‘I remember years ago, someone told me I should take, caution when it comes to cloud gaming and I did not.’ That would be the first sentence of a new hit pop song, released by the creators of OnLive, if they were to try out with writing music next. But aside from ignorant pop references, OnLive is the only seemingly successful predecessor of the PlayStation Now cloud gaming service.
Yes, it is true that Sony bought Gaikai some time ago, but the actual truth is that Gaikai merely provides the best hardware for cloud gaming. Going back as far as 2012 when cloud gaming was considered to be the future, on the internet gaming arena the “Gaikai vs. OnLive” fan feud was featured as the main event. Although, not as impressive as the new next-gen feud between Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One fans, the people that believed in cloud gaming were somewhat thrilled of what was coming ahead.
Sony Announced PlayStation Now last month at the annual CES 2014
Back in 2012, OnLive had far better software than Gaiki, featured more titles and provided users with a great UI based system via which they could easily connect with each other, access their game library and more. However, as Gaiki had the better hardware, Sony decided to purchase them instead of their competitor.
OnLive is still running, offering people a monthly subscription plan with access to over 400 titles, as well as a few more recent games that players are able to purchase through a Full-Time Pass option and play whenever they want. However, the main reason for the fall of OnLive was that they just didn’t give the developers and publisher enough of a reason to feature their games on the platform. It takes money and manpower to transfer a game to a cloud gaming service as it is, plus with over 400 games in the Playpack Subscription that OnLive is offering for just 10$ a month, imagine what part of it goes to the developers and the publishers of a single title featured on the cloud gaming service.
This is the quality of Witcher 2: The Assassination of Kings, played through a pretty decent cable internet connection
Moreover, the platform featured games that were already out on the PC for quite some time and was not perceived by the public as well as expected. People who enjoy games have decent hardware and as most of them already own the games they want, there just wasn’t a point in investing money to transfer their game library to OnLive, just so they would be able to access it from any PC or smartphone. The third reason for the fall of OnLive was the availability. Although OnLive can be played from anywhere in the world, it is only available in Canada, the US and UK.
Looking in perspective at the fall of OnLive, PlayStation Now could have just what it takes to make it in the gaming market and shape the future of cloud gaming. Sony are able to offer new and exclusive titles for their service, because they have both the support of other companies and the resources. Moreover, it will probably be available everywhere where PlayStation is offered. In comparison with OnLive, it becomes clear that if they manage to play their cards right Sony might change the way we perceive cloud gaming with their PlayStation Now service.
PlayStation Now will be coming to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 this summer and later will be expanding to the PS Vita, Sony Bravia TVs and other Sony and non-Sony devices. Although it will possibly require a decent internet connection to run as smooth as possible, the cloud gaming service should be the next big thing, as Sony may be shaping the future of the gaming world once again.