Is Onlive really a threat to consoles? DISCUS "OnLive is no threat to PS3, says Sony"

[Niko408]

While I agree about the exclusives, I have to say, there is a lot more work put into PS3 exclusives than there is when it comes to the 360 ones. It shows where the talent really goes when it comes to which system has the best.

[rasmasyean]

While I agree about the exclusives, I have to say, there is a lot more work put into PS3 exclusives than there is when it comes to the 360 ones. It shows where the talent really goes when it comes to which system has the best.

I suppose that argument is more about saying that "Japanese people" tend to put more effort into game development.

[Niko408]

What do you mean by that? Kind of curious since most of the exclusives are made here in the US or a joint effort between the 2.

[Alex]

Yah, no...

Your obviously a Xbox 360 fanboy so I'll respond in an equally biased way. PS3 PWNS!!! SCREW XBOX 360!!!!!

Honestly though, Consoles are a personal preference, I like PS3, I think its a much better product than the Xbox 360, but I still own an Xbox 360 and I do kinda like it... XBL is better but the rest is just... Yah, sony exclusives are better. Again just my taste.

But to argue against your argument, OnLive is solely a gaming console, this is prbly its biggest weakness. I can't upload music, no video on demand store (both would be GREAT features for OnLive, hopefully they will think of that!) SO in that respect no, PS3 still excels as a great home theater device. And OnLive will take 2 years to start taking away from the console industry (mby?), so this is a big fight, no way to predict who will win.

We should be clear that PS3 is a completely reactionary product. Sony had in mind something on the level of the Wii, something that could get by on the Cell alone at a lower clock with a quarter to a fifth of the memory and it might well have been sans BD and introduced much later. They had in the mind the typical foot dragging unnecessary premium sucking CES curve. We should have had 1080P 3d movies out of DVD-9 in 2003 but CES likes to rip people off with fluffy products.

360 was not a console but a platform designed to redistribute music, games and movies out of the incredibly antiquated and inefficent plastic disk player toll road and on to the internet. MS simply decided to converge Sony's little game and reap profit for having provided that public service. PS3 was essentially Sony trying way after the fact (usually a full Moore's law cycle after for many features or newly added features) to make a 360. You can look at the turn over in Sony execs to see that MS had been extremely successful. It was hilarious watching Sony execs say things like: we will decide when and if MS ever gets movies, and MS doesn't decide when a console cycle starts! It was as if a bunch of bafoon politicians made unreasonable promises to Sony that sure as hell shouldn't have been kept.

What Onlive does is provide proof that everything can be done instantly with maximum convenience and every where at any time for a bundle price. This instantly creates competitor systems and completely leverages a corrupt and broken media market into a dynamic thriving market with proper price curves and access for all comers.

Comparing PS3 and its infrastructure to a true cloud service like Onlive is like comparing a phonograph to Rhapsody on iPhone. 3d greater than 1080p 60 motion/camera speech/voice rec...enbled games, there's no limit to the cloud platform and the new possibilities it unlocks. The PS3 instantly becomes worth what a $9 microconsole is worth or less because it sucks down tons more energy and space. Microsoft processed Sony the same way it did AOL- a company that thought it could charge people hourly to access general internet content stored on their own HDD. Apple processed Sony the same way and now Onlive.

Onlive renders null and void all Sony exclusives, there is now only one meaningful platform and that is the cloud and that is the only platform worth the developer's effort. Almost instantly what is a floor for cloud games won't be possible on other platforms.

[Alex]

While I agree about the exclusives, I have to say, there is a lot more work put into PS3 exclusives than there is when it comes to the 360 ones. It shows where the talent really goes when it comes to which system has the best.

With Natal it seemed that 360's acceptance by the Japanese dev community was almost total.

But Onlive sets them free completely. Can't wait to see what they can do!

[rasmasyean]

What do you mean by that? Kind of curious since most of the exclusives are made here in the US or a joint effort between the 2.

Since it's big in Japan and Sony is a Japanese company, much of those titles would be from other Japanese partnerships. Like the famous FF and stuff like that. Just looking at averages and not saying it applies to every single title.

[rasmasyean]

With Natal it seemed that 360's acceptance by the Japanese dev community was almost total.

But Onlive sets them free completely. Can't wait to see what they can do!

I think that actually brings up an interesting thought. Would controllers like the NATAL help keep the "console market" in good shape. Because the processing and communications overhead of image processing vs. buttons may actually make processing controls a bit father out in the cloud.

[nvleafs]

The problem with Onlive is that you don't own the games. You're paying to play a game on another system. If for any reason the Onlive service shuts down, you lose all your games, and you mini console becomes useless. That's the advantage that consoles have over this. If Xbox Live or PSN were to be shutdown, you'd still be able to play the games you purchased.

[Darq]

The problem with Onlive is that you don't own the games. You're paying to play a game on another system. If for any reason the Onlive service shuts down, you lose all your games, and you mini console becomes useless. That's the advantage that consoles have over this. If Xbox Live or PSN were to be shutdown, you'd still be able to play the games you purchased.

While it may seem a bit scary, this type of business model has been in use for well over a decade. Yes, it is a valid argument that if the OnLive service for some reason went under that the consumer would be unable to play the purchased games without the OnLive service. Now, this line of thinking is nearly akin to "Don't buy the <insert next gen console> because it's boasting a lot of features that seem unreal. Plus, if it goes under then you'll have just wasted $300.00+ dollars and won't have any new games coming out for it." It isn't the best argument against OnLive.

MMOs have been offering accounts paid for monthly that offer access to an online only game. If the service discontinues, then the consumer is screwed. They'll have paid all those monthly subscription costs, the initial retail cost of the game, and put in X amount of hours into the game to be left with nothing. We can easily see by observing the popularity of the World of Warcraft that this risk doesn't deter many.

I'd rather argue the inconvenience of having to have a decent internet connection, but these days even that isn't reason enough to ignore what OnLive has to offer.

Is that the only skepticism Nvleafs? I feel like there's more.

[Browler]

This is a good argument about the PS3. It certainly was pushed a bit by the early release of the 360. I've not heard that sony was planning on releasing a wii-like product, but I don't know so I'm not going to argue that point. My point was just that I like the PS3 better than the Xbox 360. I 100% agree that the Xbox is a better online & multimedia experience with XBL and Netflixs etc. However, I think the PS3 exclusives are better, it IS a better console specification wise than the Xbox 360, there is no doubt that PS3 exclusives have better graphics and are much bigger than is possible on the Xbox 360 (Uncharted 2, MAG, Killzone 2). Everything about the PS3 is copied, but it has better hardware and its not locked down like the 360 (I can use any HDD, USB Mic, Keyboard, Mouse, install linux, plug in my thumbdrive, actually COPY music rather than just rip it, etc.) so I like it best.

Regardless though, OnLive will completely replace my consoles assuming it works. It is truly the next-generation of game consoles, there is just no comparison.

We should be clear that PS3 is a completely reactionary product. Sony had in mind something on the level of the Wii, something that could get by on the Cell alone at a lower clock with a quarter to a fifth of the memory and it might well have been sans BD and introduced much later. They had in the mind the typical foot dragging unnecessary premium sucking CES curve. We should have had 1080P 3d movies out of DVD-9 in 2003 but CES likes to rip people off with fluffy products.

360 was not a console but a platform designed to redistribute music, games and movies out of the incredibly antiquated and inefficent plastic disk player toll road and on to the internet. MS simply decided to converge Sony's little game and reap profit for having provided that public service. PS3 was essentially Sony trying way after the fact (usually a full Moore's law cycle after for many features or newly added features) to make a 360. You can look at the turn over in Sony execs to see that MS had been extremely successful. It was hilarious watching Sony execs say things like: we will decide when and if MS ever gets movies, and MS doesn't decide when a console cycle starts! It was as if a bunch of bafoon politicians made unreasonable promises to Sony that sure as hell shouldn't have been kept.

What Onlive does is provide proof that everything can be done instantly with maximum convenience and every where at any time for a bundle price. This instantly creates competitor systems and completely leverages a corrupt and broken media market into a dynamic thriving market with proper price curves and access for all comers.

Comparing PS3 and its infrastructure to a true cloud service like Onlive is like comparing a phonograph to Rhapsody on iPhone. 3d greater than 1080p 60 motion/camera speech/voice rec...enbled games, there's no limit to the cloud platform and the new possibilities it unlocks. The PS3 instantly becomes worth what a $9 microconsole is worth or less because it sucks down tons more energy and space. Microsoft processed Sony the same way it did AOL- a company that thought it could charge people hourly to access general internet content stored on their own HDD. Apple processed Sony the same way and now Onlive.

Onlive renders null and void all Sony exclusives, there is now only one meaningful platform and that is the cloud and that is the only platform worth the developer's effort. Almost instantly what is a floor for cloud games won't be possible on other platforms.