OnLive

OnLive, the first fully downloadable games service was launched at GDC 2009 this week. Its causing quite a stir. The quality is high, the reliability looks good and this is potentially the first challenger to the console manufacturers dominance in how we play games.

http://www.onlive.com/index.html

The idea of games on demand isn't a new one. There have been a few false starts with various companies and devices muted as being the dawn of on demand gaming, but the technology was never quite right and the market not really ready for that kind of service. Retailers have naturally played down the advantages of such a service, protecting their physical retail business, but time waits for no man and its clearly now a matter of time before these kinds of services are significant in the market place.

In this particular context I'm not an early adopter. Its going to be the kind of thing that I sit back and watch from a distance to see how other people feel about it before I jump in. In terms of the games developers I work with however it does represent an interesting and new revenue possibility for them, another platform to consider for their talents.

The make or break of this kind of thing for me is the price point. It needs to be a comfortable price for parents to pay for kids to enjoy and not be too objectional if they lose interest in it from time to time. They haven't announced the price yet which means they are not sure what the market will accept as a fee. Some would say that's not a good place to be in terms of the business model but its probably better than going to market with a figure that ultimately becomes a point of contention.

Watch this space ...