View Full Version : Consoles online: How many attempts were there?
I'm doing an article for my site about the Xband and was wondering how many previous attempts to get consoles online there were. I know about the Telegenesis modem (released only in Japan) but what else was there? Did any pre-NES consoles have anything resembling online play in any sense?
AB Positive
11-12-2004, 12:35 AM
The Intellivision did... it had a device which used phone lines to download games to the system at $1 a game charged through the telephone line. The company that made the doomed device later became AOL.
... I'm not even joking.
-AG
Emily
11-12-2004, 04:41 AM
I think ive read somewhere that the NES had or was going to have an on-line service.
digitalpress
11-12-2004, 08:03 AM
Don't forget about the Gameline modem for the Atari 2600, the first successful effort at online gaming for consoles.
The Genesis was quite a pioneer in this regard. There's a thread here that talks a bit about the Xband modem. I had one, used it back in the day. It was a nice set-up, easy to use. Not nearly enough games supported but what was there was fun (most of the EA Sports titles of the time, Mortal Kombat II, Weaponlord among others).
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25580
I also own a prototype of the Genesis Edge-16 Modem which you'll get to see at the CGE Museum next year (if you haven't been to my house since the last CGE) In the words of its designer Howard Delman, "The Edge 16 allows distant players to compete over a direct phone line using a simultaneous voice/data modem. It also supports a very low cost, credit card sized, memory card of my own design. This card contains a full custom IC incorporating data encryption and EEPROM technology."
He told us when we met that the modem was literally a day away from being shipped to retail stores when the order came in to hold up, eventually the order came in to destroy them a'la Atari's E.T. but a few of the working prototypes were spared. The modem looks quite a bit like a 32X and is a physical piece of hardware (not a cartridge like the Xband) that seats into the Genesis cartridge port.
And don't forget the Sega Channel - while it didn't offer head-to-head play, it did offer "online gaming" to some extent, you did go online to get the games you would play on your Genesis. More on the Sega Channel:
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26220
There is more but I'll let someone else jump in here. If you wanted history, you came to the right place :)
morphx
11-12-2004, 08:27 AM
Best part about xband was meeting gamers in your local area...That and the ability to pull the phone cord out if you were losing and not damage your ranks...
I hard core played xband on my snes one summer, I believe the game of choice was MKII
Berty
11-12-2004, 08:31 AM
There was the bandai satelview (spelling?) as well as an accessory for the snes that alowed japanese punters to place bets on horse racing down the phone line.
8bitnes
11-12-2004, 10:14 AM
I think ive read somewhere that the NES had or was going to have an on-line service.
The NES did have a built-in modem. I think there was talk of launching the "Nintendo Network" and it may have even happened in Japan.
Anyhow, here is a link about an attempt to go online with the NES which is similar to the Genesis.
http://www.nesworld.com/nesmodem.htm
Here is another really interesting one about the Minnesota state lottery.
http://www.megspace.com/entertainment/neskingdom/special/lottery/
Finally, here is a link about the Famicom.
http://www.n-sider.com/articleview.php?articleid=258
Best part about xband was meeting gamers in your local area...That and the ability to pull the phone cord out if you were losing and not damage your ranks...
Heh, the article I'm writing mentions droppers extensively. :P
morphx
11-12-2004, 11:40 AM
I remember back in the middle school sdays threatening to beat people up at the local mall for it. Remember how you could talk smack whiel your game was loading?
Aussie2B
11-12-2004, 11:56 AM
You know, it's funny, I have absolutely no interest in current online gaming, but when I read and think about the Xband service, I get a little sad that I never had the opportunity to try it. I could totally see my 13-year-old self battling others in Super Mario Kart. :) Maybe it's because I never had anyone to play games with as a child (not until I was around 19). Something is just so interesting and unusual about those early days of online console gaming.
Ed Oscuro
11-12-2004, 11:57 AM
There was the bandai satelview (spelling?) as well as an accessory for the snes that alowed japanese punters to place bets on horse racing down the phone line.
The BS-X Satellaview from Nintendo...no, it's not from Bandai. I don't know off the top of my head who provided the service, but Bandai wasn't it.
The article's up (http://www.sega-16.com/Feature-%20Xband.htm)! Enjoy and let me know what you think. I may still revise a bit (I'm anal that way) but it's essentially done.
digitalpress
11-12-2004, 02:55 PM
Of course, neither Microsoft nor Sony are pioneers in this area. There are almost as many failed attempts at bringing consoles online littering the industry's past as there are craters on the moon. The first recorded endeavor was Sega's own Telegenesis Modem, which was touted at the Genesis' launch but never saw the light of day in the U.S..
Yo bro, you missed a few references listed above - the Telegenesis most certainly was not the first online gaming device. You can't have an article like this without at least mentioning Gameline for Atari 2600.
I'll read the rest when you correct that!
TheRedEye
11-12-2004, 04:58 PM
I was going to tell you to reference my Baton Teleplay article, but it looks like you already did!
Yo bro, you missed a few references listed above - the Telegenesis most certainly was not the first online gaming device. You can't have an article like this without at least mentioning Gameline for Atari 2600.
I'll read the rest when you correct that!
You're right, I'll add that in, even though it wasn't actually a service (although it was planned to be).
MarioAllStar2600
11-12-2004, 05:48 PM
Maybe I missed it but I didn't see anyone mention the NES lottery. The one where you could enter your social security number to check the daily lottery along with playing mini instant win games. Anyone have a link? It was for a wierd state..... thats's all I rember about it though.
digitalpress
11-12-2004, 06:08 PM
Yo bro, you missed a few references listed above - the Telegenesis most certainly was not the first online gaming device. You can't have an article like this without at least mentioning Gameline for Atari 2600.
I'll read the rest when you correct that!
You're right, I'll add that in, even though it wasn't actually a service (although it was planned to be).
Yes it was. Do a little research!
Yes it was. Do a little research!
I mean that it wasn't actuallyin service. I was focusing on those that were actually put into practice and not scrapped in the planning stages. Gameline and the Sega Channel actually only let you download games, not play people online. I did include the Gameline in the article though, as it was slated to have become a full-fledged service.
digitalpress
11-12-2004, 06:25 PM
Yes it was. Do a little research!
I mean that it wasn't actuallyin service. I was focusing on those that were actually put into practice and not scrapped in the planning stages. Gameline and the Sega Channel actually only let you download games, not play people online. I did include the Gameline in the article though, as it was slated to have become a full-fledged service.
Dude. Gameline was in service. It wasn't "in planning", it was real. If your article is about head-to-head gaming only then stick with what you've got, but it would be a shame to leave out an important piece of online gaming history!
Either way, I'll check back to your page in just a bit.
As far as I know, all you could do was download games for a few plays. There wasn't anything available for you to play anyone online. That was to come later, with the other options.
Regardless, it was a service that would have done what the Xband did, so I included it.
Now go read the article! :P
Aswald
11-15-2004, 04:17 PM
Back in the early 1980s, several companies were planning on selling a product that would allow you to get games "over the phone" for a price (each time). It seemed to be for the once-in-a-while player, or so one could "try before you buy."
The game system involved was usually to have been the Atari 2600.
I don't know if this counts here, but I still have the ads for these things.