its possibly one of the worst things to happen in a while. its a rip off for the consumer. sure the prospect of games like crysis and FC2 and others maxed out at 720p is nice but at what cost? lets break it down.
first to even be able to use the service you NEED a decent broadband connection, not some crappy DSL line or some low level cable line. you need a good connection to even be able to use the service. so thats an expense, if you want to be gaming above 640x480 then its even more.
then you have to pay for the service to use it. whether its a monthly or yearly charge its still an expense no matter how cheap. if you cant pay it you cant use the service. no questions asked.
then you have to pay for the games. this is the biggest issue. you pay for the game or to rent it, but you have less right to it than with DD. you cant modify the files. you cant add mods. you cant adjust the settings in the graphics (example i dont like motion blur outside of object based motion blur). you cant sell the game. you cant trade the game. nothing. if you cant pay for the service you cant play your game. if the service goes down you lose the games. so youre essentially throwing money into a bucket with a loose bottom.
adding to this lets address the pricing issue with numbers. where i am right now. the lowest connection speed that can handle onLIVE is about $30 a month. lets assume the service is $60 a year which would be fairly cheap when you think $5 per month. and lets assume you have a cheap pc to do this on aleady. then theres the games.
scenario 1
640x480 30fps max settings games
per month with 1 game
$30+$5+$50=$85 for a month with one game at 640x480.
per year with 2 games
$360+$60+$100=$520 for one year of onlive at 640x480.
now even ignoring the price of the game $420 is more than enough to buy you a pc that can play games at way above 6340x480 maxed out at above 30fps. yes even crysis.
no lets assume you want the full service with 720p gaming.
per month
$50 (internet)+$5+$50=$105 for one month
$600+$60+$100=$760
again $660 is way more than enough to max everything out at resolutions above 720p.
and $900 will buy you a gaming laptop that will max it out at 720p.
theres also the other issue of multiplayer. so far its safe to assume onlive will use special servers. since thats all they debuted. it may be a different scenario but if not, then youre relying on people using the service.
if onlive worked for games you laready owned i would see how it could be viable for a consumer. but the way it stands now its not worth it and is a total waste of time and money. assuming it even works the way its advertised.
the technology its self and the features (such as live video streaming) are more impressive than the service itself
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