It's been almost a year since we heard any updates on the OnLive streaming game service, but now the innovative system finally has a lunch date and price: you'll be able to play starting June 17th for about $15 a month.

OnLive takes a thin client approach to gaming. Normally you have to drop several hundred dollars on a next-gen console to play the latest titles. You hook it up to your TV, connect a controller, and pop in your game. When a new system comes out, or your current one breaks, you're going to end up spending quite the chunk of change. OnLive takes the console out of the equation, routing your controller inputs over the internet to its servers, which do all the computationally-intensive work, and sending back the video feed you end up seeing. In order for this to work well, you need some heavy-duty bandwidth and a low-latency connection, but the idea is sound.

For your $15 a month you can access the service to rent or buy the games of your choice. Besides using the MicroConsole adapter - the box you hook up to your TV in place of a console - you'll also be able to play the same games on your computer, straight from a browser window. The games available at launch should include plenty of top-shelf titles like Mass Effect 2 and Assassin's Creed II.

Latency problems could still kill the idea. If your connection lags, there will be too much delay between when you press a button and when something happens on-screen, likely making most games unplayable. With this in mind, OnLive is making sure you're within 1000 miles of one of its server farms when signing up, as physical distance matters. We'll have to see just how the service holds up under some real-world testing this summer.

A recently-uncovered patent application shows that Sony is thinking about making a future PlayStation controller capable of interfacing with other gaming consoles.

In the same way that many of us have universal remotes to control our DVRs, TVs, and audio receivers, Sony envisions a programmable game controller that can map its inputs to support the functions of other manufacturer's consoles. Like some of those high-end universal remotes, the universal pad would include an LCD screen for setting up the device.

By the looks of things, while playing you'd press on images of buttons on its touchscreen rather than any physical button. For really intense, button-mashing games like some fighters and shoot-em-ups that might be a deal-breaker, as touchscreens lack the tactile feedback that gamers have come to expect. On the other hand, it seems like it would work out just fine for slower-paced games. Multi-player trivia would be one genre where a universal pad could really shine; you wouldn't need to own a bunch of pads for each of your consoles on the off chance that you'd get together enough friends to play. For now, though, the idea is still on the drawing board.