OnLive: Contemptuous Snort Edition
OnLive is apparently “THE FUTURE OF VIDEOGAMES”, or so its website tells us. Sadly, there is no Nobel Prize for hyperbole.
OnLive is, in reality, a device which streams video games directly to you, similar to what YouTube does with videos. In theory (motif) it means that the console is obsolete, as you can just buy one of these cheap little boxes-plus-controller, hook it to your television or monitor, and download and play any game you want. All the processing is done by the OnLive servers instead of by the noisy box in your house. Because it would always use the same box and control, IN THEORY you would also never have to upgrade like with a console or PC - all they would need to do is upgrade their servers to the new top of the line and everything would be roses. In theory.
That sound you hear is just me scoffing up my lunch, but I was born with an inoperable cynicism.
It sounds like a fantastic idea, I guess. Except I don’t know what rainbow-coated sugar fantasy unicorn land these people live in, where super fast, unlimited broadband is available to everyone and never slows down, where you can have thousands of people playing one high-end game off less than thousands of servers. Perhaps their device actually contains a leprecaun which vomits magic interweb dust, or the controller is, in fact, a throat-widening device, designed to help you swallow increasing amounts of public relations bullshit.
Time will tell if this actually works, or turns out to be a gathering place for epic lag. In the meantime I think we’re safe to keep playing games by putting things in slots and pressing power buttons - especially those of us living in parts of the world where 40GB of internet is a mega deal.
This post was longer and more informative, but my fucking internet ran out watching a preview video of OnLive.