disappointment with the design of this console is the video it outputs.  I know that a lot of households these days owns at least one high-definition television, but is it necessary to have the adapter support only an HDMI connection?  Fortunately, there is a component cable (sold separately) that allows you to plug into televisions with the RGB connection.  Unfortunately, this leaves out those who only have the lesser connections such as composite and S-video.

Convenience, who needs it?

Aside from that video mishap and the stiff thumbsticks which may take some time to get use to, the overall package is quite amazing to me.  Plus you get a free game along with the purchase, along with access to the OnLive service ever growing library of games.  The service in general being all for free with the only fees to pay are for play-passes and the completely optional play-back plan.  It is something you can bring with you to just about anywhere that has an high-definition monitor/television and internet access and play.  Of course it is NOT needed to use the OnLive service as you can download software right now if you are using a decent running window's based or machingtosh computers.  Is it worth the buy?  Well if you want to relieve the stress on your computers or simply want another game console of some kind I'd say it's worth it.  You get plenty out of the $99 value and I haven't regretted getting this thing since.  Just hope your internet service will be kind to you while you try to play games with this thing.

Last Minute Addition!  I should also mention that almost all the games on the OnLive Microconsole are playable with the controller, some using some kind of a Joy to Key emulator which works at times (like the Ball) and where it doesn't work too well (like FEAR 2), and perhaps a couple that refused to work.  Figured I ought to point that out.