Cloud gaming service OnLive opens for public beta testing today, a surprise given we just saw it unveiled at the Game Developer's Conference in March.

If you didn't catch our coverage in the magazine, OnLive is an audacious attempt to provide a remote gaming service through a user's PC or television. Players simply download a browser plugin or strap the proprietary MicroConsole to their home entertainment system and (under ideal conditions) enjoy a flawless gaming experience without worrying about hardware specs as the game is rendered by OnLive servers and streamed directly to the player.

The open beta is currently limited to PC users only, and the service is eager to include gamers with all kinds of rigs.

"One of the key challenges that OnLive technology addresses is providing a high-quality, fast-response gaming experience over a wide range of situations: different speeds/locations/types of broadband services, a variety of different PC and Mac configurations, several kinds of input and display devices, etc." writes company founder Steve Perlman on this morning's OnLive blog. "So, a major focus of OnLive Beta is to test as many of these different situations as we can."

Spots in the beta are still available for PC and Mac users, simply sign up to be a beta tester here and tell us what you think!
Alex Wawro