Perhaps you may have forgotten about OnLive already, the digital content distribution and gaming system destined to bring balance to the force change the face of PC gaming forever? It seems like this type of technology could really indeed do such a thing - or fall flat on it’s face. Until now, we’ve only seen bits and pieces of the system in action - and only in controlled environments, but on June 17th consumers will finally have the chance to try the technology for themselves, according to the official OnLive blog.

There are a couple catches, however: the service is only launching for PC and Mac (not the above “mini console”) and the host computer needs to meet specific “network and performance conditions”. On top of that, the service is $15 a month and does not include the cost of the games themselves. I also noticed that launch titles like Assassin’s Creed II are considered “top tier” games - it’s not clear exactly what this means just yet, but perhaps there will be a different pricing structure per game. The $15 gets you access to different rental and purchasing options, but it looks like this is tied to the account you set up with OnLive - meaning if you cancel the account, you’ll no longer be able to stream or play the games.

Call me old fashioned, but I’d rather own my digital goods, and I’d just as soon invest the $150 a year subscription cost into a new video card or similar PC gaming component. But that’s just me. If you’re interested, OnLive has a registration special which gives you a shot at getting the first three months of fees waived.