Gaming In The Cloud. Is It Possible?

I was watching a commercial this weekend for Gamefly, which is very similar to Netflix, where you can rent games online and have them delivered to your house. I believe the company itself has been around for a few years, but it's not exactly where Netflix is yet in terms of user experience. With Netflix, you can now watch any of their selection of movies online, without having to download anything or receive it in the mail, thus making it "in The Cloud". So, I thought to myself, is it possible to do gaming in "The Cloud?"

Working for Runaware, I know that it's possible to put a software demo experience in "The Cloud", and allow for users to use actual software in real time, without the hassle of downloads, or installations. It really is a great service, but being a fan of gaming as well, I initially I thought about that concept, and whether it would be possible to demo a game before purchasing it. This would give the user a sence of how the game functions, controls, etc... Then I thought that the next logical step would probably just be what Netflix is already doing, but with gaming as opposed to just streaming video's.

The obvious challenge is going to be whether or not the game is able to be streamed effectively to ensure that the gamer has a great experience, not to mention the possibility of a functional multi-user experience. The basic technology is already out there for online, multi-player gaming, but most of the games online are flash driven or very basic in their appearance. But, what if we could stream the ability to play a game like "Madden '11", with multiplayer capabilities. How much more convenient would it be to be able to login to your account online and access your purchased games without actually have to have any physical copies. Maybe we could even eliminate the aspect of having to have a console at all. I realize that I'm probably getting way ahead of myself right now, because the possibility of this even being capable is beyond me.

Regardless of my curiosities, I do believe that we are soon going to be able to play complex games in "The Cloud." I haven't seen anything quite like it yet, but I'm sure one day it will be possible.