OnLive Is No Console-Killer

[aquatsr]

Why OnLive Is Not A Console-Killer
by, aquatsr

Although OnLive touts itself as ushering a new era - an era without consoles - there are major flaws in their rationale.

Ownership
Many people, including myself, like to own their physical media. This includes games, music, and movies. In a service like OnLive, you only own access to the media, something which is a big turn-off for a service like this.

Quality of Use
OnLive depends heavily on data compression and Internet connectivity. Broadband users with limited or unreliable connection would quickly become frustrated with such a service, no matter how great their compression algorithm is.

Usage
Nothing was mentioned on how OnLive customers would actually play the game. If using a computer, users could theoretically use the mouse and keyboard, but what about on a television? Possibly the remote control would be utilized - but that would be a sorry replacement for a game controller.

Consoles
This isn't really a console-killer, it's more of a transition service for computer games. In the future when Internet is a lot faster and a lot more reliable, game companies will move to this model to ensure sales and minimize piracy while offering the same quality of content. However, developers on only one or two platforms, especially those on only the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, will shy away from such a service, preferring to utilize the latest in hardware advances to deliver stunning visuals and immersive gameplay. Additionally, people may prefer to continue to play games offline, thus making OnLive obsolete.

OnLive may be a good candidate for a new model for computer games, but it is no console-killer.

Update: According to Wikipedia OnLive will sell a console-like device, dubbed the "MicroConsole" that will allow subscribers to connect four wireless controllers and four headsets, and also a USB keyboard and mouse up to a T.V.