What no console?

OnLive, which launched at the Game Developer Conference, promises to deliver on demand video games via the cloud to the PC, Mac or TV. What does OnLive offer?

• High quality gaming on low end machines (sounds like the Wii – ha ha)
• On demand video games via the cloud to the PC, Mac or TV (TV needs a ‘micro-console’)
• Community tools like leaderboards and avatars along with the ability to share ‘brag clips’ which are short videos of your game highlights, are also part of the service (ooooh – groundbreaking)
• Users can also have multiplayer matches and watch other gamers play
• Users will need a high-speed broadband connection of at least 1.5 megabits per second for standard definition results or 5 megabits per second for high definition
• Games producers: EA, Ubisoft, Take Two, Codemasters, Atari, Eidos, Epic, THQ, Warner Bros.

See the launch (just under 1 hour in length – so get yourself a soda and some popcorn:

• http://www.gamespot.com/shows/on-the-spot/?series=on-the-spot&event=on_the_spot20090324

2 part interview at GD:

More news:

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7962180.stm
• http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-10202688-235.html
• http://kotaku.com/5181300/onlive-makes-pc-upgrades-extinct-lets-you-play-crysis-on-your-tv

The verdict? – Hmmm, difficult to tell right now until I play it and the community really take it to task. There is a BIG level of scepticism around this however I think the momentum will really get going when service providers bundle this into cable/internet/phone packages.

I’ll be watching this very closely especially as this links nicely to the future of video games where there will be a subscription-based, ARPU model for revenues for the major games publishers…