A revolutionary cloud gaming system that means you don’t have to own the latest hardware to play the latest, most demanding PC games, OnLive features a dirt-cheap micro-console that plugs into your HDTV and router.

Price: £70 | OnLive

OnLive is a game-changer, if you’ll forgive the pun, allowing you to play demanding PC games on a low cost console by doing all the processing on distant servers and streaming the video to your telly. You can also play via apps on your computer or smartphone.

Sounds too good to be true, but with a reasonably speedy broadband connection its performance is surprisingly great and free from lag, particularly on smaller screens. And the games line-up is pretty excellent too.

The truly revolutionary nature of OnLive means we couldn’t ignore it when considering our awards nominees.