Onlive Video Games Expand The Market

Sounds like a Palo Alto style. OnLive, a CA-based startup wants to do away with gaming consoles, game resellers, and the need to buy any more expensive graphics chips. Today the company announced a service that lets any computer run the sorts of graphics-intensive video games traditionally reserved for high-end gaming systems. Games can also be played on a TV using a small device offered by the company that connects a television to a broadband Internet connection.

The idea of playing video games via the Internet is nothing new, of course. Companies such as Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo offer online services that let players collaborate and compete over a broadband connection. But these games are still tied to their companies' respective game consoles. World of Warcraft, a popular, massively multiplayer online game, streams content to a player's computers via an Internet connection. But, as any player knows, one of the biggest problems with the game is that players must often wait for the on-screen visuals to catch up to their instructions.

The basic requirement for running OnLive, says Perlman, is a 1.5-megabit-per-second Internet connection. But to run the service on a high-definition screen, he says, the connection needs at least five megabits per second. OnLive has already partnered with major games companies including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive Software, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and Epic Games. The company demonstrated 16 of its titles today at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, CA.

In order to use the service on a PC or a Mac, a person will need to download a one-megabyte program. To use OnLive with a digital television, a person will need the company's MicroConsole device. The company will offer its own gaming controllers, but standard controllers can be used as well.

By removing the need for expensive graphics cards for PCs and games consoles, OnLive "has the potential to dramatically open up gaming markets to people who wouldn't have participated otherwise due to the initial cost," says Dolbier. In addition, he says, OnLive could lower the cost of producing games. because it would only need to be made for one platform, rather than customized for Xbox, PlayStation3, and Nintendo. "It's an excellent idea to expand the markets," he says.