Onlive gaming will boot up on 22 September

GAMERS that have grown to hate their consoles can take some solace from the news that the no-hardware gaming service Onlive will launch in the UK next month.

Onlive, which will appeal to clutter-phobics and people who have not heard of Steam and its kin, promises to revolutionise the gaming industry by putting the console into the cloud. It has confirmed the launch date of 22 September on its Twitter feed.

"It's official! OnLive will be launching in the UK on 22nd of September. Reserve your PlayerTag now and be ready," says the message there.

However anyone who does manage to snag their preferred user name does so without knowing how much the service will cost, as that information has so far not been released. What we do know is that it will be great. Apparently.

"OnLive will utterly transform gaming in the UK," said OnLive Founder and CEO Steve Perlman as he announced the service and talked up the range of devices that it will be available on it, and perhaps its most interesting feature - the ability to watch other games being played live.

"No discs, big downloads or specialised hardware needed. OnLive gives you the latest games instantly, anytime, anywhere on HDTV, PC, Mac, as well as iPad, Android tablets. high-performance gaming as accessible as streaming video, with unique social features such as massive spectating with voice chat and Facebook integration."

When the service launches next month it will be some time after it launched in the US, and the firm promised that any UK users will be able to play against their Atlantic-crossing cousins as well as residents of other countries as their services come online.

In the UK Onlive is supported by exclusive broadband provider BT. µ