User:Jfouch/sandbox

Internet Gaming History
Internet gaming has been around as early as the console Dreamcast. The online gaming experience has come a long way from Dreamcast online multiplayer to today's consoles such as Xbox 360, PS3, and Nintendo Wii's online game-play. This article will give a brief walk through of the history of internet gaming and how it has evolved from a small number of people to millions playing.

Early Online Gaming:

The first console that allowed user to play online is the Dreamcast. Dreamcast allowed user to connect with each other via 56K or through Ethernet. Although this was the first online game-play environment only a small number of games were supported.



The next stage in online game-play was with the Xbox. Xbox connect allowed users to connect with each other through a program for the computer. These users needed to connect there Xbox's to the internet via Ethernet. Any game that supported system-link multiplayer was allowed to be played on XBOX connect. Microsoft released Xbox Live and Xbox connect became obsolete. Xbox live allowed users to connect with others without the use of a personal computer allowing much more ease of usability. The PlayStation 2 also allowed users to play online but the user needed to purchase the PlayStation Network Adapter. The Nintendo GameCube also allowed users to play online but, again, the user needed to purchase the GameCube Adapter.

Modern Online Gaming:

Today a variety of consoles support modern online gaming. The Xbox 360, PlayStation3, and Nintendo Wii all support online gaming. Xbox Live is still be using today for the Xbox 360 and allows users to play games, browse the internet, and a means for social networking just to name a few. The PlayStation Network is run on the PlayStation 3 and also allows users to play games and browse the internet just to name a few. The Nintendo Wii allows users to connect through the Virtual Console, which also has similar features as the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.

=Refrences= http://www.xbox.com/en-US/LIVE?xr=shellnav

http://us.playstation.com/psn/

http://www.nintendo.com/wii/online/virtualconsole/

http://dreamcast.onlineconsoles.com/phpBB2/guides_getonline.php