Onlive recently announced its revolutionary new PC gaming experience–a console system. Yep, now you can play PC games right on a console. Are we missing something? Aren’t PC games supposed to be played on a PC? Onlive was going to be the service to save PC gaming. With it’s cloud computing on-demand service, subscribers could easily access games and play them via their computers, without having to buy expensive gaming computers. It all seemed like the solution to save PC gaming.
Then Onlive turned to the Dark Side.
Onlive Game System Console
The Onlive gaming console looks very Microsoft Xbox-ish. Not the 360, rather the original Xbox. With it’s bulky controller sporting two thumbsticks, A B X Y buttons, a directional pad and even a center button, the Onlive Control should feel very console-like in a gamer’s hands.
The console portion is quite small. Plug it into the Internet, then attach it to your television and you’re all set for console (I mean PC) gaming.
Is there’s room for yet another console? Can this PC / Console hybrid really expect to compete with the XBox, Playstation and Wii? And you also have to wonder what real PC gamers are going to think of this abomination. Real PC gamers wold rather jump off of a bridge onto a burning boat than play games on a console. Real PC gamers have spent thousands of dollars on their rigs. They’ve tweaked their cooling system, they’ve calibrated their keyboards and mice…
In the end, you have to wonder who this “console” is really aimed at. Not PC gamers, not console gamers. Then who?
But you really have to ask why? Why would a seemingly perfect PC gaming model opt to put out a console? Are the PC gaming numbers that low that Onlive is seeking a way to merge itself into an already crowded market? It seems as if the PC gaming industry is admitting defeat.
Oh, and you have to love the fine print on their website: *ALL SALES ARE FINAL. NO REFUNDS. NO RETROACTIVE DISCOUNTS.
Let us know what you think.
