Has anyone else heard of the on-demand gaming service called OnLive?
A quick intro: It is a gaming service based on cloud computing that allows users to play any game (including Crysis) on a low-end PC or even a netbook. They should also be a console so you can play on your TV. For more info, here's a few pages I've found: 1 2 3
What do you think about this? Please consider the enormity of the challenge - they are promising to provide thousands/millions of gamers with the computing power to run Crysis maxed out - this would need an enormous server farm and a tera-scale internet connection. They say to receive HD video, users need a 4-5Mb/s internet connection - this means that most users would hit monthly download limits fairly quickly or hit speed caps. I doubt ISPs would be happy with the massive strain on their networks (they can hardly cope now) and would probably block access to the service. I've seen rumours that the box should cost around £150-200 and I think the PC-based service would be free to sign up to. How are they planning to pay for everything?
Take a minute to think about this and post with any comments.