While demanding bandwidth and latency issues drew OnLive poor reception on its launch back in 2010, the video game streaming service reorganized and has joined with Wikipad to deliver big-budget games to mobile devices wherever a broadband connection is available.
Wikipad's partnership with OnLive takes the mobile device's streaming capabilities a step further than Nvidia's Shield, a handheld device that uses local networks to stream computer games.
OnLive's new service, known as CloudLift, uses the company's traditional model of delivering video game content from its cloud servers to gamers via the Internet. The new version of OnLive's service allows gamers to stream games that are already owned by the users, instead of requiring users to essentially rent games already owned outside of the cloud service.
CloudLift's partnership with Wikipad will beef up the quality of games the handheld offers, as critically aclaimed games such as Batman: Arkham Origins and Metro: Last Light offer more robust experiences than Android-based games. Wikipad makes a dedicated Android gaming tablet.
"Our new partner, OnLive, and their cloud gaming platform, CloudLift, provides users the most revolutionary gaming experience, both the best of mobile gaming and now the AAA console/PC gaming experience," Fraser Townley, Wikipad president, stated. "As tablet gaming continues to emerge and dominate handheld gaming, we are seeing the mobile console manufacturers discontinue their 'video game-only' devices."
CloudLift has been made available to PCs, Macs and Android tablets. The partnership with Wikipad was significant, but the company's Wikipad 7 was the first mobile device with gaming controls to receive the service.
With Mac support already established, CloudLift was reportedly heading to the Wikipad iOS device next. The "Gamevice" is a cradle that arms mobile devices from Apple with gaming control such as a pair of joysticks and triggers.
"Wikipad and Gamevice showcase perfectly how OnLive is bringing big games to small devices. Mobility and convenience are becoming increasingly important to gamers," stated Rick Sanchez, vice president of OnLive product and marketing.
While the newly formed pact between OnLive and Wikipad offers a lot of promise, Nvidia and its Shield still lurk and will likely deliver serious competition. Nvidia has been testing GRID, its cloud streaming service, with Shield owners in Northern California. Shield is a gaming portable for open platforms.
One factor that could cripple Nvidia's attempt at elevating its handheld device could be its exclusion of computers with graphics cards produced by its long-term rival, AMD. Nvidia hasn't supported local streaming to the Shield from computers with AMD GPUs.
