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Don Crabb: Apple and Multiplayer Internet Games
by Don Crabb
Contributing Editor and Columnist
doncrabb@maccentral.com
June 7, 9:30 a.m. ET
I recently decided to get serious about multiplayer, networked computer games. With my nephews nearing their sixth and third birthdays, the lads (who I Macified when one was two and the other was still a fetus) are getting interested in computer games in a big way. As Ryan (the near six year old) told me the other day, "these eduware titles are kinda boring, Uncle Donnie. How about showing us how to play some real games?"
So, a computer gaming expert I am set to become.
Especially a multiuser, networked computer gaming expert, since, as Ryan noted, "it's easy to beat the computer, I wanna beat another kid." I swear to God I haven't been spiking the youngun's Cheerios with testosterone!
So, I started investigating multiplayer gaming sites and options that
young masters Ryan and Patrick (the near three-year old) could use with their PowerMacs.
The first site I tried was Mplayer (www.mplayer.com). And it's free,
which is sure to impress my sister. Mplayer provides classic multiplayer games like Scrabble and Hearts, plus shoot-em-ups like Quake and Total Annihilation. Mplayer.com includes 3D action games, real-time strategy, roleplaying, sports, simulations, as well as classic games.
The site offers ratings and rankings for the most popular games and
holds regular tournaments and events for virtually all of the games.
Enough to satisfy young Ryan, I hope.
To use Mplayer games, you must already have an Internet connection. With that you download the Mplayer free software from their site which then sets-up your computer so your nephews can do the rest. The software download can also include all the games they'll want to play.
It was sounding better and better all the time. Then came the big thud. The Mplayer site told me that to run Mplayer games, Ryan and Patrick would need a Windows PC running Windows 95, with a Pentium processor, 16MB of RAM, and a 28.8Kbps modem connection to the Net (or faster).
Mplayer does not work with Macs. And while you *could* use it with
SoftWindows 95 or Virtual PC, the latency problem would really hurt
multiplayer gaming. Merd.
Option number two, the Internet Gaming Zone, is run by the Death Star.
Microsoft's Internet Gaming Zone (www.zone.com) provides free multiuser games like Monster Truck Madness, Microsoft Golf, and Close Combat, plus flight simulators like Fighter Ace, and classic card and board games.
And like Mplayer, the Internet Gaming Zone works only on Windows 95
machines. In fact it ONLY works on the Windows 95 versions of Internet
Explorer. Merd times two.
Time to try the next site, DWANGO (that's not a misprint). DWANGO is a
high-speed, fast-response real-time game arena supported by the DWANGO
Corporation's dedicated network of servers. DWANGO's service is called
(what else?), DWANGO-World (www.dwango.com), and it provides support for action, strategy, sports, and driving games. DWANGO-World works by
providing high-speed, consistent data transfer that helps make real-time interactive multiplayer games more realistic. Unlike Mplayer or the Internet Gaming Zone, DWANGO is not a multiplayer Internet gaming site. Instead, it is its own Dial-up Wide Area Network -- you dialup DWANGO, instead of your ISP -- that lets you play multiplayer games without the usual Net lag.
According to the company, "DWANGO lets you experience real-time play
that lets you see your move and your opponents' moves as they happen.
Best of all, at least eight players can enjoy this fast-response play
without game interruption caused by the Internet trying to catch up.
DWANGO's servers are solely dedicated to real-time game play, connecting you to other players in a way that insures rapid and consistent transfer of game information regardless of the number of players participating in a single game."
DWANGO works with most multiplayer Internet games, including Quake II,
Total Annihilation, Big Red Racing, Blood, Doom II, Ultimate Doom, Final Doom, Heretic: Shadow Of The Serpent Riders, Hexen: Beyond Heretic, Age Of Empires, Cart Precision Racing, Flight Simulator 98, and Monster Truck Madness. Sounds definitely like the way for Ryan and Patrick to go.
Until I read that the DWANGO software is, guess what?, Windows-only.
Merd times three.
All of which reminded me that even with Apple's recent attempts to get
back in the good graces of game developers, and the imminent appearance of the soon-to-be-hot iMac, that it's not enough. The game market, especially multiplayer games, is 100% mass-market driven. And there's just not enough Mac mass to get them interested. Unless, of course, some enterprising multiplayer gaming site decides there is.
Let's hope there is.
Don welcomes your feedback at < doncrabb@maccentral.com >
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