OnLive announces Netflix-style flat rate for back catalog, begins taking pre-orders for MicroConsole

Gaikai may finally be galloping out the gates, but OnLive's far from finished.

Speaking with Joystiq, OnLive CEO Steve Perlman revealed his plans to implement an optional flat fee OnLive subscription for back catalog and indie titles.

"We couldn't be sure that [flat-rate pricing] would really work until we began to see the economics," he said. "We just had to test people and ask what people wanted. Of all the survey questions we asked people, over 90 percent of the people surveyed were interested in a flat-rate tier. Knowing that these are older games and that newer games will continue to be a la carte."

Details like price and game lineup haven't been finalized as of yet, but Perlman doesn't expect to venture too far outside Netflix Instant Streaming's price range - so ten-ish dollars per month isn't an unreasonable expectation. Expect concrete details in December.

Micro Machines

Once upon a time, OnLive was a box - and strange box at that. See, you could plug it into a TV and it'd use some sort of voodoo virgin's blood magic to transport entire games right onto the screen. If we remember correctly, they called it a "konsoule" or something along those lines.

Well, it turns out that amazing little box - which we plan on recoiling in fear of and prodding with sticks for a good few hours - is still in the works and nearly complete. It'll begin shipping on December 2, in fact, and can be pre-ordered right now. Can't decide if you're willing to part with nearly 100 bucks? Well, Joystiq's already got a review of the MicroConsole, and it's pretty darn positive.

So there you go. The future is now. Or in a few weeks, anyway. Now-ish. The future is now-ish.