hat struck me most about the service is how fast it is. I clicked on Unreal Tournament 3 to use my 30 free minutes and I was playing a game in under a minute. That's pretty amazing. Even better was how well the game played on my 13" Macbook Air, a system that wasn't exactly built for first-person shooters.  The game played very well, and was much more responsive than I was expecting. My timing felt a little off, but nothing I couldn't take into account after a few minutes. My main problem was the muddiness of the image; the compression really takes a toll on fine detail. That being said, this is much more than I could expect from this system were I playing a game installed onto the SSD.

The thing I'm most looking forward to is the addition of a subscription-based service. While I doubt I would be willing to buy a game through OnLive, I could definitely see picking up a month or two so I could game on my various laptops and netbooks while I traveled. I was playing on my home Internet connection, which is good and speedy, but be aware you may get less optimal performance if you're trying to game on a coffee shop Internet connection. As WiFi becomes faster, cheaper, and more available, OnLive will only get better. My main beef is that the game selection is sad. Everything else worked great-above and beyond what I expected. Go ahead, give it a shot for yourself.

There are some downsides here. You're limited by your Internet connection, the selection of games is slim, and if you buy a game you're still tied to the service. The upside is the ability to play the games on nearly any system. All told, OnLive may not be a slam dunk, but it's a great first step into a brave new world.

The Good
 * It works! Games are faster than on consoles or PCs
 * Free service, games are all PC-priced ($50 or less) with free trials
 * Works with gamepads and keyboard + mouse
 * "Owl" gamepad excels over Dualshock 3 and 360 controller
 * Simple and slow-paced games feel native
 * Works on any Windows and Mac computer, regardless of power
 * Works over Wi-Fi (not the microconsole)
 * Has amazing potential for future use

The Bad
 * Overall video quality suffers greatly based on connection errors, spurts
 * Microconsole bundle is expensive for an unproven service
 * Ridiculously stressful on your Internet, low latency requirement can be a killer
 * Only 35 games, and new releases are few and far between
 * Social aspect still very weak

The Ugly
 * If you're on a metered connection, you're going to be owing some money