OnLive created a big stir last week as it announced a video-games-on-demand service set to launch this fall. The service promises to let gamers play high-end games on low-end hardware and would mean you’ll never have to upgrade to a new game console again. Created over seven years, the service has the support of nine game publishers and backers such as Autodesk and Warner Bros. Interactive Studios. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company is building its service around a new server-based game technology. Do you think it will work?
Written by
Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.