I think the main hurdles for game streaming becoming more commonplace are pricing, and how internet operators in general are reacting to increasing data transfers (not only related to gaming, but also movies etc.).
I think OnLive partly failed because at least in the current situation they were unable to find a sweet spot to lure in gamers with right prices, and staying profitable (also considering the server farms needed for running the games, you need more of that that when streaming TV series (Netflix) or music (Spotify)...). The Sony system article mentioned that one of the main complaints from potential customers has also been the pricing, so Sony is struggling to find that sweet spot as well. Maybe it will become easier if and when the userbase gets bigger, if it does.
You can try to convince the customers "you don't need a $2000 PC to play your games when you subscribe to our service", but such cheapass people have probably opted for a $200-300 console already now where the HW savings are not as high, plus if people see that playing/buying those streamed games is much more expensive per item, than buying locally run versions.
So how low can the streamed gaming services go with their pricing? As low as Netflix, like $10 per month, even though the server farms will need to be more powerful due to running actual games? Try to bundle it with Netflix-like services so that you get a gaming service for a "small" extra monthly fee? Maybe... Streamed gaming might be more lucrative to casual gamers.
Then to the operators who provide the actual internet connection. How do they get their cut from the increased data usage? If they don't, monthly data caps might become even more commonplace, instead of getting less of them, which would make streaming gaming even less lucrative. Especially if people expect to play those streamed games on their mobile devices with mobile connections, where data caps are even more commonplace than on fixed internet connections at homes.
One solution for this might be that the internet operators become such "streamed gaming service providers" themselves, instead of just being a bystander that provides the bandwidth. At least here the internet operators have already come up with their own streaming movie services (or providing existing ones, taking a cut from them) where you pay them for watching streamed movies. I don't know then where that leaves Sony etc. with their streamed gaming systems, will the operators all over the world demand a cut from Sony for playing their streamed games, or put restrictions on them (the old "internet neutrality" problem, can internet operators give data transfer priority to their own services that bring them money, over third-parties which don't).
Post edited March 02, 2016 by timppu