You might want to go ahead and put on your thickest, darkest sunglasses, because you're about to be blinded with science. OnLive founder and CEO Steve Perlman recently showed off the game-streaming technology's applications to a group of students at Columbia University in New York. Yeah, sure, you can be jealous of their rare opportunity, but take solace in the fact that access to this opportunity probably cost them $35,000 a year.
GamertagRadio snagged a video of the event, which we've embedded after the jump. It's awfully long -- feel free to jump to the 12-minute mark to check out the OnLive user interface, and the 17-minute mark to see the iPhone's social networking functionality.
OnLive might take a hit on consoles of course, BUT OnLive will encourage consoles like Sony - Microsoft create exclusive games that only are playable on their console. Many of these games I see in OnLive are all 3rd party developers. OnLive will not doom consoles.
The business model is highly flawed, per the reasons cited in this thread. From the total cost issue, bandwidth realities, to concerns about ownership, it is highly unlikely this is a feasible proposition. And just how do they plan to process multiple instances of high end games on a single box? These demos do nothing to answer those questions adequately.
What I want to know is what will happen to my games if OnLive ever goes bankrupt or shuts down. Since all the games we buy will be stored on their servers, how do I know I can keep these games as long as I can keep my physical games?
Please WATCH THE VIDEO before you vomit on something you obviously know nothing about. The video explains a lot. With this service you can take your games from any TV to any laptop or PC. The same games, with the same save spots, with the same friends, with the same controllers. They are also developing for phones, which of course won't be usable for all games. I am also sure the service will not cost $50 a month, that is just stupid expensive. I'm sure it will be $15 or $20. I would imagine the games will be cheaper as well. Much like how Steam has great deals. Speaking of Steam, The only thing this has in common with Steam is that they both play video games. Also this is not going to make people throw away their Xbox's or PS3's, but this is an easier sell then either one (if the monthly is on par with XBL). No upfront $$ just pay a monthly fee. In the long run, it may turn out to be more expensive, but that is how services work. You are paying for the ability to take your gaming anywhere and everywhere. You don't own netflix movies, and MW2 is a useless game on 360 unless you pay them to play online.
I am sure none of you have just came up with a show stopper that they have not already thought of (or their investors, or the game companies behind them). Please keep in mind that technology is not getting worse.... It's getting better. This is the future of all media. Just ask Google! The only things I want to know are how much is the service?, can I play my games if I quit the service?, and where is my beta key?
