Ready to game on the go? Cloud-streaming service OnLive has announced the launch of its app for mobile and tablet platforms. OnLive’s entire catalogue will be available and the company has made sure that 25 titles have already been adapted for touchscreen play, including Rockstar’s L.A. Noire and LEGO Happy Potter. Players looking to game classic-style can pick up the Universal OnLive Wireless Controller, which is compatible with most tablets and smartphones.
“Today marks a major milestone: OnLive is now delivering the latest, console-class, top-tier games—literally to your fingertips—on tablets and phones for instant, on-demand play anywhere, anytime,” said Steve Perlman, OnLive CEO.
“Through the free OnLive app, tablet and smartphone gamers can play top console and PC titles like Assassins Creed: Revelations and L.A. Noire—one of the most highly acclaimed, graphically sophisticated games to date—with exclusive OnLive Cloud Touch controls or with the new mobile-compatible Universal OnLive Wireless Controller. Tablets and smartphones, the fastest-growing consumer product categories in history, are now capable of running the hottest, highest-end games. Gaming and mobile devices will never be the same.”
Developers have the option of implementing touchscreen-specific controls to their games, as Rockstar did with L.A. Noire.
“This is where there's a redesign of the game entirely. Rockstar said it wanted to do something really special for tablets and the interface is completely new. It's context sensitive, players can reach in and flip a gun over with their fingers to see the serial number. They've made it very specific. It's a native touch interface,” Perlman told GI.biz about the enhanced version of L.A. Noire.
"With Virtual Pad interfaces we usually do it ourselves and see that we can take some of the buttons and map them onto the screen with a translucent overlay. We can do that for some, but some games have so many buttons in use so that would be like putting a piano keyboard on screen.”
Games purchased through OnLive are playable wherever you can access the service, regardless of device, and thanks to cloud saving, gamers can enjoy the great feature of starting play on one device and then continuing where they left off on any other device. The one downside to playing on an iPad 2, however, is that Apple restricts purchases, so any new games you want to buy would have to be done via a PC before you fire it up on the iPad.
Games are available for play through WiFi or 4G LTE service. The OnLive Wireless Controller should be available soon for an MSRP of $49.99. The OnLive app itself is a free download that should be available on various app stores pending certifications.
