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OnLive planning movie rentals in 2011

The Wall Street Journal reports game-streaming service will also launch video offerings next year via subscription, "other" price models.

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Last week, OnLive announced its $10-per-month PlayPack, which will grant subscribers unlimited access to a library of 40 titles via the online game-streaming service. This week, the startup's CEO, Steve Perlman, told the Wall Street Journal that his company is planning to offer a similar arrangement next year for movies.

OnLive will become a competitor to Netflix next year.
OnLive will become a competitor to Netflix next year.

Speaking to the Journal, Perlman said that OnLive would offer movies and video via a subscription model and "other pricing schemes." Though the company did not specify which schemes it might use, a clue can be gleaned from the pricing of its game offerings. Currently, the company offers three-day and five-day passes to single games, with prices ranging from $6 to $9. Full PlayPasses for a la carte games--the equivalent of a sale--vary from $4 to $50 and allow unlimited play of the game.

Perlman cited his concern about the increasingly rapid rise of Netflix--which has gone from more than 5 million to 15 million users in just three and a half years--as a reason for getting into the video business. "I think 'concerned' is a gross understatement," said Perlman. "There's a snowball effect. At some point they [Netflix] have so much content, if you want to get your stuff distributed you have to go with them."

OnLive's disclosure comes a week after Reuters reported that Microsoft was in talks with cable providers and channels to turn the Xbox 360 into a cable box of sorts. That console, as well as the Wii and PlayStation 3, currently supports Netflix video streaming with native applications.

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