The hyperbole may surround services from and Gaikai, but Israeli service operator Playcast have already launched their own challenger - albeit only in Israel at present.

Playcast Media are presently undertaking a pilot of their own streaming game service, which looks very much like or OnLive, and is operated through a set-top box and local cable provider Hot.

Games of a similar standard to the or are promised, and while this initial test is taking place in Israel, we're promised launches in "major markets in the US, and Asia" later this year and in 2010.

"This pilot unequivocally proves the viability of high end video games delivery over Cable TV networks," enthuses Guy De Beer, CEO of Playcast. "The vision of TV games on demand is about to come true, enabling new growth opportunities for game publishers and TV operators at minimum investment, as well as an exciting and affordable new gaming experience for hundreds of millions of cable and IPTV viewers around the world.

"After four years of development, it's exciting to see our technology transform in to a real user experience. We're delighted that Israel's premier cable network, Hot, has been able to share this vision with us and we're indebted to them for giving us this opportunity to roll out the Playcast service."

More on Playcast as we get it.

By Luke Guttridge