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Sega Netlink

Jaded God - Mar 13, 2003

		Jaded God		Mar 13, 2003
			Can anyone give a history of the Sega Saturn's Net-Link system to play via the internet through connections. I would like to know when it came about and when it ended, also if there is any chance to resurrect it and establish servers?

		Mr. Moustache		Mar 14, 2003
			Hmm.. I have a magazine with an article about the netlink somewhere. I believe it came around sometime in '96, sold about 15,000 units, and had about 5games released that allowed play over the net. The games weren't played through servers, but rather modem to modem connections, and the modems were only 28.8kbps. So, I don't know how well it would work if someone attempted to make a server to handle netlink games.

		Taelon		Mar 14, 2003
			Sounds like it worked just like directly linking two Saturns, except you could do it over long distances (call a friend's Saturn over the phone, I assume?). Would be interesting to try. Incidentally, is it possible to do direct modem-to-modem connections between two Dreamcasts, or do they need to run on servers instead?

antime

Mar 14, 2003

	
	
		
		
			Originally posted by Taelon@Mar 14, 2003 @ 08:42 PM



 Incidentally, is it possible to do direct modem-to-modem connections between two Dreamcasts, or do they need to run on servers instead?

A modem's a modem, but naturally it depends on the game.

There's some general info about the Netlink in Noob's FAQ which you can find on Gamefaqs (Systems/Sega Saturn/Saturn Hardware FAQs) but not much.

		Alexvrb		Mar 14, 2003
			AFAIK there was only one DC game planned to use modem-to-modem, I think Railroad Tycoon? Anyway they were on a deadline and had to scrap the feature entirely, making it offline-only. I think my favorite modem-to-modem game was Warcraft II for the PC. This was at a time when the only affordable way to have a fast connection was direct modem-to-modem dialing, but of course this limited you to your area unless you wanted to pay long distance! I've never done modem-to-modem with a console, but with a DC it shouldn't be too hard. They've already produced homebrew modem drivers for the DC.

		Jaded God		Mar 17, 2003
			So all these hardcore sega saturn fans here and no one had a netlink for their saturn or knows more about it?

		Alexvrb		Mar 17, 2003
			I suppose if you've got money then its not a problem. But I'd rather buy more games than a peripheral that is now mostly useless. Especially since I don't have a dialup ISP to even use with the browser or whatever.

		Pearl Jammzz		Mar 17, 2003
			I think it would be cool to have it just to mess around w/ it.....if you and your buddy who lived say, 1000 miles away from ya had one, and the same game, it would be badass to hookup and play sum saturn w/ him/her. dont ya think? How much are these things BTW?

		allsport11		Mar 17, 2003
			Can't be too much, picked up two new ones for $10 each last month.

MasterAkumaMatata

Mar 18, 2003

	
	
		
		
			Originally posted by allsport11@Mar 17, 2003 @ 05:23 PM



 Can't be too much, picked up two new ones for $10 each last month.

Have you tested them, assuming you have two Saturns and two copies of the same NetLink game?

		thewasp31		May 8, 2003
			I'm a Netlink owner, in the UK. JEEZ does anyone in britain have a netlink? (I know they only came out in Finland as test for Europe)

		ExCyber		May 8, 2003
			I bought one, then found one fairly cheap on eBay and gave it to a Sega-minded friend. We played a few rounds of Virtual On (via direct-dial). I'm pretty sure the potential for Internet play existed, but I don't know if any games actually supported it.

		AmyGrrl		May 8, 2003
			I'm from Canada... and I have a netlink... but have never played a game with it.... the only useful thing for the device is the abitly to e-mail save files back and forth... == but I don't have dail-up anymore... too bad I couldn't setup my netlink to connect to my PC.. and the share my highspeed connection...

Dyne

May 9, 2003

	
	
		
		
			Originally posted by Jaded God@Mar 17, 2003 @ 08:24 AM



 So all these hardcore sega saturn fans here and no one had a netlink for their saturn or knows more about it?

i have a netlink and have played (and own) all the netlink capable games.....what is it you want to know?

		Jaded God		May 10, 2003
			Can you still play via online with it? Or is it just made for a direct connect via 2 people only?

		gameboy900		May 10, 2003
			Direct connect only. The only software for it that even knows what an internet is is the included browser.

		SAG26		May 14, 2003
			I live in the US and I have a Net Link. I bought it new off of the internet for about $15. I haven't played any games with it yet since I don't have any of the Net Link games and I don't know anyone that lives around me that has a Saturn. I have used it to surf the net though, it works well, although it is very slow and not all picture types will show up. If you can find one for around $15 or $20, I would suggest buying it just to have it and try it out and mess around with it.

XSkaterPenguinX

Jun 23, 2003

	
	
		
		
			Originally posted by AmyGrrl@May 8, 2003 @ 09:43 PM



 too bad I couldn't setup my netlink to connect to my PC.. and the share my highspeed connection...

If someone were using a sega saturn emulator, could you use netplay?

		IBarracudaI		Jun 23, 2003
			netplay on emus doesn't require the real consoles to be able to go online. Nowadays, some emulators include a kaillera... client, which allows 2 or more people to play online. It works by sending all your keystrokes to a server that re-sends to the other players, this way a 2nd player (or more players) can be simulated as if they were playing on the same pc...