The promise of PS One games playable on Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play marked something of a shift away from the more casual options available to those wanting to play video games on their mobile phones. That trend looks set to continue into the even wider market, as Taiwanese handset maker HTC has now announced a significant investment in cloud-based gaming service OnLive.

　　OnLive's controller and microconsole.

　　The handset maker has bought up just shy of $40 million worth of stock in OnLive. This investment is to allow HTC to provide "console-class video game performance" on its handsets, the firm said.

　　HTC makes many popular Android devices, such as the Desire, Wildfire, and Legend series, along with a number of Windows Phone 7 devices. OnLive debuted at GDC in 2009 to analyst acclaim, and since then it has attracted significant investment from groups such as Warner Bros, BT, and AT&T. Earlier this year it announced an alliance with another hardware firm, Vizio, that will see OnLive services preinstalled on a range of devices, including Blu-ray players and televisions.

　　The firm recently launched a $10-per-month pricing plan offering users full access to a 40-strong library of games currently available for on-demand play.