To be fair, I don't think that OnLive will deliver its promise. You are going to need some unrealistically powerful servers, with tons of bandwidth to support a gaming-on-demand service. On the other hand, maybe they've found a solution to all of this.
Anyway, I predict that OnLive could easily flop based on any of 3 things:
Frequent hardware/connection issues (e.g. server downtime, lag, connectivity issues. Its a cloud-computing based service so it would be reliant on servers and connectivity.)
Pricing (Apparently the service is $15 per month and you'll still have to buy games for a high price, perhaps even retail or more expensive than retail.)
Lack of developer support. Many platforms flopped or underachieved (e.g. the Wii) due to lack of third party support. And what happens once you end up with next to no good games on a platform? Declining sales. However, I think a lot of PC developers could jump to it as it won't be too easy to pirate games through this service.
DRM is an epic failure anyway. Look at what it did to Spore, Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 and Assassin's Creed 2. Spore and C&C: RA3 had extremely restrictive install limits, where once you installed the game a certain number of times, that was it. You had to contact EA to reset the install limits.
And Assassin's Creed 2. Ubisoft only mentioned the benefits of a required permanent connection to a server to play the game when frsutrated PC gamers voiced their concerns, and their concerns were as they feared. The servers went down reasonably often and people couldn't even play the game.
Result: Spore became the most pirated game of the year, and AC2 was cracked within a month of release, but ultimately, the pirates won because not only did they get the game for free, but also free of the restrictions which only affected legit customers.
This is why DRM sucks. Blizzard did the right thing here, and said that the only way you can technically curb piracy is to make good games, and make people want to buy them in order to support the developers. Those trying to implement even more restrictive (to the customer) methods of DRM should realise they're fighting a losing battle. Their new methods of DRM will be cracked eventually and they'll be back at square 1.
I've never played the Dawn of War series myself, but considering how many big MMOs are overhyped to be the next WoW killer (Vanguard, Age of Conan, Aion and Warhammer Online for instance) and disappoint in dethroning the top MMO, I doubt it would be a definite WoW killer.
However, it does look very good at the moment, and I hope they pull this off correctly.
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