Cloud gaming company OnLive is launching a free app that brings instant play of console-class games to smartphones and tablets via Wifi and 4G LTE.
For the first time, it will now be possible to play the sort of top-tier games which require far greater performance than the average phone can offer.
OnLive is kicking off with a collection of 25 games that have been adapted for touch-screen devices including the iPhone and Android devices. They include Rockstar Games’ LA Noire, which now boasts native touch control, and LEGO Batman: The Videogame, which will be given free to anyone who downloads the OnLive app.
Almost all games in OnLive’s 200-strong library can also be played with the new Universal OnLive Wireless Controller. This automatically finds the best connection for any given tablet, smartphone, PC, Mac, TV or Blu-ray player and will cost $49.99 in the US, £39.99 in the UK. It’s available here.
www.onlive.com/store
There are various payment plans for the games themselves, with a $10 monthly rental service or the option to buy games from $2 to $50.
“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,” says Steve Perlman, OnLive Founder and CEO.
“Through the free OnLive app, tablet and smartphone gamers can play top console and PC titles like Assassins Creed: Revelations and LA 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.”
Any game purchased on one OnLive app device can be played instantly on any other, with game data saved.
“Tablets and smartphones, the fastest-growing consumer product categories in history, are now capable of running the hottest, highest-end games,” says Perlman. “Gaming and mobile devices will never be the same.”
