Slashdot Mirror

You're correct - you can use Xlink Kai to play with other people over the Internet for free. It works fine and there are typically hundreds of Halo 2 players online at any given moment. It's also popular in countries where Xbox Live isn't available.

Actually, if isn't there already a third party server for the XBox?

XLink Kai

I know it's not the same but there are some alternatives to be aware of: XBConnect and Xlink Kai.
That is at least unless they decide to stop support for the original xbox too.

I guess this is why I prefer playing multiplayer games on PC rather than my consoles. This is also why I prefer to buy media for a game (e.g CD or DVD) rather than a download (e.g steam). Even though I also use steam.

At least for games that support LAN play, there is http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/ .

Fine. except that the Xbox 360's system link drops connections with ping times longer than 33 ms (Warning, uncited Wikipedia reference). Sure, you can just get an old Xbox secondhand for actual Xbox games, but this doesn't help for anyone who downloaded them from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

If Microsoft is interested in mitigating the damage caused by terminating the service for Xbox games and consoles, the least they could do is lift this restriction on system link connections, at the very least for these soon-to-be-unsupported titles.

PS: the downloads page does not seem to have the source code for the engine, only the UI. Where is the source code for the rest of the software?

I picked up Gears of War for the PC last week only to find that it required me to PAY for a LIVE account to play it online after the first month and to download patches automagically.

You don't need to necessarily pay for a Live account just to play games online with friends. You can always use Kai XLink which supports the games for at least Xbox, Xbox 360, PS2, Gamecube, and PSP. The convenience factor of the Live service far outweights the price though, but if you don't like the idea of spending $50/year on a Live subscription, then there are always alternatives.

And, for another alternative: http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/

This is untested by me since I don't run x64, but here is supposedly the Vista x64 RTM method for permanently disabling the driver signing requirement:

Start/Programs/Accessories
Right-click "command prompt" and select "run as administrator"
At the command prompt, type bcdedit /set loadoptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
Reboot!

In case you want to enable the driver signing requirement again:
bcdedit -deletevalue loadoptions

(Blatantly borrowed from http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2 0068&start=20)

You don't need an Xbox Live subscription to play Xbox games with other people online.

That argument might make good sense, if Sony's online service is similar to Microsoft's.

I'm just concerned that "free online gameplay" will be closer to the free XLink Kai for Xbox, than to Xbox Live - i.e. a basic list of player-hosted servers to connect to, then you're on your own.

Correct. Someone above mentioned the TiVo subscription fees. Microsoft does the same thing with the Xbox with their XBoxLive deal. You pay them a service fee to add a function to your xbox that you would not otherwise have, that being joining other players in a game. So you pay for the xbox, the game, and the service - Microsoft makes money off of you three times for what amounts to one thing.

However, you can skip Microsoft and use Kai to join your friends online. I'm pretty sure this violates the EULA, and certainly doesn't give money to Microsoft that they intended would be for them. Why MSFT hasn't gone after these guys and other like them I'm not really sure. Blizzard did, IIRC.

In any case, MSFT does care what you do with your xBox after you buy it, and that is the point - they have no business telling me what to do with something I bought, short of voiding my warranty if I break the terms.

It's a completely free alternative to Live, has many of the same features (friends list, voice comms etc) and supports a wider range of games.

MS intended System Link (think LAN Party) to be local only, but by running the XLink Kai client on a local PC and tunneling the Xbox's LAN packets across the internet, you get exactly what you asked for: free, online multiplayer with your friends.

If you want it, you can have buddy lists, server arenas a la GameSpy, basic messaging and even voice comms on many games. It works on Xbox and Xbox 360. And best of all, it supports an even wider range of games than Xbox Live does.

Makes a great alternative to Live - and importantly (for me), it works well with XBMC.

You don't have to pay Microsoft to get a network connection to your friends. But if you do want to have access to their services, then you might have to pony up about 6 bucks a month. You do know that it costs money for the bandwidth and running all those servers, right?

"Next Gen" can have several meanings. If you were to have a child, that child would be the next generation. The child in not entirely different from you, but it is a compeltely different offspring, making it "v2.0". While they might use market hype to convince you their "next gen" system blows current consoles away (which is the point of marketing, no one wants to buy a console that is 'kind of better, and sort of faster'), it does not mean that the system truly is next generation. At the same time, it seems the lines between what a generation is, in terms of consoles, has begun to blur. It was easy to see when graphics went from 8-bit to 16-bit to 32-bit to 64-bit, and when the graphics went from 2d to 3d. What do you use now to draw that line? HD resolution? DVD drive? HD-DVD drive? Multi Core Processor? I think there is no clear answer.

While I'm at it, I'm pretty fed up with people singing to the tune of "no one wants to use the media center capabilities, i just want a sweet ass gaming rig." Well, believe it or not, Microsoft actually learned something from the original XBOX. Maybe some of you have been in a cave or actively turn your heads away from all things XBOX, but two of the main reasons to mod an original XBOX is for the use of Linux and for XBOX Media Center (not counting the added bonus of playing 4-player RC Pro Am Torunaments). While Microsoft will never condone the use of Linux on a Microsoft product (save the future release of Microsoft 'Nix 2006), the new incarnation of XBOX takes away the need to modigy the product to use it as a media center. The other side of opposition is people using Tunnelling software to play games over the internet for free instead of paying for Xbox-Live. Microsoft also addressed that by making some form of Xbox-Live free for all users of Xbox 360. So congrats to Micosoft on taking suggestions.

Having said all that, I see no reason for me to shell out money on the Xbox 360. I have all of those features on my current xbox. The only benefit to me would be if the game quality was leaps and bounds above the current Xbox, which it doesn't look like to me. Sure the games look good, but so do my current Xbox games when hooked up to my plasma screen with component cables and my surround sound with an optical cord.

use kai - http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/

it's free, and is genius -

works with DC, Xbox, ps2, 360, DS, PSP

it's like a meta-gaming LAN

can totally play with anyone, anywhere - it basically tunnels so everyone appears to be on your LAN.

woot!

have none of you evere tried XlinkKai http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/index.php [quote] XLink Kai is a global gaming network - bringing together XBox, Playstation 2, Gamecube and PSP users, in one integrated community. It is software running on your PC or Macintosh that allows you to play system-link enabled games online for free. Kai is the only service that is not console specific, and boasts one of the friendliest communites available. [/quote] use it all the time.. for all my consoles.

What about other substitutes for online console gaming like XLink KAI and XBConnect? I've been using those to play Xbox, and in the case of KAI, PS2 and GameCube, online since the consoles started having online games. Both also show signs that they plan to support XB 360 and PS3 with thier services in the future, as well. And, both are FREE, with XBC charging for a "premium" version.

I agree $50 per year isn't expensive (think it's a bit more here in Australia), but the Xlink-Kai tunnelling service is free and runs on XBox, PS2 and PSP. It might also be the best option if you've got a chipped xbox with larger hard drive, as you may get kicked from Live.

Xlink-Kai certainly doesn't have the userbase of Live, but aside from having to have a PC on and the engine started, and a bit more work port-forwarding and opening firewalls when doing the preliminary setup, it's is similar, quick and easy, especially with XBMC integration.

I find it quite enjoyable to race against drunk germans on Moto GP 3, or the army of stoned aussies that frequent the halo 2 asia-oceania arena :)

http://www.teamxlink.co.uk

I don't want to sound like an MS apologist here, but...

A huge amount of Xbox titles feature an online component, Live voice support is excellent, even the lobby system works fairly well. SCEE's Phil Harrison recently admitted that Live had the jump on their PS2 online systems, hell, it even won an emmy! Sure, you have to pay for the service - but the same is true for many online titles. Of course, there is always an alternative to the Microsoft option.

Go and have a look around the (non-partisan) gaming media, and see what people are saying about it before you make judgements. Better still, go have a good play yourself.

It seems like no "gaming router" would be complete without the ability to run an XLink Kai server.

Unfortunately, XLink Kai won't run on FreeBSD...

so will the online ones when some free alternative gets good enough.

they already have

If you buy an Xbox you'll need to get a mod chip and a larger hard drive and install it. That's about all there is to it. You'll also have a controller to use on all your games.

As far as the emulation goes, I would say that the NES and Genesis are 100%. I think the SNES is pretty much 100% other than maybe a games with custom chips that don't work properly. They all run at full speed with sound. Even Surreal64 (emulating the n64) has many games that run at full speed w/ sound. MameoX is working really well now that they added in virtual memory support. It worked great before but it couldn't load the larger roms on the Xbox...now it can. Almost all of the emulators you can get for the Xbox are ported from their Win version so you can expect about the same results on the Xbox.

As an added bonus to your "ultimate console" you can use Xbox Media Center and stream movies, music, photos, etc, from a network share. And if you decide to get some Xbox games to play but can't get online to play them because Xbox Live bans you for having your Xbox modded you can get XLink Kai http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/ and play on it for free. They even wrote a firmware update for the Linksys WRT54G (which is what I use) so you don't have to use a PC to setup games online. It's all done through XBMC.

"A special feature that will certainly appeal to gamers and enthusiasts is that the new release from Mandriva has support for the Xbox console, empowering users to bridge the divide between gaming and other computer activities."

Could they possibly be talking about kaid ? Anyone? Anyone??

As far as I'm aware, there is a LAN mode to the game, meaning all you need is X-Link Kai to be able to play "online".

There is a lan option, according to the gran turismo 4 web site, and on the xlink kai site they list gran turismo 4 as being supported. Basically, this is tunneling software that let's you play the LAN mode over the internet.

Ridge racers DS is a rushed port of an n64 game(I own RR:DS btw, it has it's moments), RR PSP is the best looking PSP game so far, hardly a fair comparison. Try comparing Need For Speed Underground PSP vs. DS, much better comparison, although the PSP still wins in looks, the DS version stands up MUCH better. Here's some pics for comparison (DS pic is a scan, both pics are not guarenteed final release pics):
PSP - http://media.psp.ign.com/media/664/664929/img_2533 918.html
DS - http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?p=4 6413#46413

xbconnect and xlink kai will probably support it eventually, enabling xbox owners to play for free too.

again, that's not quite as nice as free right out of the box, but the point is that if you want to play online it's really no big deal either way.

Sony PlayStation 2

PAL - NTSC Bandwidth Headset

Armored Core: Nexus - High No
ATV Offroad Fury 2 - High No
Colin McRae Rally 2005 Yes Low No
DTM Race Driver 2 - - No
Gran Turismo 4 - - -
IndyCar Series 2005 - - -
Midnight Club 2 - - -
SOCOM II: US Navy Seals No Low Yes
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow - High No
Star Wars: Battlefront - - -
TimeSplitters 2 - - -
Tony Hawk's Underground - - -
Twisted Metal Black Online - - -

Total Supported: 13

http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/ don't have support for the DS yet... but they will have 'soon'. They do have support for the PSP right now (it has a very nice and standards compliant WiFi module) but the DS is going to take a little longer. IMHO TeamXlink's Kai is the best hope for DS tunnelling. I'd say Nitro is vaporware at worst, and at best it's a group headed up by non-technically literate BS artists with a few real coders who'll get something working sometime after everyone else has.
Then there's whatever project http://www.demasked.com/ is... something with a lot of hype, possibly commercial interests and setup by one of the WarpPipe guys. This could be interesting, but it won't be an early open tunelling solution.

What about credibility?

The Nitro Online team have been on the forums lately claiming they would release 'something big' within the next few days ... their time ran out yesterday.

I'm not saying that the Nitro Online team can't/won't come out with anything it But my money would be on Team X Link releasing something first as they have actually produced results with other consoles and handhelds.

at one point they were posting on warpipe/xlink forums claiming it would be ready in 8 days.

Surprise! its not!

What theyre trying to do is apparently impossible anyway, read here for more details

Nintendo DS is NOT a GameBoy. Nintendo has repeeatedly said that the next GameBoy will be out at some point in the future, and Nintendo DS is intended as a 3rd pillar. It's incorrect to describe it as a GameBoy.

And secondly, the Warp Pipe guys aren't the only ones doing this. The Xlink people are also in development of tunneling software.

these guys have been hawking this project for weeks now, with nothing to show. They have no site and their entire project seems to revolve around drumming up support from all the 12 year olds in the warppipe forums.

You want real tunneling with the DS? Team XLINK are working on it..

The Nitro peeps are claiming 100% comaptibility with all wireless NICs in windows. Now this is impossible as most cards will not support promisc mode in windows, not to mention that they ignore BSS stuff most of the time.

Try XLink Kai then. I can't (won't and don't want to) use XBox Live, but i've been having an absolute hoot playing Halo2 through Kai...much to the detriment of my real work :)

The latest Linux version of Kaid is usable, as is the Java UI (haven't tried the ncurses UI yet) and XMBC integration. They're all actively supported and getting better with each release.

The DS uses 802.11b technology for wireless communications. No current software titles support TCP based communication, so they cannot be played online. team xlink is working on "tunneling" the existing DS software titles. Future DS titles will support internet access, but it is currently unsure which titles and when they will be available.

Xlink is already working on extending their suite of software to support the DS.

http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/forum/viewforum.php?f=3 5&sid=f3df9e6ef1c5dd1f9a2c163722b0d45b

http://teamxlink.co.uk/, famous in the console world for their console tunneling software, have taken on the task of tunneling the DS. Check out their forums. Starting with pictochat, we may be playing matches of Hunters on the webnet within a few weeks.

This is nothing new. They have been banning people for signing on to Live with modified hardware or software since the very beginning. The only difference is that they're now actively and aggressively pushing their agenda (which has been 'allow only stock hardware on Live' since the very beginning to discourage cheating and piracy).

And Live is not without competition. If your game has a system-link option, you can play it online, period. There's XBC, there's XLink and a few others. Yes, it's not XBox Live. But it works.
This is not such a big deal.

Or, stop paying your $9.85/month and use XLink Kai.

http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/

Works with all platforms, all games. For the XBox, basically it makes the "System Link" option work across the Internet. I've used it personally, and can attest it works very well.

No but you can play on the free version

The one pro for XBConnect is the number of Halo players on there, but for a better experience (faster, cleaner UI, support for clans and ladders, and packet capturing written from the ground up for better performance with gaming packets vs. WinPCap that XBC and other use), try out XLink. A version with the new packet capture will be out 10/16 and is supposed to be about 10 times better than the version with WinPCap.

XLink is available for Windows, Linux on 10/16 and Mac OSX shortly thereafter.

XLink also works with PS2 and GameCube games that support LAN play. Read more about that at my tech blog.

The folks over at http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/ are gonna attempt to create an online tunnel similar to their xbox/PS2 tunnels. It'll be interesting to see how the system compares to the one stated in the article. I'm assuming the Xlink system will be free (since it is for the xbox and PS2).

I gave up on Live when I learned that there are no MS-run servers for the games, forcing users to run servers on crappy home connections. What makes Live better than Kai? Not much, and Kai is free. And the community is smaller, thus friendlier.

The new version of KAI will be out soon and is already integrated into XBMC with external tunneling, and should be implemented in some of the new dashboards soon (I think I read AVA was going to implement soon) I'm not sure about your linux distro, but I know there is tunneling software for xbox.

teamxlink.co.uk

It's not great YET, but it is free online gaming for modded xbox.