Streaming new games cultures to the TV, desktop and laptop
March 31st, 2009 by Tim Greenhalgh
I might have got this wrong – but I reckon we’re in the middle of a games revolution. This is not just a step change - if the technology just announced in the US works, then the way we connect and play has been turned upside down.
The streaming system announced by Onlive promises to deliver high-end games to a new community of people, previously disenfranchised through lack of access to top of the range computers.
The system’s developers say that it delivers near lag-free gameplay to low spec PCs and Macs – and with an added piece of kit also to your TV. All you need is a fast broadband pipe delivering 1.5 megabits per second (or 5 mb p/s for high definition).
PC and Mac owners using most “entry-level” computers will be able to play with a mouse and keyboard using a plug-in for their browser.
Top publishers such as THQ, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Take-Two Interactive Software and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have signed up to develop for the service and there are 16 current PC and console games tested and ready.
The service brings “cloud computing” to games with remote servers doing the heavy work to take the strain off players who can connect with their low-spec computers. OnLive has invested in data centres that can stream the game play with just a millisecond of lag.
The service launches this winter with a US only private beta in the summer. Pricing is under wraps but that, along with the quality of service delivery and new titles, will be crucial in deciding the success of the venture after seven years in development.
The browser plug-in element fascinates me, because it chimes with the extraordinary growth of the casual browser-based games market. Spil Games recently announced that it has become the largest casual game portal network worldwide.
The comScore Media Metrix assessment shows that the company’s worldwide traffic grew 75% in 2008 which pushed its casual game portal network worldwide ranking up from number 5 to top spot. Spil also reported a 269% increase in traffic in the United States as well as a global revenue growth of 125% in 2008.
For the record, one of our clients, Kerb, has a business relationship with Spil – but that’s coincidental as the stats from Spil cry out to be broadcast. The casual games sector is something that Kerb MD Jim McNiven is also passionate about - but that’s a story for the near future.
We are seeing a series of earthquakes in the games industry, the like of which I cannot remember before. Markets and movers are being reshaped as we watch – and the ways in which new tribes of players will form and spawn new cultural identities should be a delight. New forms of expression, language and collaboration will come from these fresh groupings of lively minds.
I can’t wait to see the way the big players respond and the explosion of creativity that will come with this seismic change – and to join in the fun as business models mesh with cultural imperatives. There will be a lot for us to learn.
Tags: casual games, EA, Jim McNiven, Kerb, Onlive, Spil Games, THQ, Ubisoft
