Speaking to CVG ahead of today's UK launch, OnLive's VP of games and media John Spinale predicted it'll take at least one console cycle before cloud gaming takes significant share from PlayStation and Xbox.
"We'll see what the next-generation of consoles look like but I guarantee you if Sony and Microsoft ship next-gen consoles they're going to be expensive."
Despite predicting it'll take "at least five years" before cloud gaming becomes the method the majority use to consume their games, Spinale made it clear he doesn't expect traditional consoles to go away any time soon.
"I don't think consoles are going away any time soon and I don't think existing PCs are going away either," he added. "I think the opportunity is that over time this architecture makes sense.
"As my PC dies the question I have is 'do I want to buy another one with a higher end system, or is it time for me to upgrade my graphics card or not?' Those are the times when we start to come into play as a real meaningful decision and take market share.
"Right now from a convenience perspective this is easy, frictionless and we're getting lots and lots of people that appreciate the value of immediate supportability," he said.
"For us to get a majority as a genre of gaming platform it's going to take one whole cycle for that to happen. Whether that's everyone retiring their existing consoles or having their PCs be really underpowered... it'll be at least five years before we see this as a majority."
Comments
34 comments so far...
dicky1993 on 22 Sep '11 said:
i hate this stop bigging yourselves up it might be good but it always ends bad! and also f**k of my bloody newsfeed all the time onlive this onlive that i couldnt care less id rather chill with my mates on an xbox or ps3 then try and rely on my awful countryside internet
I LOVE CONSOLES NOT ONLIVEEEEEEEEEE
thelazyone on 22 Sep '11 said:
The only thing that is going away some time soon in Onlive.
Gaming solely based on having a high speed internet connection will not work, maybe when the uk has optical networks installed through out the country (next 5 to 10 years?)
SuperMike861 on 22 Sep '11 said:
So if you're internet goes down for a few days you can't play any games if you were to only have OnLive? Sounds crap! I also like how he's talking about overtaking consoles when it's barely launched, bugger off! And it'll be more than 5 years before broadband will be a able to handle the strain of this platform anyway. Anyone else feel this could be OK, but is launching too early?
c3dpo on 22 Sep '11 said:
If someone gets this today, regardless of being on a capped connection or not:
Would be awesome to know how much streamed video data this uses per hour, I think this will be the crippling point for those even with fast enough connections to run it
TykerD3 on 22 Sep '11 said:
Not on my watch. I want to have a shiny console sitting under my telly, I want games stacked up high on a disc (not digital downloads). I like owning stuff. I dont want to rely on internet speeds. Eat my Ass out, OnLive
RoKuShaKuBoJutSu on 22 Sep '11 said:
Pathetic dreamers. I have bought 8 PS3 exclusives this year and 9 multiplatform games. Had I been using Onlive then 50% of my gaming would have not been possible. Sony has 16 1st party developers creating content that you will ONLY ever get on PS3. MS have big selling franchises that will only ever be on 360. Unless Onlive gets console exclusives aswell, or starts creating their own exclusive content, there is no way in hell they will over take consoles.
kirankara on 22 Sep '11 said:
Was actually thinnking of giving onlive a go, but then I thought about it, and like yourself, I thought"so hold on, i pay you for games, that i also have to carry on paying you to play, even though i will have paid you maybe as much as I would have to own the game on a console???", plus over a period of 2-3 years i will have given you about £160+ , and had to pay to play games I really want too at almost console game prices???? if at any point I didnt pay my subscripton, Id be left with no games to play.
i will have no actual product I own at any point (ok technically we never own our games, we buy a license to play them apparently when we purchase a game), and you are a whole lot beer off thanks to this.
How abut f**k off!!!
only_777 on 22 Sep '11 said:
I was amazed that onlive even worked in the first place.
I think the issue of ownership won't bother casual gamers very much. I think services like love film and that music (spotify is it?) prove that this business model can work.
I have tried onlive but I don't like the idea of not owning my games. Digital downloads are fine but you should be able to make your own back-ups.
This is a reason I have a jailbroken PS3 as well as a non-hacked system. It's the best way forward, I mean I have an xbox 1 (hack) and can still play Halo 2 and other online games via xbox-Kai.
When MS or Sony stop supporting there online consoles, you can still play online
Barca Azul on 22 Sep '11 said:
How will my family get me Uncharted 3 for Christmas using this?
kirankara on 22 Sep '11 said:
I was amazed that onlive even worked in the first place.
I think the issue of ownership won't bother casual gamers very much. I think services like love film and that music (spotify is it?) prove that this business model can work."
Difference there is, you can rent any title you want from
Lovefilm, as they all are classified under same category.
Onlive packages don't cover all titles , and you may still have to pay £30 or whatever if you want to play the brand new AAA titles , which u don't own in any way shape or form, and is also on top of your standard subscription fees.
headspin on 22 Sep '11 said:
i for one embrace this, tech moving forward side of it anyway.... has anyone else got an image in their heads of the 360 and ps3 fanboys turning and looking at each other and saying "look, i know we have our differences but we both have a very credible threat to our chosen games machines, we need to unite against this devil!!!" and then this happening -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWRihZBV748
Athrun888 on 22 Sep '11 said:
That Onlive dude in the article forgets something, exclusives play a big part in what system people buy, all threatening Sony and MS will do is make them romp up their efforts in securing third party exclusives. Not to mention Onlive is nothing but a glorified rental service that's pretty far ahead of it's time.
humanhand on 22 Sep '11 said:
Actually the headline should read... Console makers - still on top - move away from consoles in the future, OnLive still failing...
dicky1993 on 22 Sep '11 said:
get the sony boss and mircrosoft boss together and you'll get this :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfSOumv-QQ4
KK-Headcharge78 on 22 Sep '11 said:
Try 10 years maybe, besides by which time MS, Sony, Ninty will likely all have their own online equivalent and Online will be a distant memory.
TheDragonDoji on 22 Sep '11 said:
In the UK we're repeatedly told the broadband infrastructure will be up to modern day standards by 2018...with the amount of red tape I seriously doubt that.
Time to move to Indonesia.
cglev on 22 Sep '11 said:
Another good point, what if Onlive got hacked and they went offline as long as Sony did a while back. They would be bankrupt in a week and millions of people would be seriously out of pocket. Give me a physical copy of the games I purchase any day.
SuperMrLoki on 22 Sep '11 said:
Overall i quite like Onlive, the whole experience is good and some features like the options on voice chat, the ability to watch other gamers etc.. things that are not available on Xbox and PS3...
However,
i have 30mb virgin and normally i get above 25mb (i kno im lucky!), so how come it looks like the Wii and why do i get connection error every 5 mins or so?
thelazyone on 22 Sep '11 said:
So true!
richomack360 on 22 Sep '11 said:
This CEO bloke don't 'arf talk a load of cobblers. I have owned consoles since the 80's and will continue to do so whilst I am peeing into a bag in a retirement home.
OnLive ? On yer bike !
damoxuk on 22 Sep '11 said:
All CVG is advertised with Onlive up to the hilt so obviously they are gonna drip feed info for the next 6 years..
craiglackenby on 22 Sep '11 said:
I've played a few games and I'm quite impressed based on day 1. I had one internet error which paused the game for about 10 seconds, other than that I'm very pleased with three months free to play 103 games and a digital game to keep for 70p! I think I will pay the 6.99 a month after the trial. The mrs pays a tenner a month for Spotify and that's just music on your i-phone.
gmcb007 on 22 Sep '11 said:
Well said! I'll be suprised if OnLive survives 5 months never mind 5 years!
sonic_uk on 22 Sep '11 said:
If I wanted to rent games I'd get my spiny a$$ down to blockbusters. Onlive is simply a glorified rental service, great if you don't mind paying for something you down actually own, but that's the whole reason I enjoy buying my games, because I physically own them, and the box, instructions etc. I digital only future doesn't interest me in the least as games can be withdrawn from the server anytime, even if you've paid money to "own" those games via Onlive. No box, no sale basically.
theatticusera on 22 Sep '11 said:
Well i got me a free onlive console. Obviously i wont be gettin rid of my ps3 or 360 but its a nice little alternative for some pc games and the like and since the internet in my area is virgin media and averaging 8mbps im on board!!
only_777 on 22 Sep '11 said:
What makes me laugh about all of this, is that when Sony p**sed all over every PS3 owners consumer rights and removed features that you paid for (Linux OS), no one cared.
Everyone was like 'well I don't use it, so what do I care', and no one blinked an eye-lid as Sony robbed everyone left right and centre.
Onlive comes out and everyone hits the roof and starts swinging the consumer rights flag before anything has even happened.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/kym-assets/photos/images/original/000/126/314/3cd8a33a.png?1306264975
solamon77 on 22 Sep '11 said:
SO long as ISPs keep capping peoples bandwidth, OnLive is screwed.
Domin666 on 22 Sep '11 said:
When the PSN went down I had to play offline for about 3 weeks,thank god I have games in a box and not like the PSN titles I could not play during that time.IMO onlive will never beat a console in your room and a bunch of games in abox.
RavenxPrime on 22 Sep '11 said:
Wow, just Wow, listen to all you whiny bitches.
It's finally happened, someone has come along and united the holy trinity of Father PC, Son PS3 and Holy Xbox into a celebration of clinging onto the past.
Accept fate my Brothers and look to the future, It is a bright and glorius place, you knew it was coming.
Digital distribution has been drip fed us over the last 5 years and this is where it will finish, and you just know that Apple will have a similar service just around the corner.
Of course when it is announced it will be lorded and looked upon as the greatest thing ever
But on a semi-serious note I appear to have missed the bit where OnLive stole a family member, held a gun to their heads and forced you into buying their product. But meh, I guess you lot are uber geeky hardcore gamers, who brush your teeth with Spartan toothpaste, sleep in your Sack Boy shaped beds, and hold your mommies hand on the way to school.
So you obviously have the right to kick, cry and scream because someone's taking a new scary approach to your beloved gaming medium.
Oh and grow up FFS
gmcb007 on 22 Sep '11 said:
Oh great, the very first onlive fanboy!
only_777 on 22 Sep '11 said:
I can't wait to mod my games via Onlive. Oh, what's that? You can't? It's only for the shallow casual gamers you say that don't even know how to install a simple Fallout 3 car mod?
Great, the future of video games is being determined by COD fanboys...great.
only_777 on 22 Sep '11 said:
Am I a prententious gaming c**t who looks down his nose at people who don't get involed in modding/custom gaming? - Yes.
Do I think other people who thought Mass Effect was pants-down-bend-me-over-screw-my-back-passage amazing piece of gaming, total tossers who have little to no idea about gameplay balance and flow techinque? - Again yes.
Is onlive the biggest piece dumbed down gaming drivel to hit the streets in a long time? - Once again, yes.
So basically what I stabbing at here is that Onlive is for the dumb/poor. It's bulls**t that just because I work hard and earn good money + have the ablity to hack/mod games to push them to their limit and rinse every last drop out of them while running them on the latest hardware, that I have to suffer the stupid/job centre crowd wanting things that I would class as childs toys.
I hate it that a lot of people are too lazy/thick to open up their games and have to resort to the sort of s**t that Onlive offers.
And just so there is no confusion, this post is aimed at RavenxPrime. You casuals sicken me, with your low IQ and low wallent funding.
Also, you don't need to tell me I'm a stuck up elitest gaming prick. I already know that.
oOo ZOMBIE oOo on 23 Sep '11 said:
JOHN!,SERIOUSLY, STOP DIGGING THE HOLE!!!!!!!!
PMamba45 on 24 Sep '11 said:
If consoles die due to Onlive, i'm going PC gaming. Choice to gamers on and online activity is vital.