The way OnLive works is simple, your own personal copy of a game is loaded up on a virtual machine at the server complex, split into a set of video streams, and then piped straight to whatever supported device you choose to play on. No need for fancy setups, you can play any game with a keyboard and mouse, or your favorite gamepad. OnLive also sells a microconsole to play the games on your tv, however it is only available in the US and UK at the time of review.
Pricing on OnLive is on par with any retail store, with the benefit of not needing any storage space at all for your gaming collection, be it physical space or hard drive pace. All you need to do is buy your game and play. You can also subscribe for $9.99 a month and get a playpack that has a wonderful assortment of classic games, all yours to play. For my review I chose Batman Arkham City, Saints Row The Third, and F.3.A.R.
Gameplay with OnLive is amazingly lag free, during play I had a few minor stutters, however it was nothing that interfered with my ability to play the game. I found the games quite satisfying on both my pc or netbook using both my mouse and keyboard, and also with my Xbox 360 wired gamepad. The graphics and sound were excellent, I would daresay on par with watching a well encoded 720p stream on Youtube. The sheer awesomeness of playing my games wherever I wanted without breaking the bank on hardware is astounding. I can wholeheartedly recommend OnLive to anyone who wants to have a good gaming experience regardless of their hardware limitations.
