MARCH 24, 2009 • The latest OnLive video game streaming technology made a media splash at this week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco  In development for the last seven years by the same Steve Perlman who was behind WebTV, OnLive uses a MicroConsole set-top box that can stream games from any other platform directly to televisions or computers. The primary limitations are the distance to servers, and how wide the Internet connection is – especially for high-definition content. At present, the intention is to monetize OnLive via a subscription model.

Impact: WebTV made a similar splash and was quickly acquired by Microsoft for $425 million in 1997. The idea of an OnLive type service has been bounced around for years, but there are of course numerous technical obstacles. It is clear a mass market consumer service is some time off, but it will be interesting to see what suitors come knocking.