OnLive to stay away from E3

By Games Industry.biz Published 21 May, 2009

Expect more news soon though, says boss.

Gaming download service OnLive won't be putting in an appearance at E3 this year.

Writing on the OnLive blog executive Mike McGarvey stated, "More than anything, E3 is a retail-oriented conference, both for retail platforms and retail publishers, and OnLive is neither."

Expect more news soon, though: "You'll hear and see plenty from us this year in the run up to our external Beta and launch, delivered directly to your home through your broadband connection."

OnLive was first unveiled back in March, you may recall. It works with a potentially revolutionary form of cloud computing that allows users to download high-end AAA titles on demand and run them remotely, regardless of system specification.

"Because we've eliminated physical media and full downloads, there's nothing to steal and nothing to resell, giving publishers complete control over their product," said McGarvey. "By providing a powerful end-to-end development-to-distribution model, OnLive can dramatically alter videogame economics, increase profit margins and provide new and enhanced monetisation channels."

Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter is sceptical, though - read his article about OnLive to find out why.

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Comments (41) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • collateral89 #1 3 years ago

    chuck norris has stopped them from turning up to e3 he has them tied up in his basement making them give him a free internet connection :\

  • Wastelander #2 3 years ago

    "OnLive can dramatically alter videogame economics, increase profit margins and provide new and enhanced monetisation channels."

    MONEY!
    MONEY!
    MONEY!

    and run

  • spammage #3 3 years ago

    FAIL. You read it here first folks.

  • LHH #4 3 years ago

    More like OnLive isn't working well enough to showcase at E3

  • rhubarbandcustard #5 3 years ago

    I think FAIL has been the response from all gaming web sites since OnLive first revealed their plans.

    In the UK, as an example, this could never work as broadband infrastructure is shocking, as are most aspects of the UK, the shit hole that this country is.

  • gribb #6 3 years ago

    Well thats pretty dissapointing

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #7 3 years ago

    Hands up who's surprised?

    /looks round office, can't see anyone with their hands up

    Nuff said.

  • Segnit #8 3 years ago

    Not a very wise decision I must say.

  • makememoo #9 3 years ago

    Yes, it really isn't worth showing your "industry changing" gaming platform at E3 because it's more retail focused.

    Nothing like a bit of hype to destroy a product eh?

  • mcbi4kh2 #10 3 years ago

    @Britesparc

    \o/

    Have they not already show cased it at some other conference somewhere? Couldn't journos use it? Or am I talking bollocks for a change?

  • makememoo #11 3 years ago

    OnLive: We have this great new product that could make piracy impossible and make money of titles people just wouldn't buy, you interested there, Chief?
    Publisher: Uhh, yes in theory. Let's see where it goes.
    OnLive: Great, so we can say you're part of the system in our marketing hype!
    (repeat a few times)

    OnLive: Hey, we've got all these great publishers interested in our idea, you interested in funding this, Chief?
    VC: Wow that's some big names (these guys must really be onto something). Sure, lets get going!
    (repeat a few times)

    OnLive: We'll be rocking the internets to its core!
    Everyone on the Internet: This shit will never work... input lag anyone?
    ... silence ...
    OnLive: We don't feel that huge gaming events are really the right place to show anything about our product at.
    Everyone on the Internet: Codename Phantom huh? Nice.

  • killuminati2911 #12 3 years ago

    Maybe this will work! Ont he 3 PCs 3 meters away from the hosting server..
    It wil NEVER EVER work for us atleast in ITALY where BB is even worst than say... lituania..
    I guess that some law cort will sue them one day for financial crime..

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #13 3 years ago

    Hmm... avoiding media exposure does kinda indicate the system isn't as good as they first thought, the 'idea' of the system is groundbreaking and I'm sure that they aren't the only company in any indrustry looking at this new tech, but as said many a time unless 'the internet' is globally equal in quality, it's only going to truly work in certain regions.

  • VicViper #14 3 years ago

    E3 = Huge focus of gaming attention both retail and everyone else, lets face it everyone in gaming pays attention to E3
    Onlive = A purposed games industry changing service that you would assume they would like to get retailers interested in and everyone else but yet their not showing it

    there's something wrong here and yet I can't quite work out what that is....

  • moggsy #15 3 years ago

    @ rhubarbandcustard

    'In the UK, as an example, this could never work as broadband infrastructure is shocking, as are most aspects of the UK, the shit hole that this country is.'

    Well, as I send this comment via my flawless 10Mb Virgin broadband I'm looking out of the window and although yes it is raining I can see trees and people and dogs and cars and everything seems to be just fine.

    So no shit hole at my location in the UK anyway. Anyone else care to report?

  • Vanmunt #16 3 years ago

    @moggsy

    I look out my window and see a shed load of somalians just standing around.. and a line of dole scum waitng for their 'special brew' tokens..

    +1 on the shit hole.

  • Brogan #17 3 years ago

    Vanmunt

    with a caring and loving attitude like that its clear that you're doing all you can to help out your fellow man and make where you live the best it can be. So from everyone, thank you for not giving up and sitting on your fat arse bitching about how people not as lucky as yourself are evil.

  • speedjack #18 3 years ago


    /cough

    PHANTOM!

    /cough

  • sneetch #19 3 years ago

    Anyone else get a whiff of something foul from this whole thing? Not just me then. Good.

  • polaris70 #20 3 years ago

    Ok so I buy an OnLive game, finish it then want to give it to my mate. I can't can I because I don't possess a physical copy. So there is no such thing as buying an OnLive game, more like eternal renting.

  • Venkman90 #21 3 years ago

    @ Moggsy

    Reporting in, having consumed my lovley steak sarnie and sipping a latte whilst working on how to grow my business which I am given all the oppurtunity to make a sucess of (if I am willing to work!) and generally enjoying all that we have here.

    Oh and I lived in Melbourne and Sydney for a year, Melbourne being one of the most "livable" citys on earth, so I know of what I speak when I say:

    The grass is always greener (or in Melbournes case yellow)

    We have it better here than we think

    That said I would rather live in Vancouver ;)

  • Petulant_Radish #22 3 years ago

    I’m in sunny London and it’s all rather beautiful around Regents Park, certainly no shithole here. I love my city, aside from the south part of it, that’s all shit.

  • penhalion #23 3 years ago

    For frak sake Onlive is a bloody con job. I don't care who is fronting it, it's an utter nonsense! I originally thought it was an april fools joke as no inverstors would be stupid enough to lob millions of dollars/pounds into something that would require insane amounts of hardware and speed of light comms with zero lag, to actually work as described.

    I think Wastelander is of the same opinion as me. Someone somewhere is commiting serious fraud with a view to running off to the camen islands!

  • Rubarack #24 3 years ago

    In Warwick here, and my "10mb" connection struggles to exceed narrowband speeds consistently. How crappy everything else is here is a little off topic.

  • Ryze #25 3 years ago

    @Vanmunt

    No shitholes up here - just a little too much rain. Lots of people working hard here.

    Plus - they're called Somalis - and what are you doing? Sat around on Eurogamer by the looks of it...

  • Vanmunt #26 3 years ago

    @ryze

    potatoes/tomatoes.... somalies/somalians.. get off you high horse, doo gooder.

    and yes, I am looking at EG whilst at lunch paying my taxes so they can all stand outside..

  • sneetch #27 3 years ago

    @Vanmunt

    Your lunch goes from 11:50 (first post) to 14:24 (second one) eh? That's a great job.

  • sneetch #28 3 years ago

    @polaris70
    Ok so I buy an OnLive game, finish it then want to give it to my mate. I can't can I because I don't possess a physical copy. So there is no such thing as buying an OnLive game, more like eternal renting.

    It's a subscription service like Steam. You don't buy the games you buy the non-transferable rights to play the game for as long as the service exists.

    At least, it's that or a technically infeasible load of cack. :)

  • Whizzo #29 3 years ago

    It's a subscription service like Steam.

    Steam isn't a subscription service, perhaps you mean something like Gametap?

  • AphoticCosmos #30 3 years ago

    @moggsy

    Your line may be a nice 10MBps, but the average UK line is a shockingly bad 3.4MBps as tested and reported by BBC Click.

    And considering that even the South-east [which at the moment has the most fibre connections of any non-metropolitan region in the UK] isn't scheduled for a full fibre switch-over until at least early 2011, it'd be bloody ages before this service became usable across most of Britain.

  • sneetch #31 3 years ago

    @Whizzo
    It's a subscription service like Steam.

    Steam isn't a subscription service, perhaps you mean something like Gametap?

    Erm... yes. That's exactly what I meant... congratulations you... erm... you broke my code! ;)

    I'm not 100% sure btw, but I believe that's one of the enhanced monetisation channels.


  • uiruki #32 3 years ago

    Well, on the bandwidth front, my 16Mb "MAX" Sky broadband is currently synchronised at 832kbps, and I'm getting a lot less than that in actual transfer, probably due to contention issues. Even if it does work (which it probably won't), the audience is inherently limited by the speed of light and the conductivity of copper.

  • Sunyavadin #33 3 years ago

    Come on guys, even Infinium bothered to make a convincing show of the Phantom at E3.....

  • Xerx3s #34 3 years ago

    "In the UK, as an example, this could never work as broadband infrastructure is shocking, as are most aspects of the UK, the shit hole that this country is."

    It's not so bad. In the US the comms infrastructure is extremely outdated in a lot of area's as well. If they can do it on the shoddy lines that run across the US, they most certainly can do it here.

  • mega7ech #35 3 years ago

    Onlive = Bollocks!

  • Zem63 #36 3 years ago

    "OnLive can dramatically alter videogame economics,"

    voodoo economics

  • onyx_elite #37 3 years ago

    We can all see it but i don't think they can. The writing's been on the wall from day one with this piece of junk. We're not about to swallow that kinda crap even if they have. We'll hear little else of OnLive, no doubt. Way to overstretch yourselves, asshats.

  • rprince #38 3 years ago

    I don't quite understand how they are not a retail platform.

  • trubadman #39 3 years ago

    I think FAIL has been the response from all gaming web sites since OnLive first revealed their plans.

    In the UK, as an example, this could never work as broadband infrastructure is shocking, as are most aspects of the UK, the s*** hole that this country is.

    Unfortunately what you say is true

  • Sunyavadin #40 3 years ago

    "In the UK, as an example, this could never work as broadband infrastructure is shocking, as are most aspects of the UK, the shit hole that this country is."

    Also, I live in Newcastle, not one of the best parts of the country by a long shot, but my 50Mb broadband does me QUITE nicely, thank you very much.
    Edited by 1 at 22/05/09 @ 10:41

  • AOFanboi #41 3 years ago

    <em>Maybe you need a couple of months living in a 3rd world country to get things in perspective?</em>

    That is easy: The original definition of "third world" was countries not aligned to either USA or Soviet Union; I shall pick Sweden as a totally random example, and lo and behold they have great broadband!
    Edited by 1 at 27/05/09 @ 23:06