OnLive - The End of PC Gaming Expenses?

CLICK HERE for an image of the concept of the service.
CLICK HERE to see a video of the press conference mentioned below.
CLICK HERE for a hardware hands-on from Gamespot.

This is, without a doubt, one of the more intriguing concepts I've seen up to this point in terms of both console and PC gaming. OnLive is, essentially, a cloud-computing service that allows users to play console and PC games that stream from extremely powerful servers located elsewhere.

What this means for gamers all over is that folks can play these games regardless of their hardware, with only a monthly fee and Internet connection required. If you're playing off a TV, you use a special little box that comes attached with video and audio cables, an ethernet port, and USB cables for mouse and keyboard or gamepads. If you're playing on a PC (as in my case), all you'll need is a plugin, supposedly only a megabyte or two large, that allows the service to operate directly inside your browser.

Last night, during a press conference, some of the main guys behind the service specifically noted that because of the way in which the video is transmitted from the servers to your home, the games would not show any signs of "control" lag or video break-up, as is the case with streaming video and other forms of streaming media. The required Internet connections to use the service without lag are 1.5Mbps for standard-definition and 5Mbps for high-definition (HD).

With the service, you can also rent games (bye-bye Gamefly?), play demos, create "brag clips" for others to see, watch trailers of games almost instantly before playing, watch others playing the games live (aka spectator mode), and much, much more.

Pricing for the monthly fees, etc. has not been set as of now.

Some of the publishers on-board are:

• Electronic Arts
• Ubisoft
• Take-Two
• THQ
• Epic Games
• Eidos
• Atari
• Codemasters

And some of the games mentioned included:

• Crysis Wars*
• Prince of Persia*
• Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts
• F.E.A.R. 2
• and several more...

*Demoed at the press conference held last night and ran smooth as butter.

So if this service "catches on" and works as advertised, could this mean the death for consoles and companies such as Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo? And could this form of service possibly take over the entire gaming industry, PC gaming included? If so, will we see other companies begin to compete, offering similar services?