Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Fixing Onlive
After now having seen Onlive for myself, and considering the service and the plans going forward - it is obvious that many things will have to change for it to actually thrive in the current videogame market. I am fairly confident that Steve Perlman and the other geniuses he's gathered to his team there have a strong game plan... So here's what I think it'll take (and that we'll likely see happen):
- Full HD
- Lagless
- iPhone / iPad access
- Wifi playable
- Cut Game prices to 50% of other platforms
- Keep subscription cost @ $60/yr
- Launch the Micro-console
- Save list of games for each account, so nothing is lost by cancelling and then restarting with same ID anytime in the future.
These are the biggest complaints I've seen and heard around Onlive. I think that they are fully aware of the potential of each of these issues to shore up an otherwise shaky consumer perspective of the system...
HD + Lag Time could be addressed by launching more data centers, and will also be impacted by things on the horizon like Google's Gigabit network, FCC forcing broadband to open up, etc. However, I am still skeptical that they'll be able to provide a true lag-free experience (at least in the next year or two).
MicroConsole / iPhone / iPad access has already demonstrated to work at several conferences. Just a matter of releasing it to the users! Market penetration here will really help build out their client base (which in turn attracts developers).
Wifi playable will be a tougher client to manage, since packet loss will be an issue that interrupts quality - and there are so many environmental variables to deal with.
Cutting Game Prices is something that will HAVE TO HAPPEN because Steve already mentioned that they have a much higher profit margin for developers because they can avoid publisher and retailer costs (see video below). And Consumers will not tolerate paying full price for a game that they won't own... plus subscription cost, plus enhanced broadband speeds, etc. But thankfully, once they have the client base, they will be able to SHOW the Developers that they can actually profit from lower costs than the Consoles require.
Lower Subscription costs will be very necessary as well, because it simply doesn't make sense to pay $60 for a game + $180 year (once the promo rates run out) to continue to access it.
Save games to accounts - this is a HUGE area of contention - because even if we can't own hard copies of games we've purchased "unlimited access" to, consumers will still want to be assured that they can dig up old favorites to play again some time down the road. Nothing feels worse than losing a favorite game that you paid for!
At this point, Onlive is just building out their client base. They've had a progressive roll out (instead of an open door) to make sure that clients with higher bandwidth have access first - which ensures more positive reviews (they don't need bad press from some 1mbps DSL user). Via their partnership with AT&T they've done something unprecedented: giving users 1yr free!!! plus 1 free game or a 2nd year for only $5/month! Unheard of... this will keep people coming in and then the developers will follow... Then before anybody pays the $15/month - they'll announce "guess what? we're keeping sub costs at $5!" and become the HERO.
$5/month + 50% off top tier titles + games ALWAYS accessible in users' accounts = WIN for Onlive.
What're your thoughts?
-------------------------
Victor said: "but im not even going to enjoy my 1st year because i own an xbox...i can buy all those games used and own them....forever....and resell them"
OUCH. good point. I think Onlive should allow for trading, reselling, etc of purchased titles - and of course keep a cut for themselves, and send a cut to the developers! That'd be a great way to take a bite out of the Console Resale market...
Lower Subscription costs will be very necessary as well, because it simply doesn't make sense to pay $60 for a game + $180 year (once the promo rates run out) to continue to access it.
Save games to accounts - this is a HUGE area of contention - because even if we can't own hard copies of games we've purchased "unlimited access" to, consumers will still want to be assured that they can dig up old favorites to play again some time down the road. Nothing feels worse than losing a favorite game that you paid for!
At this point, Onlive is just building out their client base. They've had a progressive roll out (instead of an open door) to make sure that clients with higher bandwidth have access first - which ensures more positive reviews (they don't need bad press from some 1mbps DSL user). Via their partnership with AT&T they've done something unprecedented: giving users 1yr free!!! plus 1 free game or a 2nd year for only $5/month! Unheard of... this will keep people coming in and then the developers will follow... Then before anybody pays the $15/month - they'll announce "guess what? we're keeping sub costs at $5!" and become the HERO.
$5/month + 50% off top tier titles + games ALWAYS accessible in users' accounts = WIN for Onlive.
What're your thoughts?
-------------------------
Victor said: "but im not even going to enjoy my 1st year because i own an xbox...i can buy all those games used and own them....forever....and resell them"
OUCH. good point. I think Onlive should allow for trading, reselling, etc of purchased titles - and of course keep a cut for themselves, and send a cut to the developers! That'd be a great way to take a bite out of the Console Resale market...
Thursday, June 03, 2010
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