I watched this new broadcast from Gamespot yesterday, where a new console was being unveiled at the Game Developers Conference. This new system, called "OnLive", has the potential of completely ruining the game market. Sure, it might be good news for publishers, but for Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo, this might be some trouble.

So what is this amazing new console anyway? Today, downloading games off the internet is already a standard, and with services like Steam, lazy kids are using their mom's credit cards to buy all their games online instead of going all the way to the store to purchase the retail version. This is much more convenient, but it also makes for a seemingly longer download time. What if you could play the game within seconds of purchase, without downloading, and with virtually no lag at all? This is the kind of services that Onlive has promised.

The main menu, where many of the features can be accessed.

What other great features does this new service promise? OnLive has the capability of playing any game, thats right any game with any kind of graphical requirements, and play it on some low end PC that was bought for maybe $300. That's playing Crysis on 720p on a cheap integrated chipset laptop, with no lag at all, using a technology called video compression. The example they showed us was simply stunning...Crysis ran fluently without lag, and it started up quickly and smoothly. Whats interesting is, when you play your games, its streaming directly from the center, which is why theres no download times, and the video compression to ensure that any game can play on whatever small, low-end PC or MAC out there, lag free. What i'm wondering about is, what if your internet is experiencing problems, does that mean that the entire service shuts down?

The OnLive console is a small, powerful machine that is no bigger than a deck of cards. You can bring it wherever you go, and plug it into any PC, or TV, and make it work anywhere an internet connecion is avaliable. A 1.5 mbps connection is required for standard definition, while a 5 mbps is required for HD definition. The endless list of features doesn't end here. Onlive has an xbox-live community way of gaming, and, whats cool is, whether or not you own the game, you can actually "spectate" people who are playing these games online as sort of a free demo before deciding to play the game (default demos will also be able on the onlive marketplace). You can have a friend list, and spectate games that they are playing as well, even if you don't own their games. You can communicate and play with each other, just like any online gaming service.

The OnLive console and gaming controller, no larger than a deck of cards.

The reason why this might endanger the traditional gaming world is because, well, the Onlive service never needs to be upgraded, because as games advance, so are the technology and services that they are working with at Onlive. Game publishers will also earn more profit from partnering with Onlive, becuase they don't need to pay the traditional retail distribution fee that most retail games need. The downside, however, is the fact that there wont be any 1st party publishers, so don't expect Mario Kart or Halo ODST to be available. Sure, this means that some people will still maintain their normal console systems, but it may cause many publishers to instead work with Onlive instead of Microsoft, Sony, or Nintendo. Onlive comes with its own controller that looks similar to the ps3's, so don't expect to start playing Wii sports with your wii-mote. It also requires an online monthly fee, as well as a purchase price for each game, so it might be more expensive in the long-run.

This seems like something that could be too good to be true, so for me, like many others, I am still extremely skeptical about this service. How could they promise such amazing features like no lag and no graphical requirements? It seems like they're trying to do the impossible, and only time will tell. If this works, it could be the start of a new digital era, and consoles will become obsolete. This also seems like it has the potential for many small bugs and issues. Even though this idea seems impossible and revolutionary, its happening right now, and has a target release date of Winter, 2009. I don't want Microsoft and Sony to die, but if this is really as good as they say it is, that's something that just might be a possibility.