The OnLive service is basically a "cloud" system, as in all the games are purchased and streamed digitally to your OnLive system. You won't have any physical boxes or discs for games. Although the PC gaming market is already moving in this direction, it still isn't as simple as buying a game for a Playstation 3, inserting the disk, and playing. OnLive aims to fix that by making it simple to start playing any available game immediately.
Although you won't be able to play PS3 of Xbox360 games on the OnLive service, the potential is in the future games. If the service is successful, no longer would developers have to create games for 2 consoles and have any manufacturing costs for disks. It would present a significant change in the direction videogames are headed.
The hindrance now is that the service requires an extremely fast internet connection, which everyone simply does not have. In the future, that will happen, but it just isn't completely feasible for everyone to buy into this service yet. But the potential is certainly there.
Similar services had a bright future about 3 years ago, but sence the net neutrality debacle there is a huge roadblock in the way.
ReplyDeleteAt the laungh of Blu-Ray and HD optical media analysts said the products had a maximum 10 year lifespan since all content was going digital, however - internet providers are recently chopping down on what users can and can't do on the internet.
Rogers only allows typical broadband users 60gb, and you have to pay for each extra gb up to a certain limit (which has now been removed, and you just keep paying). Bell using the i-can't-believe-it's-legal-in-Canada DPI system, or deep packet inspection, where they actually analyse your internet usage and limit any bit torrent or p2p download speeds (which use up most of their network).
Every year, limitations on broadband internet unfortunately mean a dimmer and dimmer future for awesome projects like this. That is, unless the public can stop it.
Further reading:
http://saveournet.ca/
http://dissolvethecrtc.ca/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_neutrality_in_Canada