Have you played a console game online?

[Zadoc]

Gamefaq's poll of the day is, "Have you played a console game online yet?"

The answers are:

Yes, on multiple consoles
Yes, on a GameCube
Yes, on a PlayStation
Yes, on an Xbox
Yes, on another system
No, not yet

I thought this might be a fun discussion.

I have believed for a long time that online gaming is the future of consoles, and it looks like I am going to be right.

I never owned an X-band for my Genesis or SNES, but I believe that was the first major effort to get people to play console games over the internet. I believe that the Jaguar had a device called a Cat Box which worked with Doom, and allowed online play of some sort.

I was intoduced into the wonderful world of online console gaming via my Sega Saturn.

Who here had a Net Link?

I never had a computer before and the only console I had at the time was my tank of a Saturn. Anyone who was a part of the Net Link scene has all kinds of stories to tell. That's because, like me, most of us NetLinkers were brand new to the internet.

A company called PlanetWeb made a simple browser for the Saturn which supported most of what we needed in 1997 to enjoy the internet. The final version of that browser became the Dreamcast's first web browser.

Any how, with the Sega Saturn Net Link we had some great games to play online. I believe I can list them all:

Virtual On: Cybertroopers
Duke Nukem 3D
Sega Rally Championship
Daytona USA CCE
Saturn Bomberman

That was it! And it was all done over a 28.8kbps modem! I am sure that if I had a dial-up connection still that I could go online and play and of you, as long as you have a Net Link, a Saturn, a copy of one of those five games, and as long as you're willing to pay the long distance charges!

Ahh.... chatrooms, Netlinkworld.com, porn, PlanetWeb, and those online games. I was unstopable in VO, by the way.

On 9.9.99 I picked up my Sega Dreamcast. I didn't care much for the browser, so I still used my Saturn for the internet. (That would change soon, however, as I was about to get my first PC.) It only took about a year, but before you knew it SegaNet was a phenomonon.

NFL 2K1, NBA 2K1, Alien Front Online, Starlancer, PSO, etc... It was great. The first system ever to ship with a modem. The first ever voice chat on a console. The first ever dedicated servers for a console in the US, (Net Link was direct dial in the US). The first ever online RPG for a game console.

And today, of course, we have Xbox Live, the future of console games, which is the next evolution from the steps that Sega had taken with the Saturn and Dreamcast. On XBL you can play Halo with seven other people and voice chat is seemless. The only way that it can get better is by the games themselves getting better (and by having more dedicated servers).

Anyways, just wanted to share my experience with online console gaming.

[Arcturius]

ChuChu Rocket! & Phantasy Star Online (Ver 1 & 2) on the good old Dreamcast

[THATinkjar]

I've never played a console game online. And I don't feel like I've missed out :)

[dreamcaster]

Xbox Live is my first real online console-gaming experience.

I have seen a Dreamcast in action online, but I didn't get a chance to play it.

[Zadoc]

I've never played a console game online. And I don't feel like I've missed out :)

Well, you have, sucker! I pitty the fool who don't play console games online.

And look at how sext my avatar is!

[digitalpress]

Xband for Genesis was my first online console experience. I had a lot of fun with that.

I played EVERY Dreamcast game that you could play online at least once, online. Especially Phantasy Star Online.

I've played all three current-gen consoles online.

And yet, I'd say my online gaming time is only about 10% of my playing time.

[InsaneDavid]

And look at how sext my avatar is!

And here's the rest of her...

http://www.classicplastic.info/nudegirlgamecontrollers.jpg
(she needs to eat if you ask me)

The only console game I really played very much online was the Dreamcast release of Daytona USA, with the same group of people, 1am ~ 4am, right up until the SegaNet fell.

[anagrama]

I breifly tried Chu Chu Rocket & Quake 3 online thanks to my Dreamcast, and then invested about 300 hours playing PSO :)

[THATinkjar]

Well, you have, sucker! I pitty the fool who don't play console games online.

Hold up there Nelly! I've played a hell of a lot of games online on my PC. I'm well versed on the ol' onling gaming scene!

Consoles are for me - I'm not sharing them with anyone!


And look at how sext my avatar is!

Who is she? I want to see more!!

[AMG]

Nope. I've never played a console game online. The whole concept doesn't appeal to me.

[InsaneDavid]

And look at how sext my avatar is!

Who is she? I want to see more!!

That's a good question, to which I think no one has the answer to. LOL I belive the image originated from DCEmulation France?

[Xantan the Foul]

I won't pay for a game, then pay to play it.

If they want me to pay hourly or monthly to play a game, I should get the software itself for free.

[Flack]

I won't pay for a game, then pay to play it.

If they want me to pay hourly or monthly to play a game, I should get the software itself for free.

PS2 gaming online is free.

Most of my console gaming online experience has come from the PS2. I've seen Xbox Live before and I think it's probably the future (consolidated servers, pay to play) but right now I'm sticking to PS2 online games because they're free.

PC online gaming is old hat. One of my favorite old games to play online was Archon Ultra, the updated version of the original classic Archon which was released in '94 I believe. It included head-to-head modem support, which my friends and I used all the time. I'm pretty sure the first game I played online like that was "Modem Wars", the old Commodore 64 game which also supported modem-to-modem gaming.

[Haoie]

Nope, I'm decidedly old school with it comes to multiplayer. I don't go for that MMO kind of stuff either. I suppose it wrecks your brain and makes you even geekier than before [except in Korea].

[Rugal]

I use to play online but i don't have the time like i use to anymore. GAmes i have played online are:

NFSU 2 PS2
Madden 2004/ Madden 2005
Socom 1 & 2
NFL Street


I will go back online when Socom 3 releases.

[Fuyukaze]

Back when the DC's servers were still up I used to play PSO online as well as a few other games. Now days I dont even bother. With the X-box, I cant play it online because I have dial up. The PS2 would be an option if any of the games I wanted to play were dial up instead of broadband. I realy hate how its become so high speed related.

[Cryomancer]

Hell yes.

Dreamcast was the first one. Lots of ver1 PSO. Good times. I'm STILL playing PSO, and still always make a HUnewearl named DeeCee to go kick ass with. I played a couple of the others online here and there, outrigger, alienfront (great game), really too bad that Propeller Arena never got released. I did use the DC for my primary internet machine a few times here and there as well. And the online content in Sonic and Shenmue, ect, was awesome.

Also played a bit of xbox live, again, mostly PSO. Xbox PSO is freakin great and it gets so much flak just because it's on xbox. HOW PSO became a game the over-the-top nintendo fans elite-up I'll never understand, but they do. Xbox PSO has voice chat (great, and also bad, depending. moslty great though) and some of the nicest looking graphics for PSO ever. The framerate is insane. But yeah, people hate it. I can understand not wanting to pay for live then a hunters liscense, but man it was worth it. Xbox has great downloable stuff too. Unfortunetly it's always "here's this stuff we aded at release, more later we promise!" and they never add more (godzilla, toejam and earl). What they have at start is usually pretty slick stuff though.

Personally, I think online consoles are great, however with the current climate in the gaming world of madden/newmovie/brownactiongame that is going on, it's kinda sucks sometimes. Imagine what it would have been like in say, the NES days. whoa.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Yes...Tried DC PSO.

No/nothing as of right now....Though I have the means I don't have the time.

[Ed Oscuro]

Never played a game online.

[Julio III]

as with most of you, the only one i've really played online is good old PSO on the Dreamcast, that was some game. Back then with the lack of broadband availability as well.

[NESVIDIOT]

Yeah, I definately played some online console, but only on my DC. . I used my DC as my primary internet connection for over a good year. Slow as dial up is, it was the only connection available to me at the time. I wasn't too disapointed with the speed, and played a lot of Quake 3 Arena and even played PSO online, and I'm not a RPG fan.
I don't play online PC games, for that matter I don't play PC games period. No time for it. Play time is usually Nintendo with friends or alone. I do anticipate WiFi on the DS because I usually have more time with a handheld then with my consoles. I've had X-Box and PS2 since they were new and have never played online with either. I find that I don't have too much interest in online gaming because I find that when I do game it's usually in person with friends.

[monkeychemist]

call me old fashioned but i really don't like playing online.

For example I loved diablo 2 but thenseing my little borthers play online for hours/days/weeks/months doing nothing but upgrading and getting levels just killed it for me. It seems that they are no longer interested in the game and story but just the character and the crap he accumulates.

As far as RPGs online it seemed like a good idea but someone like me who can only dedicate 1-2 hours daily would get outmatched very quickly.

I used to also love starcraft 1p. I tried online and got rushed very quickly and lost 50% of the time. Now don't get me worng, i am not calling unfair, it is very fair and a good strategy in that game. I just dont see the point. The whole point to me was to have a variety of units and use your strategy to outsmart your opponent. If the only way to win now is to just quickly mass build an army of the lowest unit than, it is no longer fun for me, i would rather play computer.

I guess in this huge rant (thanks for reading) i am just trying to say that those who pay online all the time ruin it for those like me who might not have that kind of time (or patience) to play online. To me it makes the game 1 dimmentional since it exploits only ONE part of the game and the fun fizzles away as quickly as you can say ..um.. ... .. jeremy haha.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

I'm going to go with the obscure option which isn't on that list...

I'm going to say "Yes" - I have played Mario Kart (Snes) online with someone across the other side of the world (Albeit via Snes9x) - And a wonderful experience it was as well!


I would also have to put a check next to a "Yes, all of the above" option if there was one, as I have played all four 128bit consoles online at some point, as well as PC, DC, and Ngage

[Mr.FoodMonster]

First online console I ever played was Live, at a friends house. If I remember correctly, it was Crimson Skies. I have PS2 online, so thats my own.

But, I've been playing games online via computer for a good 6-7 years, if not more.

[sisko]

Yes. One console. One game.

Sega Dreamcast. Phantasy Star Online.

At the time, I never did have a BBA, and I never did "subscribe." Instead I used a free dial-up service like NetZero which worked...barely. Now that I do have a BBA, I'm tempted to fire her up again and ho onto one of the homebrew servers :)

[Richter]

yep, my first was DC PSOv1

[Chuplayer]

Chu Chu Rocket was my first online gaming experience. Then I got into Daytona USA for the Dreamcast. I even beat a Japanese gamer. That was the greatest, and toughest, Daytona race I ever had.

In spring of 2001, I got into online MAME through Kaillera. I was a Mark of the Wolves master.

I haven't played any online games seriously since early 2002. I still play Unreal Tournament for PC off and on, and I played Half-Life mods online non-stop earlier this year thanks to Six-Steam, but that's about it.

[rayearthknight]

Like above, my first foray onto the internet was with the Netlink. I used to play Duke Nukem and Virtual On against other local players. When the DC came out, I played PSO for hours on end...and got a lot of meseta from players...who would literally just give me stuff.

Does PSO Blue Burst play like it's console versions?

[Zadoc]

Like above, my first foray onto the internet was with the Netlink. I used to play Duke Nukem and Virtual On against other local players. When the DC came out, I played PSO for hours on end...and got a lot of meseta from players...who would literally just give me stuff.

Does PSO Blue Burst play like it's console versions?


Did you ever hang out at NetLink World or in Sega's IRC servers?

[InsaneDavid]

really too bad that Propeller Arena never got released.

That goes double once you play the bootleg version - a freaking shame, it would have been great!

[xxdemonic_gamer]

xbox live all day everyday if u want to play with me add me my gamertag----------- xxdemonicgamer

[Zadoc]

Damn, no other NetLinkers?

[buttasuperb]

I've played Twisted Metal Black Online for PS2.

And a whole bunch of games on xbox live.

The $4 and change a month is worth it.

I don't see how anyone can complain about that price, especially when I'm sure a good amount of you buy at least one classic game a month that you play once and then throw on the shelf.

Oh, and Propellar Arena is average at best. Crimson Skies is far superior.

[bargora]

Xbox, Steel Battalion: Line of Contact.

Well, that is all. :)

[Slimedog]

Started on PSO Dreamcast, like pretty much everybody else apperantly. A few others on DC too. Then Xbox live and a pile of those, mostly Mechwarrior and Crimson Skies. Honestly the $4 a month is worth it just for the content drops. Did a lot of PSO on Xbox as well. I can't imagine it anymore without voice support. Then came FFXI on PS2.

Kind of off topic, but I completely sympathize with folks who say the online thing is not their cup of tea. I really had no inclination to do the whole MMORPG thing at all, but I ended up going online with FFXI since I got it for dirt cheap. I figured I might as well do the free month. I've got to say it was a real eye opener. Quite fun, a rather elaborate and Square sutiable story, niffty mechanics and many really great people. I don't play much now and it didn't change my life, but it was a lot of fun. I think it made me a more well-rounded gamer. My wife still goes on every now and then. At any rate, if you like RPGs you should check it out, even if it doesn't seem like your thing. You might be surprised.

[InsaneDavid]

Oh, and Propellar Arena is average at best. Crimson Skies is far superior.

You're forgetting that Propeller Arena was to be released back in 2000. Also Propeller Arena was basically designed 100% for the SegaNet (same as Outtrigger), the offline modes were just tacked on.

[rayearthknight]

Yeah, Zadoc, I did hang out there for awhile

[Zilla]

My fisrt online Console Gaming exp was PSO. It was awesome but it was also my last. Online gaming for me only feels right one my PC. Consoles have always been for me or some buddies in the same room. I kinda like it better that way. Besides I fear the day console games all ship incomplete and buggy because patches will fix it all later.

[Sam]

Burnout 3 on Xbox Live absolutly rocks online even with the horrible double handling of EA's server/Xbox Live that can cause problems.

[Cryomancer]

Does PSO Blue Burst play like it's console versions?

Sure, especially if you use a DC pad converter. However it has assloads more content, the DC stuff being "episode I", the stuff added for cube/xbox episode II, and in a few days episode IV is coming. There's a LOT added, but not much that was there in the DC days has changed...well, the two-tone "rare" weapons all have their own models now and rares come in red boxes, but mostly it's DC++++++.

[Zadoc]

Yeah, Zadoc, I did hang out there for awhile

What was your name there?

[d4rkmoon]

Yes,and from time to time it´s a big fun.
The only thing what pissed me of was that they canceled the Firewarrior Server 5Month after release.And they didnt gave a f*** about people complaining to it " thank you THQ for excessive online experience :( ".This is the bad side of the online gaming with consoles.

First they print on the Cover "including online feature" and then they stop the server before there are enough people to play with.
Ok this was one of the first FPS Games with online feature, but it should not be allowed to advertise it, evevn sony SONY did it on "central station" .

On the other hand there are games like KILLZONE.
The dev. peeps really care about their "baby".And you can "feel" they take you serious as custumer .
"thx guerilla"

My Online Games:

PS2:

NFSU
Killzone

[CrimsonNugget]

I have a Netlink, but I only used it to browse websites when I got it. My Dreamcast was a different story, I've played tons of PSO on that beauty. I played a lot of Alien Front Online too. I've done very little online gaming on my PS2, tried SOCOM, hated it. Tony Hawk 4 is alright with net play, but not great.

[Retsudo]

The first console game I played was Socom. Then I moved on to Socom 2.
People complain about how bad PS2 online is,and I dont see any problem with it.
I also Played other PS2 titles online.
Killzone
Midnight Club Dub Edition
Timesplitters 3

I already paid for the game, so I dont see myself paying more money to play online. If it's not free, It's not for me!

[Dji]

Personally, I think online consoles are great, however with the current climate in the gaming world of madden/newmovie/brownactiongame that is going on, it's kinda sucks sometimes. Imagine what it would have been like in say, the NES days. whoa.

Right on. Who knows, perhaps the Revolution will enable this to happen. I've already played SNES games online via *gasp* emulation (which I'm highly against except in this impossible-to-do-on-a-real-console case) and it was flawless. Anyway... I had an Xbox Live subscription for a year, but I hardly ever played. I didn't renew it. I only played fighting games, along with some demos. I would have loved to try Chessmaster, but there was literally no one else online whenever I would go... same thing happened quite often with Capcom VS. SNK 2, especially when the newer fighters were released. I've had quite a bit of fun with Street Fighter II (SFAC) and SVC Chaos. Handy, since I love 2D fighters, while all but one of my friends despise them. However, there were lots of quitters, bad players, lag, etc. And not many players at all, in fact. I imagine most people would be playing Halo 2 and whatnot. All in all, playing online is fun, but not even nearly as fun as playing with someone who's right next to you. Playing online feels quite... soulless.

I am looking forward to one online console game: Super Smash Bros. for Revolution. I am wary of the unheard-of number of lamers this game will attract, though.

[MattyXB]

Console - not yet and maybe never will do it.
Console Emulator - have try SNES with ZBattle with no luck.
Not sure if I have try or play other consoles, but I think not so long. Maybe I will try sometimes SNES again, because there exist great 2 Player games.

Most I have played in the past Bomberman Online from Japan. Was a great game, but most it throw me out from the game, because it was to slow from here to Japan.

[tuxedojoe]

My first (and only) online gaming experience with consoles was on the Dreamcast. I had been a HUGE Diablo II: LOD fan at the time, and when I heard about PSO, I just had to have it. I spent hours playing PSO. I also used the browser to download some *gasp* game saves to my VMUs.

Eventually, I ended up quitting because I never had bought a DC keyboard :(

[Howie6925]

I've played FFO and Everquest online adventures loved them both but quit playing due to lack of time. :(

[muteboy]

the only game i have played online is monster hunter for the ps2. i havnt played it for a while though. i am stuck on the powderstone mission. i hate powderstone :angry: !

[CreamSoda]

Yes, my first time playing online and of course first console online was the Sega Dreamcast. :)

I had the best times ever playing, PSO, ChuChu Rocket, Unreal Tournament, NFL 2K1, ect, ect. Now I still play DC online, PSO, Maximum Pool, StarLancer

I also have my PS2 and Xbox online(but for some reason I like DC better still for it). :eek 2:

Xbox LIVE is awesome, seemless voice chat, friend lists(that go for all games), very good low LAG play, Halo 2!!, ect

PS2 online, well IMO it seems like a step back from Dreamcast online, I dunno why that is but it just doesn't feel as good.

As for PC the only game I played online was StarCraft.

[CreamSoda]

Yes, my first time playing online and of course first console online was the Sega Dreamcast. :)

I had the best times ever playing, PSO, ChuChu Rocket, Unreal Tournament, NFL 2K1, ect, ect. Now I still play DC online, PSO, Maximum Pool, StarLancer

I also have my PS2 and Xbox online(but for some reason I like DC better still for it). :eek 2:

Xbox LIVE is awesome, seemless voice chat, friend lists(that go for all games), very good low LAG play, Halo 2!!, ect

PS2 online, well IMO it seems like a step back from Dreamcast online, I dunno why that is but it just doesn't feel as good.

As for PC the only game I played online was StarCraft.

[CreamSoda]

Yes, my first time playing online and of course first console online was the Sega Dreamcast. :)

I had the best times ever playing, PSO, ChuChu Rocket, Unreal Tournament, NFL 2K1, ect, ect. Now I still play DC online, PSO, Maximum Pool, StarLancer

I also have my PS2 and Xbox online(but for some reason I like DC better still for it). :eek 2:

Xbox LIVE is awesome, seemless voice chat, friend lists(that go for all games), very good low LAG play, Halo 2!!, ect

PS2 online, well IMO it seems like a step back from Dreamcast online, I dunno why that is but it just doesn't feel as good.

As for PC the only game I played online was StarCraft.

[DTJAAAAMJSLM]

I started with PSO on the Dreamcast and eventually joined Xbox Live.

[Sam]

Yeah I'm on Xbox Live and play Burnout 3 and Crimson Skies.Hope to pick up some more live titles in the future.