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OnLive创始人:有了云游戏,谁还要游戏机

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传统游戏巨头最近受够了云游戏服务公司Gaikai,OnLive公司创始人兼首席执行官斯蒂夫·帕尔默认为,游戏产业的老大哥们终于认识到,云游戏才是游戏业的未来。同时,他认为,随着云游戏服务大举占据电视机、光盘、安卓、苹果应用商店等终端平台,云游戏将真正迎来自己的时代。届时,传统的游戏机和游戏厂商的好日子就到头了。。

    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.


    如何为那些真正能做出开创性贡献的人才提供到位的激励是个非常复杂的问题。我想,十年之后,人们会说我们并不是一家昙花一现的公司。但我们同样不仅仅代表着下一代的游戏终端。可以通过我们的系统发行电影。围绕电影的整个用户界面都能发送,而不光是电影本身……

    我们拥有巨大的企业级市场。游戏市场的规模是600亿美元。企业级市场的规模约为1,200亿美元,还有中小企业、消费者、教育界,以及其他很多种市场、卖点,等等。这一技术的应用领域如此广泛,因此在某种程度上,对大多数公司而言,我们创造的这一技术有点包罗万象,所以它们很难理解,它与它们的哪些业务可以发生关联——无论是从积极的方面而言,还是从可能构成的威胁而言……

    索尼对改变这种局面帮助很大。因为如果没有人大力支持这一技术,那些大公司就会袖手旁观,说些诸如此类的风凉话:“行了,不需要我们亲自动手,也许这些家伙自己就会销声匿迹的。”但一旦有人站出来立下战书并声称:“我们支持这个新事物,”那么这一风险暗藏的局面就会立即改观。大家会不再怎么嘟囔“希望这种颠覆创新不会发生”,而是纷纷表示“希望我们不会掉队”。

    说到落在人后,OnLive的应用在苹果应用商店(Apple App Store)的审核批准曾拖了大约6个月。而照您刚才描述的画面,OnLive在如此众多的领域都一路攻城略地、所向披靡过来了,那么碰到当时这种局面,是否很让人郁闷?

    希望进军的每个平台都有特定的挑战,这些都得逐一面对。对这每一个平台来说,都会有一场不同的谈判。事情千头万绪,对方也有不同的要务要处理,而你只能一个不落地去适应他们。有时候,你的合作伙伴度假去了,或是要处理一些让他们焦头烂额的事。你永远没法知道会发生什么。有一次,我们有一款电视机即将出货,但供应商突然停止生产其中的芯片,于是电视机厂商就没法再顺利出货。你怎么能料到这些事情呢?而这仅仅是我们必须穿过的无数激流险滩之一。

    贵司曾和苹果公司谈过你们的应用吗?

    我们曾和苹果开展过广泛探讨,并且已通过他们的审批流程。和所有经过这一审批流程的公司一样,我们也不想透露这方面的细节,只想说确实已经和对方进行过讨论,并且努力满足了他们的要求。苹果有一套要致力维系的高标准,他们有自己的立场。最终我们还是在他们规定的框架内达到了标准。这方面我们可谓不遗余力,精益求精。

    苹果还批准了我们其他一些应用。比如OnLive Viewer,通过它可以观看游戏。还有OnLive Desktop,能用在桌面上……要获得苹果认可是一个非常复杂的过程,这就好比你如果拿着全新的东西走进一个领域,你最好是保持耐心,在能够有所进展的地方设法前进,如果做不到,那就原地逗留,伺机而动。

    您知道到底是什么让苹果迟迟没有批准你们进驻吗?

    坦率地说,我们真不知道。我们所知道的就是,迟迟无法获批。所以这个过程真是费尽心机。苹果没义务为此特别明确问题所在,也没有义务在批准过程上始终保持一致的做法。我们能做的只有尽力而为。

    您认为这种情况真会出现吗?

    希望如此吧。我也不知道。我们一直在尽力而为,但现实世界就是如此。有时候披头士乐队(Beatles)对苹果也未必认可,而有时候苹果又对其他人不予放行。只能说,你希望最后能迈过这道坎。

    译者:清远

    And to keep incentives in place for people that are doing something which is truly groundbreaking is a very complex equation. I think after 10 years, people can say we're not a pop-and-top company. But it is also the case that we're not just the next generation of consoles. You can distribute movies through us. You can distribute the entire user interface around the movie, not just the movie itself….

    We have this huge market in enterprise. The game market is a $60 billion market. The enterprise market is about $120 billion market, and then there's small- and medium-sized business, there's the consumer, education, there's all these other markets, point-of-sale, and so on. The applications of this technology are vast, and so in some ways we've created something which is too broad in scope for most companies to wrap their heads around in the sense of where it relates to their business — both in the positive and how it threatens them….

    Sony helps a lot with that, because if nobody has big backing, then the large companies kind of stand back and say, "All right, we don't need to do anything, and maybe these guys will actually fade away." But once someone's thrown the gauntlet down and said, "We're getting behind this thing," then the risk equation changes. It's less about "let's hope this doesn't happen," and more about "let's hope we don't get left behind."

    Speaking of being left behind, OnLive's app has been pending approval with the Apple App Store for about six months. With the portrait that you just painted of all of the different areas OnLive is functioning, how frustrating has that been?

    Every platform you try to move into has challenges that you've got to deal with. For everyone it's a different negotiation. There's different things, they've got different priorities, and you've got to work for all of them. Sometimes the people you want to work with are on vacation or they have an issue they're dealing with that is really bogging them down. You never know. We had a television ready to ship and the manufacturer stopped making the chip that was inside it, and so the TV maker couldn't ship the product. Okay, well how do you anticipate that? So, you know, that is just one of the shoals that we have to get around.

    Have you spoken with Apple about your app?

    We have spoken with Apple extensively and we've gone through the approval process. Like every other company that goes through the approval process, you generally don't want to go and share any details about that, other than to say that you've had discussions with them and you're trying to work things out. Apple has their standards they're trying to maintain, they have their point of view. Ultimately we have to go and work within that framework. We're doing the best we can.

    They've approved other apps. The OnLive Viewer is there, and you can watch games. We have OnLive Desktop and you can use it with your desktop…. It's very complicated, and the best you can do if you're walking into the world with something that's brand-new, is be patient and make headway where you can make headway, and stick around and wait if you can't.

    Do know what the issue is that's holding up the approval?

    The honest answer is we really don't. We do know that it has not been approved, though. So, it's complicated. There's no real obligation for them to go and specifically identify or be consistent in how they approve things. You do the best you can.

    Do you think that it will happen?

    I hope so. I don't know. We're trying our best and it's the world we live in. Sometimes the Beatles don't approve Apple, sometimes Apple doesn't approve somebody else. You hope that eventually you get over the hump.

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