Imagine playing a computer game without any hassles. Drivers, troubleshooting, installations, compatibility, performance all thrown out the window. Upgrading? A thing of the past. All you have to do is click on the game and seconds later you're playing? That's what OnLive will deliver.

Should it work half as well as advertised, expect to see the gaming world thrown into upheaval by a box no bigger than a deck of playing cards. The story gets even more unbelievable when you factor in price. According to company reps, OnLive intends to significantly undercut every existing console on the market.

At its core, OnLive is a subscription service similar to cable TV or Netflix. In other respects, OnLive is what you get when you pump something like YouTube full of steroids. Instead of just watching a pile of videos, you're streaming gameplay at HDTV resolutions and controlling your character in real time. You get Crysis on your HDTV at the highest-quality settings, run by a computer that's hundreds of miles from your doorstep. It's really no wonder Rearden Labs spent the better part of a decade perfecting and designing OnLive.

Hardware

The humble little OnLive MicroConsole comes with practically nothing, just two USB connectors, a network jack and some AV 'outs'. To make things even stranger, OnLive will run on just about any PC or Mac through a web browser plug-in without the MicroConsole. Install the OnLive programme and you're done. Even the lowly netbooks will run the newest games with high-quality details and excellent frame rates.

OnLive's streaming technologies allow it to do some crazy stuff. Aside from being able to watch clips of games to see what they're like, you'll be able to watch any game being played on the system. OnLive also lets you show off your coolest moments via the Brag Clip system. The service automatically records your gameplay at all times, and anytime you do something that looks cool, you can press a few buttons and save the last 15 seconds of footage. At that point you can share your saved clip with other friends who are part of the OnLive service.

Next week we will look at how it works, the price and the games.

- O'Neil Walker

GameYaad.com

Home of video game repair.

Shop #18,

Hagley Park Road,

Kingston 10.

Tel: 876-754-6453/ 876-887-5040

Email: info@gameyaad.com.

Contributed

Onlive

Did you know?

1.This is the first time four consoles are going to be on

the market.

2. For a free test of the new OnLive you can go to www.onlive.com.

3. GameYaad.com will have an OnLive for show on the release date.