The GDC always throws up the odd surprise but todays accouncement could be perhaps the biggest the event has ever had, Onlive and the potential of stream based gaming. It is being first demo-ed at this years GDC, Onlive represents a type of gaming revolution where players would never need hardware upgrades or most devestatingly, to purchase new consoles ever again.

Brainchild of Mike McGarvey(of WebTV and Eidos fame), the service can stream games to a desktop, entry level laptop and even a TV as all the calculations and gaming grunt are all being performed server side – by what could only be described as one behemoth of a gaming setup. All gamers have to do is purchase a device which records inputs and sends a signal to the server in Gaming HQ where the individual in turn recieves a video of what he has just performed in game. As long as individuals have network speeds of 1.5mb and over the service is claimed to be stable and can operate at tolerable latency speeds (under 75ms) which is a must any competitive online games. There are much more detailed summarys of Onlive all over every self respected game enthusiast site at the moment, one of the best can be found on IGN with detailed specs and a exclusive hands on can be found here

Its pretty sexy, you have to admit.

Obviously the level of scepticism is through the roof at the moment which can only be matched by the amount of excitement surrounding this device, which could be out as early as this winter. Games from EA, Take-Two, Ubisoft, Epic, Atari, Codemasters, Warner Bros. and Eidos will be avaliable on the service which include titles such as Crysis, Grand Theft Auto 4 and Burnout Paradise. Nothing has been confirmed regarding pricing for both the necessary hardware and online game service with the elimation of piracy from the service I would think many publishers would be suprisingly mercyiful with their pricing structure.

If – and its a big if- Onlive does become even an understated sucess it sends a huge message to everyone involved in the sale of games and hardware, not so much the publishers but the manufacturers and retailers who have made interactive software central to their business model. Most publishers view the online distribution model as benificial t0 the classical methods of physical media and retail and the if adoption rates of Onlive were high enough it wouldn’t be too long before it become the primary method of distrubution. But there is also other factors which Onlive would be solved, the classic conundrum of second hand games being sold at retail would also go away, as well as the ever present problem of piracy which causes the industry to lose millions (perhaps billions?) each year. Let alone the consumer implications with most gamers already using 2-5mb setups already in their homes which are also getting pretty sick of shelling out on new hardware every three to four years on new consoles.

Okay, the UI needs some TLC.

Its all very pie in the sky at the moment isn’t it folks, and I have to admit perhaps my own excitement for this new device has got the best of me but the implications(you have to admit) are pretty radical for the industry even if its a moderate sucess. But perhaps what will be the most interesting for us gamers is to see how Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo react to this news will they acknowledge its existance or merely put their PR into overdrive and talk about what a inferior product the Onlive may be on release. Who knows at this point but I suppose whatever happens it sure will be interesting over the coming weeks and months, especially with E3 round the corner.

N.B: This post can also be found on Gamespot UK. My most recent review of Halo Wars and the upcoming review of MadWorld can be found on Citizengame, you can also post your thoughts on the Onlive in our forums here