OnLive unveiled the latest technology in video gaming at the Games Developer Conference 2009 with much hype. The system removes the need for high cost hardware needed to play the current front end video games as these requirements will be handled by the service providers themselves. The full report on how it works can be found here.If this will be the future of video games, it will be the end of gaming consoles such as Sony’s PS3, Microsoft’s Xbox series, Nintendo’s Wii and the PC. For the consumer end we are no longer required to buy expensive hardware to play these games and gaming becomes extremely mobile being able to play these games as long as there is an internet connection. For the producer end this spells a bigger issue; consoles become obsolete, the business model has to change and high end hardware will turn redundant. Piracy will also be beaten as software no longer requires distribution.
While this is the first foray for gaming, videos are already available for streaming via video sites like Youtube and music are available for purchase via iTunes Store. Already the society is gradually moving towards owning of intellectual property through digital means and eventually, even a shop is not required to purchase merchandise. A small breakthrough in technology can cause a chain reaction to upset the entire eco-system to the media industry and as new technology moves up, old technology will have to give way one day. Cassettes have given way to CDs, TVs to LCDs, film to digital, LD to DVDs, pagers to mobile phones, horses to cars and now distribution through internet. One fine day 15 years from now, a PS3 would be what we call a ‘retro’ gaming machine.
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