Like it or not, cloud gaming is here, and here to stay. OnLive and Gaikai have both made the pipe dream a reality, and are currently in a head-to-head battle for the title of best cloud gaming service. While it’s debatable which of the two is better, seeing either one make steps to further the platform is exciting and quite possibly the unfolding of the future of the gaming industry.

At E3 2012, both announced partnerships that would implement their technology into the latest generation of smart televisions.

OnLive

We are previewing the OnLive® Game Service on LG’s Smart TV with Google TV at E3, ringing in a new era when OnLive on-demand gaming is simply part of what you expect from your (incredibly cool) LG TV. Even better, these are 3D TVs, so once we get a few 3D games and enough TVs in the field, we’ll enable the 3D capability.

Gaikai

Samsung Cloud Gaming will open millions of consumers to an exciting new service that makes video games playable through Samsung Smart TVs. Connected via the Internet, Samsung Cloud Gaming utilizes Gaikai’s cloud-based streaming technology to deliver video games instantaneously to game players without the hassle of long download times, unsightly hardware or untidy wiring.

Who know’s which service will ultimately win the hearts and minds of gamer’s. And with the smell of the next generation of consoles just ahead of us, it wouldn’t be a stretch at all to say that OnLive or Gaikai may be bought by, or partner with, Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft. Stay tuned.