My Technologizer column this week for TIME.com is on OnLive’s new mobile versions of its cloud-gaming service. (Spoiler: I had some challenges getting it t work well, and it has some rough spots, but when it runs like it’s supposed to run it’s a lot of fun.)

Gamestop isn’t winning any fans today for its decision to remove a free streaming OnLive copy of Deus Ex: Human Revolution from the boxed PC version of the game.

Publisher Square Enix had partnered with the streaming game service OnLive on the promotion. But because OnLive is a threat to Gamestop’s retail business, company management ordered employees to throw away the vouchers before selling the game. “GameStop’s policy is that we do not promote competitive services without a formal partnership,” the company said on its Facebook page. Hundreds of angry comments followed.

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OnLive made a bunch of announcements before E3, but at the show, the streaming game service was showing something new: full, working versions of OnLive on the iPad and Android tablets.

An OnLive app is already available on the iPad, but only for watching other players and seeing what games are available. The unreleased app shown at E3 can run OnLive’s full library of games using the universal controller announced last week, and one game was even adapted to the touch screen. According to Joe Bentley, OnLive’s vice president of engineering, Apple is listening.

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OnLive made a couple announcements today that might help people discover and use the streaming video game service.

The biggest news is a partnership with Intel that will enable OnLive on all connected TVs, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes that use Intel’s CE4100 embedded processor. OnLive expects to land on 25 million TVs by the end of this year, according to GigaOM. A new universal controller will work on any OnLive-enabled device.

This fits nicely with the idea of video games coming directly to televisions without the help of game consoles. OnLive processes and streams high-end video games from its own servers, so it doesn’t need fancy hardware on the user’s end to play modern games like Borderlands and Bioshock.

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If HTC’s Evo View 4G tablet can play modern PC games from OnLive, Sprint isn’t saying so.

OnLive was supposed to be a big feature in the HTC Flyer, the 7-inch Android tablet that Sprint is calling the Evo View 4G. The cloud gaming service gets top billing on HTC’s Flyer website, and promises to let users play PC games like Homefront and Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood on their tablets.

But Sprint’s announcement of the Evo View 4G doesn’t mention OnLive, even as it promises other built-in entertainment apps such as Blockbuster On Demand and NASCAR Sprint Cup.

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Gaikai, the yin to OnLive’s yang, has entered public beta with video game demos that are instantly playable in a web browser.

Like OnLive, Gaikai uses its own servers to perform the heavy graphical lifting that modern PC games require. Users play the game through highly compressed audio and video streams, which are capable of running on low-end PCs. But instead of selling games to consumers through a software client, Gaikai wants game publishers to serve instant demos on their websites or Facebook pages. All the player needs is Flash and the latest version of Java.

Demos are available for Mass Effect 2, Spore and The Sims 3. You can also play a demo of Dead Space 2 by taking a short survey. They’re all published by Electronic Arts, which entered a “multi-year” licensing agreement with Gaikai in June 2010.

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HTC’s $40 million investment in OnLive is already coming to fruition,  with OnLive’s streaming video game service baked into HTC’s upcoming Flyer tablet.

OnLive games, which are processed on remote servers and streamed as compressed audio and video, will be playable on the tablet using touch screen controls. In a demonstration video posted by Slashgear, OnLive Chief Executive Steve Perlman plays through a version of Virtua Tennis 2009 whose controls have been retooled for the tablet. HTC’s press release says a “variety of games” will be available including Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, NBA 2K11 and Lego Harry Potter.

The Flyer can also plug into televisions via HDMI for big-screen play with the OnLive game controller, effectively turning the tablet into a MicroConsole set-top box.

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The free ride is over for OnLive PlayPack, the streaming game service’s all-you-can-play package.

PlayPack now costs $10 per month, with the first month free, and currently includes 38 games. OnLive had been giving subscription access away since December to owners of its $99 Microconsole, a small set-top box and controller for playing through televisions. Presumably, the service will now be available to PC gamers as well. If you cancel the service, OnLive will hang onto your data for a year.

OnLive’s claim to fame is its ability to instantly stream video games to low-end computers as compressed audio and video, using servers that handle all the heavy lifting remotely. (My experience was functional, but flawed.) But the subscription plan could be the most disruptive part of the package if it can gain more games on a regular basis.

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OnLive really is becoming the gaming equivalent of Netflix, not only with its upcoming subscription plan for streaming video games, but with plans to become embedded in TVs and Blu-ray players.

First up are Vizio’s web-connected TVs. Consumers won’t need any additional hardware — I assume, or at least hope, that a controller is included — and Vizio can use the existing Marvell chips in its TVs to power the OnLive service, VentureBeat reports. Vizio will also offer OnLive through its connected Blu-ray players, tablets and smartphones. Naturally, OnLive is trying to strike deals with other companies as well.

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Now that OnLive’s cloud gaming service is available on computers and televisions, tablets are next, starting with the free OnLive Viewer app for iPad.

You can’t actually play any games in the app, nor can you purchase them. For now, you can only spectate other games, send messages to friends, browse OnLive’s library and watch trailers for upcoming titles.

Of course, watching someone else play a video game is kind of like being at a rock concert without hearing the music*. OnLive does plan to have playable games on the iPad, but it’s not clear which ones will get the touch screen treatment.

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OnLive still has a lot of kinks to work out with its cloud gaming service and MicroConsole set-top box, but they’re easier to overlook when you can have unlimited gaming for $10 per month.

The so-called PlayPack plan, announced alongside today’s MicroConsole launch, will have more than 40 back-catalog games when it becomes available on January 15. Subscribers can still purchase or rent newer games a la carte, and they can suspend subscriptions for up to a year without losing their saved game data.

For now, folks who buy the MicroConsole can try the plan for free in beta, which includes 15 games to start. John Spinale, OnLive’s vice president of games and media, says new games will land on the subscription package, and on the service in general, on a weekly basis.

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OnLive is instant gratification tempered with disappointment, a glimpse at the future of video games that constantly reminds you that we’re not there yet.

The value proposition: Subscribe to OnLive, and you’ll never have to buy another game console or graphics card. The service streams video games as compressed audio and video from remote servers with minimal effort from your own hardware. Although OnLive launched for Windows PCs and Macs in June, the service takes a major step this week with the MicroConsole, a tiny $99 television set-top box and game controller that starts shipping on Thursday.

I’ve been playing around with a loaned MicroConsole from OnLive, and while I wouldn’t dare abandon my Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 for it right now, I won’t rule out the future that OnLive keeps promising.

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Although OnLive’s cloud gaming service is able to run on almost any computer, the key to success could lie in its MicroConsole, a tiny TV set-top box that’s still unreleased.

That’ll change on December 2, when the OnLive MicroConsole launches for $99 with a controller. One free game will also be included as a holiday promotion, and pre-orders are starting now. Games on the service cost between $4 and $9 to rent and $5 to $50 to “own” (access to the games, which stream from remote servers, is guaranteed for at least three years).

The cost of the MicroConsole is less than I was expecting, but just as interesting, I think, is this line at the bottom of OnLive’s press release:

“In addition to its rental and Full PlayPass plans, later this year OnLive will add a monthly flat-rate plan, providing unlimited access to a broad library of quality games and indie titles.”

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Streaming is not just a delivery method for media, it’s a business model, but I don’t think OnLive realizes that.

Earlier this week, OnLive announced that it dropped subscription fees from its cloud gaming service, which handles all the intensive processing of modern video games on its own servers and sends back compressed video that runs on pretty much any computer. OnLive launched in June and was already giving away free 12-month subscriptions, normally $5 per month, as an introductory offer.

By dropping subscriptions, OnLive can bring in curious users without demanding credit card information. With free membership, people can still play game demos and eavesdrop on other gaming sessions. Rentals are available in three- and five-day increments, but if players want full access, prices are on par with retail, and guaranteed to run for at least three years. That’s where the offer gets icky.

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On the opposite side of the Los Angeles Convention Center from OnLive’s glitzy E3 booth, Dave Perry held a small briefing in a cubicle to talk about his own cloud gaming service, Gaikai.

Perry wanted to clarify that Gaikai is “the ultimate lead ever for a publisher,” as opposed to a full-blown gaming service for consumers. He’s positioning Gaikai as a try before you buy service, kind of like the InstantAction service that debuted in April, but with all the heavy graphics processing done on remote servers, allowing for immediate access to the latest PC games. The idea is to let publishers, and eventually gaming websites, embed video games directly into the browser, so readers can instantly try the game instead of watching trailers or looking at screenshots.

This stands in stark contrast to OnLive, which on Thursday launched its subscription service. Though OnLive subscribers can play demos for free, the service is less of a promotional tool for publishers and more of a final stop for gamers who have committed to spending money.

In my meetings with OnLive and Gaikai, each company displayed a gentle animosity toward the other. Perry said his data centers are going to “end up in rings around [OnLive's],” and claimed that each of his servers can run many more virtualizations. He also questioned OnLive’s subscription model; Gaikai won’t charge anything to consumers, and will instead charge publishers, likening server time to advertising.

OnLive’s director of games and media development, Joe Bentley, said he has yet to see Gaikai in action. Though Perry showed embedded streaming games — along with software such as Adobe Photoshop — on a PC and an Xbox 360, the server was in the same room. OnLive’s E3 demos were running on a server in Silicon Valley.

My problem with Gaikai is the disconnect between trying a game and buying it. Let’s say you play the first 20 minutes of a game through your Web browser and are persuaded to buy. Then what? Do you start a lengthy download through Steam? Run to GameStop to buy the boxed version? The ideal solution would be a full cloud gaming service that players could easily jump to once their trials end, because once you’ve experienced instant gratification, it’s hard to go back.

That’s why I think Gaikai’s advertising service and OnLive’s subscription package would work wonderfully together, if only they could stop sniping at each other.

Today, I played Unreal Tournament III on an iPad, thanks to OnLive. It was impossible to control, of course — it’s just a proof of concept that’s not available in the App Store — but it worked, proving that OnLive’s cloud gaming service can stream modern PC games to just about anything — but just Mac or PC for now.

Today, the service goes live, and at a price that’s making me eat my words.

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