Metaboli

Metaboli allows subscribers to download PC games from a central server to play on their home computers. It works in a similar way to the Napster music download service, but most of the browsing is done via the Metaboli website instead of a separate application.

Two subscriptions are available; the Essential Collection, priced at £6.95 per month and the Ultimate Collection at £12.95 per month.

At the time of writing, the Essential Collection provided access to 31 games (valued at over £500), while the Ultimate Collection had 48 games with a total RRP of £1,000.

As with streaming audio files, you need only download a fraction of a game’s data files before you can start playing. All the remaining files are then downloaded in the background.

Unfortunately the number of titles available via Metaboli is relatively small, and new titles seem to be added fairly slowly. Metaboli says some games will be available for download at the same time as their normal shop release, but we found many of its ‘new’ games were up to three months old.

Like Napster, downloads are rendered unplayable if you stop subscribing. Metaboli has no minimum contract, so users could subscribe for a month at a time, gorge themselves on games they’d otherwise never play, and then cancel or continue their subscription.

Games on demand has been a long time coming and this proves the concept works. But the future of Metaboli depends on publishers taking it to heart.

Pricing: Essential Collection - £6.95 per month; Ultimate Collection - £12.95 per month

System requirements: Dependent on game; broadband Internet connection