OnLive创始人：有了云游戏，谁还要游戏机

    上个月，索尼公司（Sony）以3.8亿美元收购了你们的竞争对手之一——云游戏服务公司Gaikai。此举对云游戏行业意味着什么？

    我们早就料到了。众所周知的是，在云游戏领域，传统游戏机制造商一直拿不出像样的产品。而我们一直试图证明，可以用一种全新的方式来开发游戏。就在这种情况下，这次收购发生了。

    显然，我们有一套真正的体系，我们有上百万用户，我们的游戏卖得很好，玩家可以连着玩上数小时，还有多玩家同时观看模式，等等。所以，我们有一套完全投入实用的游戏体系。我们还加入了任何竞争对手都没有的东西，比如在移动设备上运行，大规模同时观看，社交元素，等等。所以说，我们有真正很酷的产品。唯一没有的就是——而这次收购刚刚让我们拥有了这一点——有个游戏终端制造商站出来承认：“好吧，你们所做的就代表着游戏业的未来。”

    在与贵公司同期诞生的企业中，贵司算是大获成功的一家。但对流媒体游戏来说，您认为转折点何时才会到来？

    你会看到大量播放电视和媒体内容的流媒体播放器，比如Roku box这种播放网飞公司（Netflix）内容或谷歌电视（Google TV）的产品。今年秋季，内置Onlive游戏的蓝光播放器（Blu-Ray）也将面世。到了那一天，人们就会说，流媒体游戏的时代来临了。

    这就是说，贵司不仅要推出微型游戏终端，还会内置到其他厂商的设备中？

    Vizio公司（Vizio）和LG公司（LG）都已宣布将进行这种内置。此外，每台谷歌电视机都会内置我们的技术。讽刺的是，索尼（Sony）也在此列，但他们不太可能公布这一点。他们的计划稍有不同。他们打算慢慢进入这一领域，而且显然他们必须注意保护自己的终端。在索尼看来，如果能在电视上玩流媒体游戏，而且这种体验还能和在游戏终端上玩相媲美。这样，问题就来了。用户何必再去买一台游戏机？何必非得有某家消费电子展厂商作为获得游戏的唯一途径呢？

    去年，贵司推出了安卓（Android）平台上的应用，还尝试在iOS上推出应用，现在你们又很快将登陆电视。此外，你们还植入了美国电话电报公司（AT&T）的机顶盒U-verse。贵司这算是在短期内进军大量领域吗？

    我们确实涉足广泛……安卓占了大部分。还有平板电脑和带键盘的平板电脑。我们支持带游戏手柄的手机，比如索尼的Xperia Play。谷歌电视已经推出了，大部分电视机厂商都支持。机顶盒也能用。U-serve只是其中一家，还有其他品牌的。然后流媒体播放器也加入了进来。Vizio的Co-Star是一台小盒子，可以和任何电视机相连。它的售价是100美元，能让你看到谷歌电视，够实惠的。

    Vizio是美国最大的电视机厂商，它的产品在沃尔玛（WalMart）、好市多（Costco）、山姆俱乐部（Sam's Club、亚马逊（Amazon）和其他地方都有销售。所以与小型终端厂商合作来贴牌OnLive不同的是，跟Vizio合作能获得大得多的覆盖面。我们是预装在Vizio的这台产品中的，所以只要用户打开它，就能看到我们的标志。

    听起来真是个强大的平台。2009年微软曾有一份外泄的备忘录，其中贵司被列为一大威胁和收购对象。这算是对贵司极大的肯定了吧？

    （笑）有关收购和并购的各种谣言数不胜数，真是一言难尽……我很难对此做什么评论。我是想，如果这是有人编造的，那他们干得可真不错。我们看到过这份文件的一些内容，读起来很有趣。它算是一份不赖的市场分析。不过，我认为很多人一直就将我们视为当之无愧的技术领头羊，而且认为我们很有战略眼光。不管是从字面上来说还是打比方，我们都是改变游戏业规则的人。

    但是很显然，微软公司（Microsoft）有自己的渠道，也能推出流媒体游戏，所以这份备忘录让人很好奇。

    毫无疑问，OnLive能和各类公司的战略相融合。但它融合的程度有多深，颠覆的程度就会有多大，所以这些公司必须在这两者之间做出权衡。这取决于这家公司的规模有多大，运营的灵活性有多高。

    我们现在拥有游戏业界唯一不受制于人的技术。以前，我们是唯一一家既卖游戏，又能让用户玩到完整游戏的公司。而现在，我们又算得上云游戏这个领域的独此一家。这样你就明白，为什么所有人都会看着我们并感叹：“这不光是一个有意思的创意试验；这就是真正的技术。”

    这次收购是个谣传吗，还有真的有人开价了？

    每种收购都是光明正大进行的，而通过各种名目繁多的程序，收购往往会变成投资，因为收购方吃不准该如何与我们共事。

    那么，你会有意把OnLive卖给索尼、微软或任天堂（Nintendo）吗？

    总得考虑怎么做才对公司有利吧。我们有投资方，所以必须考虑怎么做才对他们、员工和其他利益相关方有利。在我看来，所有伟大的产品之所以能诞生，是因为背后有一个或一些动力十足的愿景在驱动。我认为，苹果公司（Apple）堪称这方面的典范。

    Last month, Sony purchased one of your competitors , Gaikai for $380 million. What does this say about cloud gaming?

    It's the thing we were really looking for. The console manufacturers, understandably, have not had great things to say about cloud gaming. For the most part, we have been up against trying to establish credibility for a new way of doing gaming. Then this comes along.

    Obviously we have a real system; we've got millions of users; we're selling games and you can play for hours on end, with multiplayer spectating and so on. So we have a fully implemented game system, and then we add new things that no one's had, like how these games work on mobile, massive spectating, the social features, et cetera. So, we have a really cool thing. The one thing we haven't had — that we just got with this announcement — was a game console maker saying, "Okay, this is the future of gaming."

    OnLive scored big with some same-day launched titles. When do you think the tipping point will come for streaming games?

    You'll be seeing a lot of TVs and media streamers, things like Roku boxes, that play Netflix or Google TV. And you'll be seeing Blu-Ray players coming out with OnLive built into them this fall. That's the point where people are going to say, okay.

    So, not only will you have the micro-console, but you'll also be available in other manufacturers' devices?

    Vizio and LG have both announced that. And Google TV — we're built into every Google TV. Ironically, that includes Sony but they're unlikely to announce that. They have a little different agenda. They're gently coming into this space, and they obviously have to be mindful of protecting their console. From Sony's point of view, if it really is the case that you can stream an experience through television that is comparable to that of a console, then, the question is why do you need a console? Why do you need a particular consumer electronics maker to be the only way that you can get games?

    In the past year, you've rolled out with Android, attempted to put an app on iOS, and now you're soon to be on televisions. OnLive also runs on set-top boxes like AT&T's U-verse. Has your company covered a lot of ground in a very short time?

    We spread the spectrum…. Android covers a lot of ground on this. We have the tablets and kind of tablets with keyboards. There are phones with gamepads, like the Sony Xperia Play, that we support. Google TVs are coming out, which is covering a large number of manufacturers. We also work on set-top boxes. The U-verse set-top box is an example, but there are others. Then these media streamers are coming out. The Vizio Co-Star is a little box that hooks up to any TV. It's $100 and it gives you Google TV; it's very inexpensive.

    Vizio is the largest TV maker in the United States and they sell in WalMart, Costco, Sam's Club, as well as through Amazon and other venues. So right there you're talking about vastly more reach than what you get from a little micro-console branded with OnLive. We're pre-loaded on that box, so once someone turns it on our icon is right there in front of them.

    Sounds like formidable platform. OnLive was also listed on a leaked Microsoft memo from 2009 as a threat and an acquisition target. That must have been pretty flattering, no?

    (Laughter) If I could tell you all the different rumors of purchases or acquisitions… It's hard to comment on that. I guess if someone forged that, they did a pretty good job. We saw some sketches and it was fun to read. It wasn't too bad of an analysis of the market. But, I think that a lot of people have seen us as a very bellwether technology, and see us as extremely strategic. We're game-changers, figuratively and literally.

    But surely Microsoft has the pipes to be able to stream games too, so it was a curious to see that memo.

    There's no question that OnLive could go and fit together with a number of different company's strategies. As much as it fits in with company's strategies it also disrupts company's strategies, and so companies always have to balance that. It depends how large and how nimble the company is.

    We're now the only non-captive technology at it. Before, we were the only one that had a product that people could buy games and play full games. Now, we're the only player out there. So, you know, everyone is looking and saying, "This isn't just an interesting thought experiment; this is a real technology."

    Was that an acquisition rumor, or have you had offers?

    Every kind of acquisition of every sort has been put on the table, and through all these different things, very often the acquisitions turn into investments, because they're not quite sure what to do with us.

    So, would OnLive be something that you'd be interested in selling off to Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo?

    You always have to see what makes sense for the company. We have investors and we have to worry about what makes sense for them, employees, et cetera. It's my view that all great products come because there's some driving individual vision or visions behind it. I mean, Apple is the poster child for that.