The future of console gaming or a big bust?

With devices such as the Kinect, Playstation Move and the Wii all bringing interactive gaming to the masses, what is to become of good ol' fashioned console gaming? What does the future hold for a controller and being able to sit down after a tough day at work to blow away some zombies or destroy enemy bases? Personally, I believe that the controller/console combo will never die out and for one good reason if no other: Leisure Time.

There are other reasons of course. I mean, how are you supposed to play platform games or games like GTA, C.O.D., Red Dead Redemption etc.with motion capture? Not everyone can.While motion capture and interactive titles are fun and are definitely here to stay, what can we look forward to with a standard console? One good contender is the sweet package brought to us by OnLive.

This new system is a micro console no bigger than the palm of your hand and comes with its own wireless controller. What makes this so special is that the games are all online. This console has embraced cloud technology and has freed itself from having disc after disc stuffed into itself. It brings HD games, thanks to its HDMI port, to your living room TV via its online service. This makes the box super fast as it can start the gaming session in seconds. The bottleneck however, is in the service itself. As anything that streams online, there are issues. You will need a nice internet connection in order to enjoy to the max. What makes it interesting is that there are requirements based on TV size. You are required to have a connection of 5Mbps minimum for TV's 40" or larger. For cable or FiOS customers its no problem. 30 - 40" you're going to need 4Mbps. < 30" you can get away with 3Mbps. The reason behind the bandwidth needs are because of TV resolutions obviously. The device has built-in wireless-n and comes equipped with an ethernet port. The dashboard is pretty simple and you do have multi-player games available. If I had the option I would try it out. It's only $100 for the console and controller. You can also get the service itself on your PC for FREE. Of course games are not. They range from anywhere between $4 and $40. Not to shabby.

I guess this could eliminate some piracy problems for game publishers if it was adopted by game makers. Of course it could also start another console war with different manufacturers bringing different features to the table. Exclusive games could still be offered to different consoles just as they are now. I could see Nintendo creating one exclusively for their own titles.

Or this could go the same way as the doomed PSPGo. Although I think the Go was just too early for it's time. Only time will tell what the future holds in store for gaming consoles.