OnLive MicroConsole Review: PC Gaming Without The PC

About 10 years ago I decided I didn’t feel comfortable running a proprietary operating system on my computer anymore and made the leap to Linux, and like many converts, I had to give up PC gaming. I moved over to the next best thing, joining the legion of console gamers, but once and awhile there would be that one big PC game that I would miss out on.

The OnLive MicroConsole promises to change all that. With this device, it’s now possible to play some of the hottest titles on the PC…without the PC. For those of us running free and open source operating systems, this little device can get you back in the game (literally), and it even runs Linux!

How OnLive Works

The concept behind OnLive is not unlike VNC or other remote-desktop protocols: the client (you) simply sends input to a remote machine and receives visual and audio data back. The actual processing is done on OnLive’s servers, and all you need to do is provide a machine fast enough to handle the video stream it’s pushing out during gameplay. This means even comparatively weak devices like smartphones can play the latest PC titles, often with visuals that would simply be impossible for the native hardware to render on it’s own.

To be perfectly honest, when I first heard of OnLive a few years back, I was convinced it would never work. It sounded ludicrous at the time, and in the days when 8 Mbps was considered a top-tier Internet connection in the US, it seemed unlikely the average consumer would even have the bandwidth to make it possible. Today with services like Verizon FiOS, the average home can easily get access to a 25+ Mbps duplex Internet connection, and OnLive’s developers have proven to be exceptionally skilled in optimizing the whole process to deliver very impressive gameplay. Playing a game via OnLive will never look as good or run as fluidly as if you had a $3,000 top of the line gaming PC, but it’s certainly better than the alternative: not being able to play the thing in the first place.

The OnLive MicroConsole

My first impression upon receiving the MicroConsole was how good the packaging looked. For a device that has never seen a retail release and is only sold directly through OnLive, they went through a lot of trouble making sure the box looked impressive. Opening the MicroConsole box felt more like receiving an award than unpacking a game console.

Taking the MicroConsole out of the box, two things about it strike me instantly. First, it’s extremely small, and second, it feels exceptionally well made. I imagined something this small to feel a lot lighter, but the console has a fair amount of heft to it. Though the console itself is not something you’re likely to have in your hand very often, the feel of the device was very reassuring about it’s overall build quality.

The MicroConsole is a very simple device, featuring only a single button and two USB ports on the front of the unit. Around the back, there are ports for HDMI, Ethernet, TOSLINK (optical audio), analog audio, a proprietary component video cable (not included), and power. Seeing the rear of the device really helps give you a sense of scale, especially if you have a pretty good idea in your head about how big an Ethernet cable is.

It’s worth mentioning that the MicroConsole does not have WiFi built in, and can only connect to the Internet via Ethernet. OnLive says you can use a wireless to Ethernet bridge if you really want to get your MicroConsole online that badly, but given the amount of bandwidth this device consumes, I would stay with wired if at all possible.

Moving on to the controller itself, it felt equally as well made as the MicoConsole itself, but yet immediately very familiar. It didn’t take more than a few seconds to realize why I knew this controller so well…

Hey…don't I know you from somewhere?

Now granted, there are only so many shapes a game controller can take: but this is skating a pretty fine line. The MicroConsole controller’s battery pack setup is even identical to the 360′s (down to the ability to use AA’s instead of the rechargeable battery). The only major difference between the controllers is the swapped position of the left analog and directional pad, and the addition of the playback control buttons along the bottom. The look aside, the MicroConsole controller is a solid input device in it’s own right; the analog sticks are very accurate and all the buttons have a satisfying feel to them. The directional pad felt a bit stiff, but I imagine it will loosen up a bit with use.

In addition to the standard controller, the MicroConsole also supports basic USB input devices, and I had no problem plugging in both my wired and wireless keyboards and mice. For gamers who never quite got used to using a gamepad over the keyboard and mouse combo, you’ll be happy to know that either will work when using the MicroConsole. In fact, some games will actually require a full keyboard and mouse to play (such as “Silent Hunter 5“).

Setting up the MicroConsole is very easy, you plug in Ethernet, HDMI, and power; and off it goes. After it booted up and I signed in with my OnLive account information, it took a few minutes to update itself. This process was quick and completely automatic, though at the end it did ask me to plug the controller in so the console could update the firmware inside of it. Definitely the first time I had ever been asked to update my controller, welcome to gaming in 2012.

Performance

While looking good and being solidly built are of course important, this is a game console and should be judged accordingly. This is probably the area were people have the most doubt about OnLive and the MicroConsole: how will the games look and play? As a test, I started up “Just Cause 2“, a game I have played quite a bit of on the Xbox 360 and felt would be a good comparison:

"Just Cause 2" on OnLive MicroConsole and Xbox 360

As you can see, both versions of the game are very similar visually. The 360 does do better than the MicroConsole in the distance, as you can make out a bit more detail on the buildings and satellite dish, and the dirt texture on the hill is a bit crisper as well. The MicroConsole’s image also has a slightly washed out look to it, and doesn’t come off as vibrant as the 360. The image compression OnLive uses is clearly stepping on the image a bit, but not in any that detracts from gameplay. Honestly, if you didn’t have both versions of the game side by side to compare, you would never even notice.

Even in motion, gameplay on the MicroConsole looks very good. Here is brief clip of “Just Cause 2″ running at 720p:

Given the much higher cost, size, and energy consumption of the Xbox 360 compared to the OnLive Microconsole, I think it’s doing quite well for itself.

If there is one complaint I have about the OnLive MicroConsole, it would be that OnLive is all it does. In 2012, the idea of a device connecting to my entertainment center (even a game system) that does just one task is a hard pill for me to swallow. This is clearly a powerful little machine, so why not give it the ability to stream video and audio from my home network and online services like Netflix and Hulu? I would replace my Roku with it in a heartbeat.

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