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Play your own 360, PS3, PS2, Xbox, or Gamecube anywhere in the world

by: John -
More On: HD-720
We've all heard about the OnLive service but what if you can setup your very own personal console that's accessible anywhere in the world and you can play it remotely. Well, Spawn Labs is going to give you that with a $199 device called the HD-720.

What you do is hook a console up to this thing, connect an Internet connection to it, sign up with an account on Spawn Lab's website, install the software on a computer you want to play from, and you're off an running. Like the OnLive service, the HD-720 just transmits the audio and visuals while your inputs get sent from the computer over the Internet to your machine back home.

They say there's very little latency but we all know it's dependent on how much bandwidth you have and how good of a connection you do have where ever you are.

You might be thinking about what controller can you use. Well seeing as both the 360 and PS3 have USB connections the software will be able to detect one plugged in and let you use it. Yes, you can use a controller from one system with another so if you love the 360 controller and want to use it with the PS3, you can and vice versa.

How much bandwidth will you need? Well from their website, "To play in standard definition, each remote player/watcher needs from about 500kbps to 1Mbps. And to play in high definition, each remote player/watcher needs from about 2Mbps to 5Mbps." So if you want to play away from home, this is about all I can do since my upload peaks at 1Mbps. If you're going to play internally over a LAN well you're good to go.

Other features include the ability for other people to watch you play or even play your console. Yeah, multiple people can connect to your console and play with you which is pretty slick. Want to stream 720p video? You'll need a 3-5mbps connection for that and I don't know many in the U.S. that have that speed at home short of high speed FIOS from Verizon.

It all sounds pretty interesting but I'd like to see it in action for myself. Of course, being away from home you're limited to whatever's in the DVD/Blu-ray drive and any Live or PSN games in the system. For PS3 owners, a potential snag would be turning on the console itself remotely. Spawn Labs has support for the PS3IR-500 which can do that for you which will cost you another $39.95. Orders are being taken now so this looks like it could be the real deal. You can see it in action in the video below. So, what do you guys think?

Thanks Joystiq and TechCrunch.