According to E-On's Marketing Manager, Paul Moody, this is a move away from the anorak perception of gaming. It's being pitched as an entertainment "channel" rather than a service in the same way that cable TV has channels dedicated to sports or science fiction. It will be a family-oriented service for the mass market. E-On are making much of its family appeal with procedures in place to check game content for sexual or ultra violent nature. This might actually work against them. The appeal of most computer games is exactly that - a thrill derived from an on-screen violence.
E-On will feature two types of gaming. A resource of downloadable games to play individually and the online network accessed from the web.
What about bandwidth? Paul Moody admits that for most users playing Doom and other games over the Net is a disappointing experience. Take away the speed of Doom and you are left with very little else. Instead E-On is promising a "proprietary technology" that will allow "thousands" of people to play simultaneously as fast as playing across a LAN. And this will happen on the web in a full graphical environment. The multi-player games engine resides on the server and access is provided by a downloadable client.
None of this will be free. Subscribers will have to pay between £5 and £8 for the privilege, on top of your ISP and phone charges of course.
The web site http://www.e-on.com
is slick and features an e-zine, Neon with features on music and fashion as well as games. An
online shop will allow users to buy top-rated games directly from
the Internet.
It's early days but the games that Entertainment Online have lined up for download are not that exciting simply because of size limitations. Poker, Chess, Reversi - none of these are going to wet the appetite of gamers used to megabyte-fat CD-Rom based games. You simply couldn't expect anyone to spend the time on the Net it would take to down load such games. Even a 3Mb game of the sort E-On is offering is going to take approximately an hour to download over a 28.8 kbs line.
Paul Moody admits as much: "For some years now the web has been talked about as offering new ways of distribution but the technology is way behind the hype".
"But if we wait for it to happen it will be too late. Which is why Entertainment Online is happening now, to get in the market early. This will be a huge growth area"
They may be right and explains why major Telcos and cable companies have been talking to E-On. "We've had discussions with all the major ISPs in the UK offering them E-On as part of their packages" says Paul Moody." ISPs that sign up with E-On will bypass the initial web site and offer direct access to E-On as part of their own subscription package. Announcements are expected in June.
If E-On have got the technology right they could expect a large take up of first time gamers and families eager to play across the Net. The safe family environment could be a major selling point but could put off more hard core gamers.