OnLive, the supposed and controversial streaming game service of the future, will not be exhibiting at E3 this year as it doesn't believe it need to address the target audience of the show.
OnLive was announced earlier in the year and is a system by which games can be streamed from one location to another by using cloud computing. Essentially the game is run on a a high-end system in a OnLive gaming center, with the outputs streamed to your TV and the inputs sent back via a small 'micro-console'. It's all done over the internet and, while OnLive is certain the system will work flawlessly, others aren't as confident.
Since the OnLive system hasn't been publicly demoed yet it was hoped that it might make an appearance at E3 this year, but OnLive exec Mike McGarvey has smashed those hopes.
"
More than anything, E3 is a retail-oriented conference, both for retail platforms and retail publishers, and OnLive is neither," he wrote on the
OnLive blog. "
You’ll hear and see plenty from us this year in the run up to our external Beta and launch though, delivered directly to your home through your broadband connection."
In other news, Square Enix has also announced that it will be minimising its presence at the show over fears of Swine Flu. Square is not the third major Japanese publisher to alter exhibition plans based on the burgeoning pandemic after a relatively large outbreak of the virus in Osaka, Japan. The Japanese government has previously advised individuals to limit travel where possible and Square,
along with Capcom and Koei, has scaled back exhibition plans as a result.
"
Due to the recent worldwide spread of H1N1 flu, a limited number of executives and development team members from Square Enix's headquarters in Japan will be attending E3 this year," Capcom's Sonia Im told
Kotaku today.
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