It’s easy to think that cloud gaming service OnLive is having trouble drumming up interest in its product, what with all the game promotions and MicroConsole giveaways that have been following it since launch. The company is a growing force in the gaming scene though, with a reach that will have extended overseas and into the UK by the end of next month, a press release reveals.
OnLive will launch in the UK on September 22, a date which coincides with the opening of the 2011 Eurogamer Expo London. While anyone will be able to take advantage of the service starting that day, Expo attendees will get to sample existing and upcoming games available through the service. They’ll also “be eligible for unprecedented promotions, including handing out thousands of free OnLive™ Game Systems, enabling instant OnLive play on any HDTV.”
For those who need a refresher, OnLive cloud gaming allows users to connect to the service and play the latest games from virtually any platform, using either a dedicated software client on PC or Mac and the company’s MicroConsole for your HDTV or tablet. It accomplishes the feat of bringing Batman: Arkham Asylum to your iPad by putting the graphics and data processing strain on one of its gaming tech-filled data centers and then streaming the content out to your Wi-Fi connected platform.
That’s the real draw of OnLive. The $99 MicroConsole costs less than any of the other gaming platforms out there and a lot less than a dedicated gaming PC, yet it offers a similar play experience thanks to the magic of streaming technology. It’s not usable if your Internet goes out of course, but that’s a small price to pay when the cost of entry is so relatively low.
