No.

I like having my games on DVD/bluray.

It is a big concern, because it has two sides to it. For one, internet speeds aren't always reliable or present. Where I used to live, we only got half the speed our house was capable of, and the most the provider could tell us was "it must be metal in your house". Now, I live out in the country and am lucky that ONE company had broadband available for here and it's slow as hell. Some days, it's on par with dial-up, which is why I presently can't play online games. So cloud-gaming, while it might useful to people in cities with good connections, alienates everyone else.

The other half of this is that the server it's hosted on must be reliable. Anyone remember when Call of Duty came out? The last two releases, their servers CRASHED. No one was able to get online to play for a few days to a week. They had offline modes available, thankfully, to play with while they waited. If cloud-gaming became the new norm and EVERYONE bought Skyrim the day it came out, it'd be a huge strain on their servers and if they weren't up to the task, then no one would get to play because their servers were down.

So, unless there's a huge spike in their technology and resources, as well as for the players, it's not going to be a stable system for the majority - especially IF the majority are on it.


Another side to that, again, is the tangible side. And while I agree with everyone that I prefer a tangible product, it's not just because I prefer something tangible. I've had problems in the past, particularly with iTunes, where I've paid for a movie or TV show, then upgraded my computer - only to find out that I only had the rights to that ONE download of the file and would have to pay again. Meaning that once it's off my system, it's not mine anymore, even though I paid for it. This also falls into that. They can't keep every game on the server forever. So, say that I buy Morrowind on a cloud-gaming system. I bought it, and I play it. Years later, TES VII comes out and they decide "Morrowind's kinda old now...let's remove it", and so they do. Morrowind isn't on the system anymore. I've paid for it, and yet it no longer exists. That's the difference between having a tangible disk and a streaming game for me - the disk is here until I break it. The streaming is only there as long as they feel like hosting it, and I have no control over that.


I definitely see the advantages of it, so if it works well for you, that's great. But I can see that for many people, including myself, it's not just a system that works well for us.

Then what would be the point in releasing a CK? Going onlive means you want a console like experience in that it is pop and play flawlessly., but paying for. Onlive and it's games are no different from getting it for a console? In addition to worring about connection speeds

Nope. IF I was even going to primarily play Skyrim on my computer I would buy the windows version so I could mod. But since my computer isn't that fantastic, and because I prefer console, I'll be purchasing the super-duper-dragonborn-edition of Skyrim for my X-box 360.

No, I don't pay for data unless it's burned onto something shiny.

Cloud based isn't always a good thing. Its 2011, the cloud can go down (and has before). Folks might jump on cloud services as the new 'In' convenience, and become be quite surprised at the unexpected inconvenience of it all, the first time they have network trouble.

Onlive is a good idea (brilliant idea), but I won't lease access to an app or game where I do not get an installable product. What [I think] would be really cool is for Onlive to get itself in position to have games ship as "enabled for Onlive", where you can install the game and it can optionally register you with Onlive as owning the game. I would be more likely to use the onlive service if it could allow me to take (and play) my games (that I have at home) with me when I travel with a low-end laptop; Others could buy any "enabled for Onlive" titles, and be assured that the game will just work (whether or not their computer is up to it), have the initial installer decide which version is best ~and explain why.

If they did it this way, gamers could install their games, mod them if they have the option, but also play the [base] directx11 version of the game (if it exits) without having a suitable graphics accelerator (or OS). I can see myself paying $10 for onlive access to a games that I already own, but I cannot see myself ever paying the subscription plus an additional price for entirely cloud based versions of the games. If the boxed edition of the games supplied you with a "full play pass" for them with Onlive, then IMO the subscription fee could be worth it.

Onlive streams in standard def,and I have an HDTV. Why bother if you just get low definition game's,which you lose access to after a year.

I voted no but let me clairify. I would by Skyrim, if Onlive was something I liked. I however do not like not having a disk, I do not like needing to have an internet connection to play my game, and I do not like the lag that accompanies the controls. Makes everything nearly unplayable to me. My roommate enjoys it but I personally would never give my money to Onlive. It is a nice concept and I appreciate the effort and initiatve of the venture but I do not want it. So it is nothing about Skyrim, all about Onlive.

Well, consoles have proved quite popular, so clearly low resolution isn't too bad an issue for most people. The settings can go much higher, too, as I gather they have rather powerful machines running in their centers. Personally I prefer a decent resolution, framerate, and input, but some don't mind, and it's those people OnLive could thrive with if they can get it low enough latency in large enough areas.

The only use I see for an online "streamed" version of a game is if: ( 1 ) you only intend to play it once or twice to "beat" the game, and then move on to something else. ( 2 ) you want to occasionally run it on a system that's not fully capable, but it's good enough to at least display it if you can get them to run it for you.

In my case, I don't have internet access from the computer I use for gaming. Onlive would be an automatic "no buy" for me. I'm also one of those old-fashioned types who actually believes in having a physical copy for what I paid for it. Considering that I'm still playing off the same MW disc as I did 4-5 years ago, I'd have had to buy it at least 4 times by now if I went with the Onlive approach. How does that make any sense? On top of that, does Onlive at least give you access to the Construction Set and 3rd party add-ons, or is it like a console version where you're stuck playing without mods?

I would consider it if it was a monthly subscription based service like Netflix streaming or Hulu plus. When I first heard about OnLive, I thought that's what it was going to be and it sounded interesting. Unfortunately they only have a very small selection of crappy games that are included in the monthly subscription. Most of the games seem to be only available for 3-day or 5-day rental periods. Maybe that would make sense for the type of game that is designed to be completed in a weekend.

In any event, I would never be interested in renting a huge open world game like Skyrim for 3-day or 5-day period, especially a Bethesda game that is going to have lots of mods available.

I imagine I will be able to buy the full game on Steam for around $60 and enjoy use of any of the inevitably forthcoming thousands of Skyrim mods.

I can't say I've ever tried OnLive, but I probably wouldn't use it. I occasionally buy games from steam, but those are mainly older games where it's tough to find a physical copy of anymore, or indie games that aren't sold as a physical copy. Whenever I can, though, I always try to get my hands on a physical copy; that way I always have some form of backup if I lose my Steam account somehow, have to reinstall, etc.

That's how it is with me. I might use Steam for something I just can't find... Steam version being better than no version, IMO.

Playing TES without mods?
Not being able to play if my internet connection is lost?
Not being able to play if they mess something up?

Not a chance in Oblivion.