Are you a gaming fan but can’t afford the initial investment of a next-gen console? Perhaps you’re just tired of trading in those outdated consoles and games for newer ones. You, my friend, might have a reason to jump for joy.
Steve Perlman, the chief executive of OnLive, recently announced that his games-on-demand service is set to launch in June 2010 at $14.95 a month for PC and Mac. OnLive subscribers will be able to instantly play games found in the OnLive catalogue, similar to the Netflix Instant Queue.
The novelty of the service is its cloud technology, which compresses the game data to allow almost instant communication between the user’s computer and the OnLive servers. The intense processing is done behind the scenes on the server, and only the video feed is relayed back to the user’s monitor. This means you can play the latest game releases on most any computer, even netbooks, which are not known for processing power. They’ll also be releasing a console-like system with a traditional gaming controller to be hooked up to televisions for those who can’t stand playing games with a keyboard and mouse.
The only question I have is, after signing up for the service, how much will I have to pay for each game? Perlman says subscribers will be able to buy or rent games, but how much is this going to add to the $14.95 price point? Either way, retailers are probably not happy about this, or the similar services coming soon from Otoy and Gaikai. It will be interesting to see the retail battle plan. Hopefully all of this new competition means lower prices, which is a win for every gamer.
