If we were to debate about the future of gaming, we could thing of an infinite amount of possibilities, but not of them might come true if OnLive, a very promising and interesting concept will be brought to live, will be flawlessly done and will deliver high quality, as it promises. This could be the future of gaming, which would also mean the death of consoles. Sounds too sci-fi? Actually, it sounds quite possible!

Basically, this OnLive would be a huge network of high-end servers filled with games. The player would only have to connect to that server, choose the game and voila – it’s all done, without platform configuration, without trips to the retailers and so on. And, most important for publishers – without piracy!

And don’t think you’ll need a super computer and a super network connection to access OnLive: a simple DSL connection of 1.5 MBps would be enough for a standard gaming session – but you can also go for the full 720p experience if you have a solid, 5 MBps connection.

Still not convinced that this might actually work out and prove to be the future of gaming? Expect more details in the following months, as well as the beginning of a beta stage by the end of the year. I’m very excited. The console manufacturers probably aren’t.