EXP Podcast #19: The OnLive Myth

The gaming internet sites were humming with excitement during the Game Developers Conference last week in sunny San Francisco. Upon one particular announcement, a mix of gleeful tittering and cries of consternation were audible across the bay and a widespread internet discussion soon followed. The product announced was OnLive, a gaming service that purports to do away with hardware concerns by streaming your games over high-speed internet. This week, Scott and I discuss OnLive as it relates to the curative properties of snake oil, urban ISP ruffians, scam artists, and the future of consumer participation in game consumption.

Since we are drawing on a wider collection of news sources than normal, we will link some of the more interesting pieces in the show notes along with OnLives demonstration video. If you are curious about OnLive further, allow us to google that for you. Comments are encouraged via email on the right or in the comments section below. We look forward to hearing your thoughts.


Since we are drawing a wider collection of news sources than normal, we will link some of the more interesting pieces in the show notes along with OnLives demonstration video. If you are curious about OnLive further, allow us to google that for you. Comments are encouraged via email on the right or in the comments section below. We look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Some discussion starters:

- Do you think the time is right for a service like OnLive? Are people ready for another console competitor?
- Do you think the infrastructure exists for OnLive?
- Would you partake in this service or do you think the growing pains of expanding their content is too much?


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- Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed.
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Show Notes:

- Run time: 28 min 14 sec
- OnLive website with video.
- John Spinale talks to The Escapist about OnLive.
- Richard Leadbetter, of Erogamer, explains why OnLive can't possible work.