Do any old systems still go Online?

[Anthony1]

Basically, I was wondering if you could still go Online with a Sega Dreamcast. Can you still play games like NFL2K1 and NBA2K1 online?


What about the Sega Saturn? You can't still go online with that can you?


What about that old XBand thing for the Genesis?



The reason I bring it up, is I have a little nephew who wants to get a Dreamcast, and he was wondering if he could still play people online with it. It got me to thinking about systems that are no longer current, that had online capabilities, and what ends up happening to those online options, when the system dies.

[liquidmetal]

dc took down all its servers exept phantasy star online :/ Only game you can play online.

[EnemyZero]

PSO servers are going down for dreamcast

[carnage6]

Saturn never had online games. All games were direct connect games so if you have a friend with a Netlink and the same game you can play them any time you want as long as you are willing to pay the phone bill.
Unfortunately I've never used my Netlink for that as I've never found another Canadian to play with. :(
I believe you can still surf the net with it if you want to put up with the slow and outdated software.

[Zaxxon]

Saturn did too have online games. Most of them also had an option for direct connect. Saturn Bomberman supported up to 10 players at once IIRC via the net. If you boot up most any Netlink game you'll see these options right on the start up screens.

[Anthony1]

So if you have two saturns, with the Netlink and you are using a local phone line (free call) you can play online for free?

Pretty sweet.


Were there any redeeming games that used that feature?

[Bratwurst]

X-Band modem service has been long since dead, probably around 97 or 98. I remember it being rather curious since a couple months before they announced ceasing the service there was a massive mail-in promotional of free modems.

[carnage6]

I've never seen a Saturn Netlink game that you can play online with people including Bomberman. The 10 player thing you are talking about requires 2 of those 5 player adapters to be hooked up to the same system and you can play a 10 player match on one TV with 10 friends. I hear it is pretty small looking unless you have a large screen TV but it isn't online. Your probably thinking of the Dreamcast version.
The Saturn Bomberman does include one unique feature. I believe that when you play someone on the Netlink with direct connect you can have 2 players on each system so you can actually have a 4 player game through the phone line. I haven't tried this so I'm not sure about it but that is what I heard.

Anthony1- Yup, but only a very few games were released with Netlink features. I believe only Duke Nukem 3D and Bomberman shipped with Netlink support. You could also get Virtual On and Sega Rally Netlink versions free with a Netlink purchase at one time. Also, a Netlink version of Daytona CCE was released but it is very rare and I'm still looking for one. I think that is all but someone can correct me if I'm wrong.