OnLive shows its server-based games work on cell phones

OnLive showed today that its upcoming server-based gaming service works not only on computers, but also on cell phones.

At a demo at the Wedbush financial conference in New York, OnLive chief executive Steve Perlman showed that OnLive could work simultaneously on two iPhones, a TV, and a computer. All four devices had access to the full OnLive Game Service, Perlman said in a post.

As we described earlier this year, OnLive is creating a network based on games that are stored and operated on centralized servers. They are not, as with traditional games, stored on a computer or game console. These games send video of changes in the game in real time to a gamer’s screen. The good thing about this kind of change in game processing is that it lets gamers play high-end games on any device, such as a TV connected to an adapter, or a low-end computer. The high-end computer or game console is no longer necessary.

The mobile capability means that you will be able to play high-end games on devices such as iPhones, with some modifications to the controls so that the games are playable on the devices. But Perlman noted that OnLive’s user interface is well suited to the iPhone’s touchscreen interface. OnLive’s rival, Otoy, has demonstrated this capability as well.

Perlman said that there isn’t yet a timeline as to when OnLive would introduce cell-phone based service. Right now, OnLive is running a closed beta for computer-based games. But with this service, iPhone gamers would be able to play high-end multiplayer games with friends who are on other platforms.

“It’s amazingly cool whipping out your phone, checking out what your OnLive friends are up to, and then spectating their live game play: Unscripted live user-generated content, available anywhere,” Perlman wrote.

Perlman said OnLive has further development to do, and the company needs approvals from some cell phone makers before it can release its service to mobile users.