Back at E3 we got a look at the OnLive client running on the iPad, and were surprised by how well it worked. If this is the first you've heard of it, OnLive is a game streaming service that is trying to do to video games what NetFlix streaming has done to movies. There are a variety of different payment options, but it comes down to this: If you've got a solid internet connection (the connectivity requirements are stringent) you can play next-generation video games on any device capable of running the OnLive client, including a micro console they're selling that hooks up to TV's.

Unfortunately, the OnLive client for the iPad is only a viewer, and you can't actually play any games currently. Fortunately, the viewer aspect of OnLive is really cool, and totally worth checking out. Utilizing the iPad client (or any OnLive client) you can view any game that's currently being played by any player connected to OnLive. If you've never seen Assassin's Creed, all you need to do is scroll to someone playing it, and you're instantly watching them. The down side of all this is that much like playing games using OnLive, watching them also requires a considerable amount of bandwidth. Viewing games is much more forgiving, but you'll still need a substantial chunk of downstream to not see any video artifacts.

OnLive Viewer for the iPad is a free download, and currently is available in New Zealand. Much like the Wednesday night game releases, it will slowly become available to other regions throughout the day before finally making its appearance on the US App Store at 11:00 PM EST.

App Store Link: OnLive Viewer, Free