Comments on: QWERTY: OnLive – I Call Bulls**t http://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/qwerty-onlive-i-call-bullst/247/ A Critical Assessment of Video Games Thu, 09 Sep 2010 19:57:17 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9 hourly 1 By: nberens http://www.thegamecritique.com/recent-posts/qwerty-onlive-i-call-bullst/247/comment-page-1/#comment-250 nberens Fri, 27 Mar 2009 20:51:55 +0000 http://www.thegamecritique.com/?p=247#comment-250 So a subscription-based service that can run on any computer with a free 1MB applet is the same as a $400 PS3? You only need the 'console' if you want to play it on your TV, and even then it's supposedly a lot cheaper than any of the current consoles (though admittedly, no price point has been given). Yes, you have to buy a new console, but one that will update itself for years to come, because the horsepower is on their end, not yours. You can't say that for any existing console, or even a PC. As for the 'only working half the time' bit, there are many services that require a broadband connection for their use. Any given MMO, for example. Or GameTap. Can you honestly say that you spend much of your time without easy access to broadband? I haven't been in that boat in probably eight years. Now, I'm not saying that OnLive is the second coming. I'm still skeptical, and as a life-long gamer, something about it just rubs me the wrong way. Obviously they're using marketing-speak to pimp their service - I wouldn't expect any less from them. But to just sit back and go 'Ah, bullshit' is short-sighted and immature. So a subscription-based service that can run on any computer with a free 1MB applet is the same as a $400 PS3? You only need the ‘console’ if you want to play it on your TV, and even then it’s supposedly a lot cheaper than any of the current consoles (though admittedly, no price point has been given).

Yes, you have to buy a new console, but one that will update itself for years to come, because the horsepower is on their end, not yours. You can’t say that for any existing console, or even a PC.

As for the ‘only working half the time’ bit, there are many services that require a broadband connection for their use. Any given MMO, for example. Or GameTap. Can you honestly say that you spend much of your time without easy access to broadband? I haven’t been in that boat in probably eight years.

Now, I’m not saying that OnLive is the second coming. I’m still skeptical, and as a life-long gamer, something about it just rubs me the wrong way. Obviously they’re using marketing-speak to pimp their service – I wouldn’t expect any less from them. But to just sit back and go ‘Ah, bullshit’ is short-sighted and immature.

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