OnLive, the online gaming service that lets you stream PC and console games through your existing kit, is hitting the UK on September 22. But what does it need to do to compete with the gaming big boys already here?
We’ve made a five point plan for success – OnLive, heed this and you can’t fail.
1 A great broadband tie-in deal
BT has announced it’s OnLive’s exclusive broadband partner in the UK, but as yet there’s no word as to what tie-in deals it’ll offer. Gaming online requires more bandwidth than just surfing (in the US, OnLive specifies a minimum of 2Mbps to use the service, and recommends 5Mbps), and with some deals being capped to five or 10GB a month, this could prove an issue. At least there’s no need to install data-heavy updates, like other games consoles, but still, those not used to online gaming may still find themselves going over their usage allowance unless BT can cut them a nice deal.
2 Pricing
No pricing has been announced for the UK launch. In the US, you can chose between renting a game for a set number of days, or unlimited monthly usage for a set fee (like Spotify). Renting a game for three days costs $5.99 (£3.70), while playing one game as much as you want (effectively buying the game, though of course everything is still streamed) costs between $20 (£12.35) and $60 (£37). Monthly subscription is $9.99 (£6.20), while the set-top box and controller – if you want to play on your TV rather than your Mac or PC – costs $99 (£61). Time will tell if it’ll manage to keep these prices, or if it’ll do an iTunes and crank them up for us UK users. OnLive, say it ain’t so.
3 Clear marketing
Perhaps the biggest barrier to OnLive’s success is making it comprehensible to the average man in the street who’s not that tech savvy. Comparisons to Spotify are sure to abound, as it’s the most well-known streaming service around, so people are coming round to the idea of not owning media. It needs to be stressed you can play all these amazing games with your existing gear (if you’re playing on a Mac or PC), which is quite a pull.
4 Offer more than the competition
Apple’s Mac App Store is gaining in popularity, with gaming being one of the main draws (especially since Macs have traditionally struggled to compete with PCs in this regard). A lot of the games on offer are Angry Birds-style time wasters, but fully-fledged efforts like Lego Batman are there too, and it’s rare for them to cost more than £20. Ok, so you might be restricted to playing it on your Mac only, rather than on your Android tablet as with OnLive, but still, OnLive will have its work cut out to compete. The solution…?
5 A great selection of games
For the UK launch, 100 titles are promised, including recent additions like Duke Nukem Forever as well as older titles like Deus Ex. That really needs to grow, especially considering the relatively recent Mac App Store offers 180 in the Top Paid category alone, and that OnLive can draw on the back catalogue of all consoles, Mac and PC. Not to mention plenty of arcade classics, a la Xbox Live Arcade. Get some Streets of Rage on there, and it’ll fly, trust us.
