Games in the Cloud
John Spinale, VP of Product Development, celebrates after the OnLive press conference. (March 2009)
So far on this blog we’ve talked about the technology behind OnLive and the business side of Games on Demand. Now I’d like to talk about what the OnLive gaming platform means for game developers and how that helps us to deliver a better overall entertainment experience to our audience—all of you gamers out there. Personally, this is what I’m most interested in, having spent the better part of my career both building and playing games.
Ultimately, we’re starting off with the premise that our success as a gaming platform will revolve around the quality of the games we deliver and the overall experience surrounding them. So, how do you make this happen? Fortunately we’re starting with a clean slate, making this one of those opportunities that only comes around once in a lifetime (if you’re lucky!). So time to back up and get a little philosophical…
To start, we acknowledge that great games come from great developers: find the best folks working on the most innovative games and then provide them with an environment in which to be creative and productive. And this goes for developers of all sizes, from tiny little independent teams to big, well-backed studios at major publishers.
Then, provide them with something that they can really innovate around, something fundamentally different. Games on demand open up new doors for developers. Data centers full of high-end gaming hardware create the potential for games done to a level of scale and fidelity never seen before. And since the OnLive platform’s always online, we must really embrace all the network and community aspects, taking note from other platforms both proprietary- and Web-based. Fortunately, the list goes on in this area…
And lastly, you stay out of their way. Don’t make their life harder than it needs to be in terms of process. Don’t pretend you know what the consumer wants more than they do. Align your interests to make a win-win scenario on the business side of things. Keep the relationships simple and clear and don’t compete with them. Make it fun…
These basic rules drive everything we do at OnLive, and we’re confident that this will lead to revolutionary innovations in the space. I’ll spend some time on all of these major themes as we continue the discussion here on the OnLive Blog, as there’s way too much to get into all at once (this one’s already way too long). But suffice to say, we’re working hard on all three of these areas in an effort to bring you the best possible gaming experience. Hopefully you’ll agree as we continue to unveil the results. Stay tuned…
Off to E3 for meetings next week!
—John Spinale, VP of Games and Media
