Rumors have swirled around that Microsoft or even Google could buy out the OnLive service that was announced at GDC. That is one angle, because that would make Google a prime time player in the gaming world, or another lay down format to bite the dust.
“But Don, why would Google want to get into the gaming industry?” Well, that’s a very good question, because for starters they focus on making things cost effective, or even free by placing advertisements everywhere. Google also has the ultimate search engine and could use that to track gaming habits and what people tend to gravitate towards.
This would make Google an even stronger force to be reckoned with in the gaming world because they would then focus and expand on exactly what gamers want and do.
Next, you have Microsoft who could potentially purchase this new gaming standard and add it to the XBOX 360. I’d easily assume they would call it XBOX OnLive to still keep the gimmick that everyone buzzed about from the start and mix it with the XBL brand name that is already a gold standard for online gaming on a console.
Microsoft could also use this to add to their Windows service in an attempt to get back some of the strength they had a few years ago in the PC world that they’ve appeared to lose a bit of their grip on. This would bring on a very strong selling point for anyone if they expand on the games area by focusing more on the casual gamers with games like pool and puzzle games. Think Pogo with games for gamers and a much more powerful server.
Now that I’ve gone on about Google and Microsoft and all the speculation, this brings me to what I call the wild card and something that I haven’t seen talked about yet. I consider the wild card to be the PlayStation 3. This is an angle that could possibly make the PlayStation 3 the ultimate gaming console.
This has nothing to do with Sony acquiring this service and adding it to PSN or anything like that, because Sony probably believes they can offer a better product without having to spend more money. This aspect would likely hurt their own game sales, yet it open up a whole now angle to the console itself.
Now, I know what you’re probably saying, it’s either “Interesting, but how’s this possible?” or “OMG another fanboy article”. If you are calling me a fanboy, then you probably won’t even finish the rest of this article anyways, because it’s the trendy thing to do.
But for those who are interested, the option has been sitting in front of your face for 2 years now, and could be used to it’s utmost potential.
Linux
Imagine expanding the Hard drive space on your PlayStation 3, setting up a partition for your space and then installing Linux. This would allow you to essentially use the OnLive service provided that it isn’t restricted for the very thing that I have talked about.
Also, would allowing this to be on a PlayStation 3 really hurt OnLive? I think not, this is something that would make adaption extremely convenient for the creators of OnLive provided that it doesn’t brick your PlayStation 3 and you successfully have this up and running on what is already a very sexy gaming console.
Imagine your PlayStation 3 playing games that aren’t even accessible to the format at the time, but finding an extreme loophole by also renting games via download instead of having to worry about that game being available? This would be just like having Netflix or downloadable movies available for your console, but an expanded means to feed your gaming habit.
The future is now and I personally think that OnLive, whether it succeeds or fails will have a greater impact on the way we game from this generation and so-on…but we shall see.
These two articles support the rumor of Google or Microsoft potentially buying OnLive:
http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/will-google-or-microsoft-buy-onlive–589240
http://www.t3.com/news/could-microsoft-or-google-buy-onlive?=38556
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