OT: Game Center Live Experience

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Hey guys, first time I'm getting GCL so I just had a few questions before subscribing.

Is it worth it in comparison to free streams I could find somewhere else? Are all games available or are actually some blacked out obviously I mean all SENS GAMES. Is it always excellent quality with no lag? I'm running a pretty strong laptop with very good connection.

I scanned main board quickly and found there is an app for xbox that you can download? Has anyone tried it and still received excellent connection?

I'd much rather view the game on TV than the internet for obvious reasons.

Finally, how would you rank your experience with the product.

Any feedback would be tremendous.

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[McManked]

For me, last year was unbelievable.

I lived in Stittsville, and without using a single proxy not a single Sportsnet Sens game was blacked out. I don't know why, but all the Leafs games were. It must've thought I was in Toronto. Don't expect that though haha.

In terms of quality, it was absolutely perfect for me. I had a new laptop with download speeds of 10-15 mbps.

I had it on PS3 which I'm guessing is similar to xBox, and it was fine but not nearly as good as on the computer. My suggestion? If you have a big screen TV and a laptop that's HDMI compatible, just plug your laptop in.

 

[Senator Stanley]

I'm basically in the same shoes trying to decide, but to help out those who will hopefully answer, are you viewing from the Ottawa region? My understanding is that if you're in the viewing region of the team, gamecentre is blacked out for their games. So unless you get into the world of proxy's or VPN, it's not a great alternative within Ottawa to cable.

 

[bandit2804]

game center live apps and issues

i just purchased gcl---heard xbox 360 app was suppose to be out today jan17 th 2013--havent found it yet also looking for roku app (no luck) to top it off when i watch a game on my laptop -laptop crashes after 20 minutes of viewing (laptops pretty new no issues elsewhere)any help is appreciated sorry for the hijack i havent figured site out yet

 

[sg58]

Hey guys, first time I'm getting GCL so I just had a few questions before subscribing.

Is it worth it in comparison to free streams I could find somewhere else? Are all games available or are actually some blacked out obviously I mean all SENS GAMES. Is it always excellent quality with no lag? I'm running a pretty strong laptop with very good connection.

I scanned main board quickly and found there is an app for xbox that you can download? Has anyone tried it and still received excellent connection?

I'd much rather view the game on TV than the internet for obvious reasons.

Finally, how would you rank your experience with the product.

Any feedback would be tremendous.

I'm in Sweden, so no blacked out games, so can't answer that, but the product is great. Terrific quality, pause, rewind, picture-in-picture options, choose home/away feed etc. The day after you've got archive and "condensed games" which is a five-minute or so package with the important stuff.

If you want it on TV, you can just plug it into your TV, no?

Minor complaints about being 30 secs or so "behind live", at least over here, and I also have the TV package because I like to be able to work on my computer simultaneously.

 

[Flamingo]

I live in the Ottawa area. I am avoiding cable, relying on OTA CBC and streams. NHL Gamecenter Live sounds great, except for the blackout part.

Is DNS proxy sufficient to see local-team games? Or do you need VPN? Or do they check the mailing address of your credit card?

If I'm travelling, can I see Sens games without proxy/VPN even though my home and mailing address are in Ottawa?

I heard from Canucks fans I know that a large number of their CI games were blacked out here in Ottawa. Hoping none of that BS happens with Gamecenter Live.

 

[Yashin]

The xbox app is up now

 

[Cat Herder]

will game centre be doing a free week like every other season?

 

[JB52]

I'm not a subscriber myself, but if I had to, I would certanly use an apple TV.
At 109$ it's relatively cheap, I'm not a gamer so I don't have a PS3 or a Xbox and I woudn't want to use a laptop for watching hours of video, I would be afraid to overcook the CPU in 2 weeks.

 

[IHWR]

Yeah I run GCL on my apple TV and it's awesome. I have my DNS set up so I can get America's superior Netflix and it's worked for me when it comes to games being blacked out.

Quality is awesome as well so long as you have a strong connection.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

Thanks for the info guys but what exaxtly is this blackout issue. I think I originally misunderstood it. If you live in Ottawa you can't watch the games that are played in Ottawa WHAT?? I live in Toronto. Can someone clarify this a bit more please.

Apple TV what's that? VPN? Oh God.

DNS?

 

[Flamingo]

Thanks for the info guys but what exaxtly is this blackout issue. I think I originally misunderstood it. If you live in Ottawa you can't watch the games that are played in Ottawa WHAT?? I live in Toronto. Can someone clarify this a bit more please.

Apple TV what's that? VPN? Oh God.

DNS?

I think that if a carrier paid for rights to broadcast the Sens game to your home, it will be blacked out on Gamecenter Live.

So Ottawa residents would not get any Sens games since TSN, CBC, and Sportsnet pick up all or nearly all games for broadcast in Ottawa.

In Toronto, you would have every game except ones broadcast by TSN and CBC, minus any Leafs-Sens games.

VPN = the video stream is opened between an American NHL computer and an American computer that pretends it's you in the US. That American computer then forwards the video stream to your Canadian computer.

DNS spoofing = your Canadian computer looks for the nearest American NHL computer instead of the nearest Canadian NHL computer to request the stream

Which service you need depends on how the NHL computers geo-locate you. VPN is more fool-proof, as with DNS spoofing, the NHL server in the US can still look up your IP address and figure out where you are trying to view from.

 

[Caeldan]

GCL and blackouts for Senators games in Canada are as follows:
Any game on TSN, CBC, RDS.
Any game on SNET-E if you are able to get the games if you had TV.
I'm not sure on the status of SNET-Sens

So basically if you're in the Ottawa viewing area - you'll get no games online via GCL unless you use a VPN service to make it appear you are coming from elsewhere. I'm not certain if DNS is enough or not to be honest.

But it does not matter your billing address, just your geo-IP location. So if you travel, you'll just be affected by the local restrictions where you are (so if you end up in the US, then NBC games are blackouts and if in Europe you should be able to get playoff games even barring some exceptions for certain countries).

 

[Flamingo]

But it does not matter your billing address, just your geo-IP location.

Thanks!

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

I think that if a carrier paid for rights to broadcast the Sens game to your home, it will be blacked out on Gamecenter Live.

So Ottawa residents would not get any Sens games since TSN, CBC, and Sportsnet pick up all or nearly all games for broadcast in Ottawa.

In Toronto, you would have every game except ones broadcast by TSN and CBC, minus any Leafs-Sens games.

VPN = the video stream is opened between an American NHL computer and an American computer that pretends it's you in the US. That American computer then forwards the video stream to your Canadian computer.

DNS spoofing = your Canadian computer looks for the nearest American NHL computer instead of the nearest Canadian NHL computer to request the stream

Which service you need depends on how the NHL computers geo-locate you. VPN is more fool-proof, as with DNS spoofing, the NHL server in the US can still look up your IP address and figure out where you are trying to view from.

Ahh thanks man! Very helpful. How can one obtain VPN? I know a lot of people seem to do it but is it illegal?

So living in Toronto I should get every sens game except CBC and TSN period? Damn thats a good 15ish games or more...

If I got GCL i wouldnt be able to wath tomorrows game then.

 

[MainDotC]

I always thought GCL was really good quality and it doesn't compare to free streams. I'll be streaming the game tomorrow so judge for yourself but I urge you to subscribe in order to support the NHL (and the starving children around the world if you can do that too). See you tonight for Bingo and tomorrow for Winnipeg.

 

[Cat Herder]

I installed the xbox app.. and they were showing the Stanley Cup finals... video quality was great

 

[Smash88]

If it's anything like the UFC on Xbox, it will be great.

When I watch UFC it's basically HD, very hard to tell the difference...

 

[McManked]

Any other questions, I've been a subscriber for a couple years now...

 

[Tremblay31]

ps3 update available?

 

[SensPerpetualRebuild]

I've been a long time CI subscriber since I don't live in the Sens region. What I love about that is that I can set the PVR and then start watching it an hour after it has started. After skipping the anthems, intermissions (especially on Sportsnet), and commercial breaks I can catch up by the end of the game.

Do any of you experienced GCL customers know if you can start watching a game that is in progress from the beginning or will it only take you to the live action? Or would I have to start watching the game on time, hit pause, and then unpause it an hour later?

 

[PeterSidorkiewicz]

I've been a long time Centre Ice purchaser, since CI was made available actually. I just signed up for GCL for the first time ever this year due to being sick of Comcast only providing 1 HD station for Centre Ice. I figure if the connection is terrible and choppy I have 5 days to cancel and just order CI instead, but I'm already watching a Sens vault game, the 1997 final regular season game vs. Buffalo to clinch our first ever playoff spot.

I hear as long as you have a good internet connection, the video is near HD quality, which is good enough for me compared to the crappy SD feeds through CI.

 

[McManked]

I've been a long time CI subscriber since I don't live in the Sens region. What I love about that is that I can set the PVR and then start watching it an hour after it has started. After skipping the anthems, intermissions (especially on Sportsnet), and commercial breaks I can catch up by the end of the game.

Do any of you experienced GCL customers know if you can start watching a game that is in progress from the beginning or will it only take you to the live action? Or would I have to start watching the game on time, hit pause, and then unpause it an hour later?

You can just log in whenever and start the game at the beginning. That's definitely possible.

 

[quagmire quar]

Just got Centre Ice from Shaw in Vancouver for $50 for the season. A bucka game, why not?

 

[SensPerpetualRebuild]

You can just log in whenever and start the game at the beginning. That's definitely possible.

Great. Thanks