Onlive online gaming service

If you have ever wanted to play the latest computer or video games but have been put off by the high costs involved, the clever chaps at Onlive could have the answer.

Instead of buying and running discs on a home computer, Onlive lets users purchase and play games entirely online. Rather than being installed on your computer, the game remains installed on a PC somewhere miles away and is streamed to the computer in your home, over the internet, as you play.

This removes the need for the expensive PC graphics hardware or the consoles required to play most modern games. With Onlive, all the heavy-duty number crunching happens on the company's servers.

As long as the user has access to a broadband connection, they can log in from any PC or Mac, whether it's a desktop or laptop. Onlive has plans for allowing access on tablet computers such as the iPad, too, while an accessory that it calls the micro-console lets users play on their TVs without any computer hardware at all.

It costs nothing to sign up for a basic Onlive account and the console, which isn't obligatory, is relatively cheap at £70.

The latter is a small, simple device that comes with a sturdy, natural-feeling wireless controller. It connects to the TV using an HDMI and to your home router by a network cable. There's no built-in wireless network option at present, sadly.

At Onlive's online store it's possible to buy full versions of many popular titles at prices similar to those found in high street stores (around £35). In many cases users can play free timed demos or rent the game at a much lower price (from £3.50 for three days).

Meanwhile, an optional £7-per-month Playpack subscription service provides gamers with unlimited access to over 100 full games, with discounts on buying certain new releases as well.

When it worked, Onlive was undeniably impressive. Visual quality was sometimes very good, though it was not as sharp or as detailed as games are when they're running directly on a high-end PC.

Surprisingly, the ‘lag' between our controls and the on-screen action was barely noticeable, especially when we considered how far the signals had to travel between the two.

Onlive also offers some unique social elements, including the ability to watch other players and to record your own clips.

During our tests, however, we found that the service was subject to sudden dramatic dips in video quality and even outright freezes. Initially we put this down to the speed of the broadband connection on which we were testing the service.

However, the experience turned out to be fairly similar even when we were using a much faster broadband connection. Cable internet users may fare better than ADSL subscribers.

Ultimately, Onlive is only as reliable as the internet connection on which it's running. Without the network infrastructure to support it, many Online users will need to be prepared for random disruptions to their gameplay.

There's also the question of the game library. At first glance, Onlive appears to offer a wide range of top titles, but recent releases are few and far between.

The bulk of Onlive's catalogue consists of titles that are can be purchased elsewhere at budget price, though this could change as the service grows.