Exactly. This is the real loss-leader, and they will do whatever they can to stop used discs from getting sold, so that's probably a feature of this, although I can't think how — presumably you would need an expensive piece of kit to unlock this, and why would shops lock it again if it wasn't in their own interest?

This idea has been floating around for awhile -- remember the guys that were going to do this to enable mobile gaming? Only they got it wrong... no-one wants to play Crysis on a handheld.

I find it a fascinating idea, and even more fascinating if they have actually made it work. But what about the infrastructure they need to put in place, and maintain? Has anyone done the math on what their data centres are going to co$t???

What really intrigues me, though, is the tantalizing idea that this could potentially lead to a quantum leap in game graphics -- theroretically, a service like OnLive could become a "console" platform publisher in and of itself, and develop exclusive first-party games that utilize next-generation technology, which would be entirely outside the economic reach of even the hardest-core gamegfx nuts. It's the same amount of pixels any way you look at it -- might as well be raytraced in real-time. Think the power of 16 PS3s in SLI, or more... OnLive might want such an exclusive "future" game, or special edition of a proven hit game, to drive adoption.

If you can stop worrying about upgrading your gfx card, that'll also leave a few pennies for new tactile controllers, which again could be platform-specific. Voila, a new Wii with ILM gfx...