It's not low definition, it's a similar stream to what the consoles are doing now, and higher than the Wii. The response times, are an issue, but only because the ISPs suck. Even with barely acceptable latency, the games are perfectly playable. It's pretty much just those lame twitchers that don't handle it well.

As far as terminating the service goes, that's only an issue if you're buying rather than renting. Now that they're rolling out a rental service, this isn't really any worse than people that bought the Roku back before it supported anything beyond Netflix and Amazon.

What you are doing is turning your PC into a games console that happens to play PC games. Call them ports as well as they don't run as your native hardware would run but in this case the porting involves streaming tech. What you are wanting us all to do is throw our rigs in the skip and replace them with competent PC's that can stream the OnLive service. How is that any different to buying a PS3 or Xbox360? They get ports as well and run on the TV not a monitor.

If you can't see the big picture here then I pity you.

It's a completely different service. I'm not really sure how you can compare them in a meaningful way. You pay for hardware, which they maintain and upgrade for a fee. Now, for those that are buying games, I think you have a solid point, but I think most people are going to be using this as a sort of Netflix for games, and at it's price point, that's a very good deal.

Personally, if I thought it was an anti-GOG or even similar to steam it's unlikely I'd have anything to do with it. But in the long term it looks like it'll be more disruptive to the current system than pretty much anything I've ever seen in gaming.

What? It's doing everything people hate about Steam, only about ten times worse.

I'm sorry but I hope this dies in a fire. Lets take a look at the pros and cons of this service.

Pros:
Eliminates piracy entirely.
People can play new games on this with old hardware.

Cons:
Most draconian DRM to date.
Takes away ownership completely.
Relies heavily on internet connection.
Games are unmoddable.
Gives the company complete control over the product as opposed to Steam which has an option to rip the drm off and back it up like a DRM free game.

It has uses as a niche product which competes *with* the DD services but it being the next Steam (it eliminates piracy entirely as pirates can't steal streaming technology which is very appealing to publishers I'm sure) would prove to be very bad for the end user.

Well I tend to consider that part of the "PC gaming" definition includes... you know, the PC part.

Why ? How can you jump to that conclusion. You have a new console-like service, which can use a PC as a stream client, and suddenly peoples magically will re-start making more "hardcore" games... why ?

It's perfectly possible to make a very complex/hardcore game on console, it's perfectly possible to make a game using mouse and keyboard on console (I played Dirge of the Cerberus with a keyboard and a mouse on my PS2), if they don't it's because companies consider there isn't a big enough market for it, not because PC hardware cost too much.

Do you really think that tomorrow Activition will be : "Damn there is this new OnLive thingy... instead of making Modern Warfare 12 that will sell gazillions copies, let's spend several millions bucks making an hardcore games like we did years ago and hope for the best".

Once again why ? You makes it sound like companies HAVE to release their games on PC, if companies still release games on PC it's because, for now, there is still a big enough market, not owning any console or preferring to play on PC, to make it worthwhile... but if tomorrow a big chunk of that market can use OnLive to rent your game, why worry releasing the game on PC ?

If anything OnLive will even lower the real PC market share and therefor even lower the odds of console games being released on PC at all.

Well I probably exploded my "why" quota for the week, but I am forced to ask : why? How is an OnLive exclusive less harmful than a console exclusive ?

360s aren't all that high definition now either. Direct 360 ports look blurry as hell on PC.

I don't think you can blame ISPs so easily considering that Onlive is so completely reliant on a stable and consistently fast connection. That's the nature of the beast and it was always going to be a problem.

And it's not like those are my only problems with it. I don't like the absence of any control over the product either. I want to be able to mod the game. I like actually owning games (regardless of meaningless bullshit in EULAs). I don't like Onlive simply because publishers will like it for all the wrong reasons.

The argument that OnLive turns your PC into a console is ridiculous. PCs will always be better than consoles because you can do so much more than play games, watch movies/TV shows and listen to music. OnLive is good because it brings the benefits of a console to a PC, making the PC and Mac more powerful than you can imagine. It's like the Death Star, without that stupid self-destruct button.

You can't watch Movies/TV and listen to music on a console?

That's not what I was saying. I was saying PCs were good because you could do MORE than those three tasks.

Ok now that's getting silly, yes you can do other things with a PC... how this has anything to do with "PC gaming" ?

It's comparing apple with orange, the question is not whenever it will hurt PC/Mac sales but wherever it will hurt PC gaming or at least games availability on real PC.

And by the way you can watch movie, TV shows and listen to music with nearly every console out there (except the Wii).


You mean the benefit of being able to plug it directly on your TV set without needing a computer. Oh yes that will make PC and Mac so powerful.

Yes except that in this case PC gaming is Alderaan.

So can most phones. Seriously look at everything you have said in this thread. Is there any need for a PC in your world? No. OnLive is making the PC a console a fourth platform as they call it and the traditional PC will simply die if what you want comes to pass.