OnLive – The Netflix of Gaming

Imagine an on-demand gaming service on your TV. Imagine it as a gaming version of Netflix in your home. That is exactly what OnLive is, it streams video games from remote servers to your computer or console.

It’s available for PC’s running on Windows XP, Vista and 7. It comes with it’s very own controller and console (called a MicroConsole TV Adapter) so you can play games directly on your TV. It also supports smart phones and tablet computers such as the Iphone and Ipad.

OnLive and Vizio announced that they struck a deal stating that OnLive will be built in all of Vizio’s products for 2011.

“OnLive, a cloud-based game streaming service that has been making headlines for the past few months, announced Tuesday that it has struck a deal with Vizio that would put the service on all 2011 model HD TVs and Blu-ray players as well as forthcoming smart phones and tablets from the company.”

Though, this isn’t the first on-demand video game service created however this deal with Vizio will effect the industry. Maybe slowly but it will make a presence. First off, (I was just discussing this last night to a friend) most likely the prices for the next-gen consoles will increase. OnLive will be a good alternative, to those who don’t want to pay for those consoles or upgrade their computer. Also, it’s shown that consumers are looking towards cheaper and easier access to entertainment:

Redbox, the $1 rental box.
Neflix the popular mailing and streaming service for movies and TV shows.
Steam the downloading service of PC games from large to independent companies.

Newzoo, a firm that specializes in market research, released a report that 24.7 billion dollars were spent in video games in 2010 in America. Console and PC boxed purchases decreased but downloadable sales increased. Thus, we specifically know where gamers are spending their money.

So far none of the console companies have announced anything related to OnLive but the day after OnLive was announced Sony registered a trademark for their own cloud-gaming called PS Cloud. Could we see competition from Sony? Time will tell.