Does Onlive Spell the End for Gaming as We Know It?

The Games Developers’ Conference isn’t usually all that exciting; but this year, it shocked the gaming world when it was announced there that the little known technology company, Rearden Labs, are producing a games console that could spell the end for gaming as we know it! OnLive is not a gaming console as such; and all that you need to use it is an internet connection and a computer or television. It works by streaming data over the internet, so whenever you press a button, that command goes over the internet then comes back to you as an action on your screen. Rearden Labs say that OnLive could possibly be up and running in the US by winter. And if you’re wondering how many games it will have, EA, Eidos, Take Two, Epic, THQ, Ubisoft and Codemasters have already agreed that they will supply their games to OnLive should it come to life. However, people have their doubts, and industry expert Richard Leadbetter is one of them. He said that the OnLive service would put demands far too great on the internet, and that to have servers powerful enough to be useful, only a handful of players could use OnLive at any one time. He also believes that only one huge leap in technology can come at any one time, and that OnLive would require three or four, and would only be a possibility in the future. So it looks like the current generation consoles of the PS3, Xbox 360 and the Nintendo WII are safe, but for how long?