LG and Samsung team up to create gaming TVs

LG and Samsung have announced new smart TVs that integrate gaming into the sets, making consoles such as the Xbox and PS3 an optional extra.

LG seems to be leading this gaming TV idea with the “Smart TV with Google TV” giving you access to the streaming game service OnLive. OnLive, an on-demand cloud gaming service, has more than 200 games with FIA World Rally Championship, Sleeping Dogs and Assassin’s Creed Revelations being some of the more popular titles. That might not seem like much at first but with popularity it is sure set to grow even further.

For around US$1700 you can get a 42-inch flatscreen TV from LG that could maybe spell the end of the gaming console. Well some seem to think so. One such person is OnLive chairman, Gary Lauder, who said: “Our partnership with LG has enabled us to take an important step forward in making high-end gaming accessible to everyone, across a variety of consumer electronic devices.”

OnLive games are playable on any OnLive enabled or compatible device, be it PC, Mac, Android tablets and TVs with the OnLive system. This offers the ability to play across platforms, where users can start a game on one device and finish on another. Full game data is saved in the cloud.

Samsung is in on the game, if you excuse the pun, with its 8000 and 7550 TV series models, incorporating a camera to detect user movements similar to the PS3 Move and Xbox Kinect.

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