I don't feel it's fair to say Gaikai failed miserably. They were on par with other competitors such as OnLive. That whole first generation of game streaming created a new market, but was ultimately too early -- the internet infrastructure they were betting on didn't come soon enough to enable their product to take off. At that point, getting acquired by the biggest dog in the gaming industry is the best possible outcome.
Gaikai failed miserably, the same way OnLive failed miserably. Yes, the infrastructure was not there, but also, the product itself was just not ready. If I start selling prototype home fusion reactors that don't react and I get bought by <big energy company>, it's not a success, the thing literally didn't work.
Phil Harrison is an absolute tool though.