Sega Saturn Netlink (One of the first official online consoles)
Do you remember the Sega Saturn's online functions? Before 13 year old zit-faced boys talked smack to you on the Xbox Live, there was The Sega Netlink.
While going through the great post on the Sega Saturn at Eidolon's Inn, I came across the information that there was a network link up to the Sega Saturn. It should be noted that there was an near-online option to the Sega Genesis through the Sega Channel. However, the Saturn had big plans for network gaming at the time. The technology simply wasn't there for all their plans, because the speed was 28.8 k. The Saturn never lived up to its fullest potential because of sluggish sells. I found this funny, because Sega had a better experience with the Dreamcast and its online function (Phantasy Star Online). By the time Sega had realized their online dreams, the Dreamcast was put to rest and they left the hardware business. Sony and Microsoft would further explore the online consoles technology.
The Sega Netlink was an add-on just like the Sega CD and the 32x. You hooked it up through that ‘bay door’ at the top of the Saturn. Sega always kept their consoles open for expansion all the way to their last console the Dreamcast. Sony would follow suit with their expansion door (But Sony realized the USB would be a better upgrading option).
Customers had the option of buying it with the Saturn or buying it by itself. The problem was the price was a bit too steep ($199 by itself). But, there were enough hardcore fans out there that played on the Network.
One of the most strange things I came across was that Sega of America let schools connect to the Internet through their Netlink way back in 1996. From the link above,
((SANTA CLARA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 1996--Sega of America announced today that 1,100 of its new Sega Saturn Net Link products, the industry's first Internet-ready next generation videogame consoles, will be used to connect students to the Internet in collaboration with Projectneat Inc.
Projectneat is an independent non-profit organization created to donate the tools and services to provide every primary and secondary school in America access to the Internet. ))
I have admired Sega for always trying something first (the GB discs were precursors to DVDs, they had the Sega Channel and the Dreamcast Network). They always took chances with their systems and add-on, while Nintendo always played it safe. (The Virtual Boy doesn't count) Sega would always get burned too because of their wild ideas. After Sega's many failures, the other three companies would then go on and copy that model.
You can go to a fan site devoted to Netlink. Here are the games that were “online”. I think it is cool that there are fans out there still.
And, this guy plays some else over the Saturn between New York and Indiana. They're playing Duke Nukem 3D Online.
Yeah, you could get a keyboard and mouse too. Look at the shape of that mouse.
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7 comments:
I think the problem that people neglect to mention when it comes to the Saturn is the fact that memory was so expensive for it. That was a huge factor for me as a Saturn gamer.
How much was the memory "card?"? how much did it carry?
This goes back to Sega's accessories being too over priced. I have completely forgotten how much they're Dreamcast Memory card went for.
They were 60 dollars (or as I remember, 4 times as much as a Sony card)... they held more than a Sony card granted (the blocks were smaller too so it used that memory more efficiently), but they were unreliable (they gave slightly wrong specs to the third party companies, so their cartridges actually destroyed the slot).
60 dollars, holy crap. that is a bit much. So, the 3rd party ones weren't good.
One of the things about Sony was that the third party stuff was usually just as good as the 1st party stuff.
But I do remember those oversize PS1 memory cards causing problems
Wow that 3 part video is actually mine. Lol it's cool I stumbled across this. If you check my channel out I've posted an hour long video that explains it all as well as shows online gameplay of all the netlink games except Daytona USA CCE Netlink edition.
The other video you post is another member of the Saturn league. The guy in Indiana is the guy I played against in my hour long video lol.
And in your article you say that the Netlink offered sluggish speeds at 28.8kbps that's not true. When playing mutliplayer games you don't connect to the internet. The saturns direct dial eachother so there's zero lag. I've played Virtual On against someone in Colorado while I live in Ohio and there was zero lag. And that's with a fighting game
Thanks for dropping in and leaving a comment. I will certainly do a follow up post using your video and make the proper corrections in that follow up video.
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