Is OnLive the future of gaming?

A preview of OnLive

As NetFlix pushes streaming video content for movie lovers to get rid of the need for expansive DVD and Blu Ray collections, so enters OnLive - a gaming service that is aiming to shake up the industry by streaming popular games over the Internet.

OnLive launched last year, but hopes to begin streaming games by June this year getting rid of the need to buy games from high street stores or even downloading them. Instead, OnLive would offer a 'games on demand' service.

Speaking to the BBC, OnLive's founder and chief operating officer saw that the company would deliver on-demand video games via cloud networks to the PC, Mac or TV and that it could provide high quality gaming on low-end machines.

"OnLive breaks the console cycle. We don't need new hardware devices," said company founder Steve Perlman. Mike McGarvey, OnLive's chief operating officer concurred saying, "We want to take your dollars from hardware and let you spend it on software. We are a new platform and we're building a network and infrastructure to last for the next 30 years of gaming, not the next five years."

Easy sell?

The appeal is clearly there; already millions of people streaming movies over the net as well as play games online all around the world, so surely this is the next logical step?

While there are doubts about how fast the service will be unless you're living near a remote data centre, the overall opinion seems to be positive unless, that is, you're a console producer and vendor.

A game streaming service would see the video-games industry take as massive hit, especially those sold in physical software formats. Despite massive sales for popular titles like Modern Warfare 2 and Mass Effect 2, US video-game sales have fallen 8 percent over the past year to $19.6 billion.

This has been attributed to the fact that more players are gaming online via popular networks such as X-Box Live and Sony's PSN; OnLive believe their service is simply the next natural evolution of gaming.

OnLive will be available for a monthly rental fee of $14.95 (GBP£9.99) for subscribers to then buy or rent games over the Internet. No date was given for when OnLive will be available in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, but it has been confirmed that the service will include popular titles such as Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia and Borderlands.

So what do you think? The next generation of gaming?

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Timon Singh

Timon Singh is a graduate of Liverpool University where he received a degree in Social and Economic History. He has previously worked for BBC Magazines on BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the publication for the popular genealogy show.

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