spawn-labs posts

In a massive surprise announcement, game retailer GameStop has announced that it will be acquiring the Impulse PC game download service from Stardock. The purchase also includes the Impulse::Reactor game development tools and the Impulse::Publisher real time reporting and management tools. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in May.

GameStop also announced today it has acquired Spawn Labs, who until now were known as makers of a device that streams console games to a PC. GameStop says they will use Spawn Labs' technology to allow gamers to have "immediate access to a wide selection of high-definition video games on demand on any Internet-enabled device". Financial terms of both deals were not disclosed.

It's clear that GameStop is going after Valve's Steam PC game download business with its purchase of Impulse and with OnLive's streaming game business with the acquisition of Spawn Labs. We hope to learn more about these deals in the days and weeks ahead.

Last September, an unknown start up company called Spawn Labs revealed itself and its plans to offer a set-top box that would allow console games to be streamed and played on a PC. Now the company has announced that the product, the Spawn Labs HD-270, is finally shipping to customers.

The device supports PS2, PS3, Xbox, Xbox 360 and GameCube (sorry, no Wii support mentioned) and supposedly allows for gamers to have their favorite console games to be played wireless on a PC even if they are travelling. So all those console exclusive game title can now technically be cross-platform compatible. The device is priced at $199.95 as promised last September but for remote play you will also need to buy an adapter for each console you own. Those adapters are priced at $39.95 each.

[Via Engadget]

OnLive, Gaikai. OToy. All of these services have promised to bring PC games to low end PC hardware via broadband connections with the games played and stored on the server. But what about playing console games remotely on the PC? A newly revealed company called Spawn Labs claims to not only have a product that does just that but has put that product on sale today on its web site.

Spawn Labs revealed its company and its product, the Spawn HD-720, at the TechCrunch demo conference today. The product consists of a set-top box which costs $199.95 that you connect to your console. It also requires a separate adapter for your console for $29.99 (it supports the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, and GameCube). You then register at the Spawn Labs web site, download the software to your PC, hook up the Spawn Labs set-top box to your supported console as well as your wireless router via an Ethernet cable. Then you can start playing any console game in the hard drive on on the disk via your PC on your wireless network or remotely if you are on the road.

The system requirements for the PC include Windows XP, Vista or 7 (sorry, no Mac support) and a bandwidth of between 500kbps to 1Mbps for standard definition gaming and 2-5Mbps for high-definition gaming. Any PC processor should do for standard definition gaming but the requirements recommend a PC with two processor cores for high-def gaming.