Streaming Games to Kill Consoles?

The creator of WebTV has teamed with a former Eidos executive to create OnLive, a streaming video game service that plans to cut out the expensive hardware requirements that have always stood between you and top-tier gaming. Via patented video compression technology, playing games through OnLive won't require any graphics hardware on your end. You play via your broadband connection, which sends your controller inputs to an off-site machine and then beams the video back to you. By downloading the tiny client, literally any PC with Windows and broadband will allow you to play high-res, current-gen games. And for those who want to do without a PC entirely, the company plans to sell an inexpensive box you can hook directly to your TV and play that way.

Whether or not this particular service works out, cloud computing seems to be the way of the future. Why pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a gaming rig when you can just as easily use some corporation's massive computing resources? It makes sense on the company's end, too, since they can cut out nearly all manufacturing costs and sell directly to the consumer. To use the PlayStation 3 as an example, Sony wouldn't have to sell systems at a loss and hope to make that money back on software.

Of course, if or when this trend starts to catch on, we can probably look forward to more and more system exclusives. If the hardware-less Xbox 970 and the hardware-less PS5 don't have to worry about competing features and performance, the only thing keeping you loyal to their brands will be the games only they can offer you.

Still, I think the tradeoff is worth it. Instead of waiting in line for seven hours in front of GameStop, I'd love to just download my Wii2 and keep it running in the taskbar.

Source: PC World