Disruptive Innovations in the Gaming Industry?

I came across an article on Windows Live the other day highlighting a couple of potential distruptive innovations in the gaming industry that I thought I would share with you.

The first is OnLive, based in Silicon Valley, which simply put is Video Games On Demand. No downloading, no physical media, just click and play. All you have to do is plug in a sleek mini-console (about as a big as a pack of cigarettes), or load a 1mb plug-in into your PC browser. The company was founded by noted technology entrepreneur Steve Perlman (WebTV, QuickTime). OnLive spent seven years in stealth development before officially unveiling at GDC 2009 for a Winter 2009 Launch – check out the video (53 min):

Zeebo Inc. is the second company attempting to challenge the gaming industry leaders with disruptive innovation. Zeebo Inc.’s “video game console for the next billion” is aimed at countries like India, China and Eastern Europe where a PlayStation 3 might be out of reach. Games will be distributed through cell-phone networks, using Qualcomm technology. Graphics quality isn’t leading edge, but Zeebo is wagering that developing markets will think that it is good enough. They have launched it in Brazil so I guess we will find out quickly whether it will succeed with customers.

What do you think?

@innovate