OnLive Prepares For Strong E3 With Multiple Announcements

Cloud gaming service OnLive is heading into E3 with multiple partnership announcements, including its expansion to the UK, Facebook integration, game licenses from Disney, a new universal controller, Intel device integration, and the availability of its 100th game. The service will open its doors to UK customers this autumn, according to the company, with a dedicated UK sign-up website launching in tandem with E3. The service will launch with over 100 games, and will be "seamlessly integrated" with the North American version of the service in terms of its social features. The move will be the first in an international expansion that will spread to other European countries as well as other continents, the company said. OnLive will also soon integrate its streaming gaming platform with Facebook, allowing users to directly launch the full service from within a browser window. The integration will also enable users to share their "Brag Clip" videos as Wall posts, and for new users to instantly launch streaming game demos. Disney Interactive Studios has joined OnLive's pool of forty-plus game publishing partners, the company announced, and will begin by providing racing games Split/Second and Pure. The company also announced a new Universal Wireless Controller accessory. This wireless game controller is modeled after the one that is used with its MicroConsole set-top box, but is designed to work with "almost any OnLive-compatible device," either via a wireless link or a provided USB dongle. The company named Blu-ray players, OnLive-enabled televisions and tablet computers as compatible devices, but did not say whether it would integrate with the iPad version of OnLive's service. Also announced Thursday was a partnership that will enable OnLive's streaming service to be integrated into Intel-based consumer electronic devices. Devices using this specific processor, the Intel CE4100 Embedded Processor, include internet TVs, Blu-ray players and IPTV set-top boxes. These Intel devices come on the heels of a similar partnership with Vizio products. Finally, the company anounced that its landmark 100th game on the service will be THQ's Red Faction: Armageddon, which will be available on the service the same day it hits stores, June 7. The company also announced that it will add the multiplayer component of Homefront to its subscription-based PlayPack Bundle, which allows unlimited access to a pool of 60 games for $9.99 a month. "In just one year, OnLive’s offerings have advanced more rapidly and in more dimensions than any new game platform in history, while maintaining rock-solid reliability," OnLive founder and CEO Steve Perlman said. "OnLive’s cloud gaming technology allows OnLive and its partners to move at an unprecedented pace with a scope of new offerings that is simply not possible with traditional videogame technology. The best is yet to come." OnLive launched in North America last June, and introduced its dedicated MicroConsole in time for the holiday season.