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(Yes, you can manually connect to servers over the Internet by IP once that happens, but you can do that with your Xbox too.)

And this is the big picture: using tunneling to side-step XBL is exactly the same as using an alternative matchmaking service on PC to sidestep the official servers. Just because console players don't want to do it changes nothing.

The real issue is when games which have no system-link support start getting servers pulled. Of course, then it's just like an MMO, except you never paid a subscription fee to begin with.

There are other options than Xbox Live for Halo 2 multiplayer, like XBConnect. I haven't tried using it for Halo 2, but back in the day I used it a good bit for playing some online Halo 1 multiplayer (there was no Xbox Live for Halo 1) and it was pretty sweet. Maybe not as good as Live, but still, it's something.

You can still play multiplayer in Halo 2 on your Xbox over a local network, same as how you have to play Doom II or Quake 1. You just can't browse for & play online games, same as will happen when they yank the Quake III master server.

(Yes, you can manually connect to servers over the Internet by IP once that happens, but you can do that with your Xbox too.)

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.

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

xbox connect

There is no need to hack the console when you can use software on your PC to handle locating and connecting to other players. While this isn't a magic bullet it does support popular titles and I'm sure with more involvment attitional titles maybe supported (depending on how they're designed). For more information look at the games XBConnect.com supports.

Perhaps you should look into XBConnect.

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.

According to microsoft it's Seagate

The downloadable content isn't their big feature, its an effect of their new wireless play. Don't you guys remember a few years ago about how exciting this shadow of the online console gaming era was? The speculation, everything. Then Xbox had xbox live, but I've tried to use Xbox live for Halo, and Halo 2. The optimatch is soooo slow. It takes a good 3 - 4 minutes everytime you want to join a game. Screw that, I can join games instantly and stay in them indefinatly with neXBC (http://www.xbconnect.com/). Online console gaming is just not up to par yet.

Enter the revolution. That's all they are trying to do. Is let you have QUALITY online play. Think about this all you Nintendo fans. REAL online Super Smash Brother Melee tournaments. Don't even fucking pretend that you don't already have 60 bucks hidden behind a book or something just collecting dust in the event that SSB 3 will be released. I know I am ^.^

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.

winpcap is needed for xbconnect a tool which lets you play Xbox games over the internet with other people which otherwise you wouldn't be able to such as the first Halo. Since it can still be used for XBox Live enabled games of course they wouldn't want you to have it on your computer.
From their website: XBConnect is "Next Generation" Game Console Tunnel Software for Windows that allows you to play Microsoft XBox System link, and Sony PSP games over the internet.

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.

But it works both ways. Microsoft owns the Live Network - and if they say "No Modded XBoxes", that's what it means.

Well, then thank god for the people at XBConnect (for PC) and Aquaduct2 for Mac. I downloaded a copy of both of these last night and gave them a shot. They both work on the same network, so I can hook up with my friends who use PC using my Mac. Great clients! And a great free alternative to XBox Live!.

I recently moved away from an apartment complex where we had a 4 apt network of XBoxes. 2 of us hooked up over the phone last night using XBConnect, added each other to our friends lists and were online playing like we never left the complex.

I do not have anything to do with either of these sites, just endorsing their great products. I buy my games, but modded my XBox for trickery and Emulators. (I'm a sucker for old NES and SNES games!) I was annoyed at least to find that I could not play Halo2 against other players. By night I had XBConnect up and running and was online playing against other people.

Excuse the grammar and all, I know it's horrible but I'm thinking impaired at the moment. ;)

XBConnect

Far many more games support Live, so this idea of some day have a free Live clone is very interesting indeed.. With the many modded xboxen around, and people who want to play their backed-up games, maybe it's just a matter of time ?

http://www.xbconnect.com/

Xbox connect is supposedly improving constantly and adding a lot of features to make it more new user friendly. My friend has a modded xbox and says that it works fine. I think it lacks the useful interface options and stat tracking of xbox live....however if you do get banned (and I know theres a big percentage of users on this site who have modded xboxs), give it a try

You don't need Live to play Xbox games online

I present to you XBConnect

I've been playing Halo 1 online before Halo PC was released.

xbconnect for those who don't like gamespy.

I completely agree with you. I still find myself playing co-op missions or against each other in TS or CTF. Its one of those games that just rocks in every aspect and never gets old, whether you're playing by yourself or against people.

I'm sure just about everyone on slashdot knows and agrees with this, but I would highly recommend XBConnect to everyone who owns an XBox and PC (Aquaduct for Mac users). It tricks your Xbox into thinking players around the world are on your LAN so you can play against them in halo system link mode (or a range of other games). Its similar to XBox Live but free.

Ya'll know about http://www.xbconnect.com/ right? Killer app allows system link games to be tunneled over (under) the internet. Legal and free.

There's nothing stopping developers from creating a third party gaming network for XBox either since they already did.

Both of those services are free in some form, work with games from before XBox Live! (Halo anyone?), and only require a computer, a hub and a network connection.

I don't see how legality can possibly be an issue since all they do is take an XBox's existing LAN support and transmit it over the Internet. Maybe no third party developers make network apps for the Cube because the Cube doesn't come with network support?

Check out http://www.xbconnect.com/ It allows you to play "system link" enabled games over the internet. It's free and works great! At this very moment there are 203 Halo games being hosted! Jup and look for kornkob.

XBConnect

Support for 50 games.

I don't pretend to understand the technology; I plugged a crossover cable between the XBOX and PC, installed the client on my PC and it just worked. Neat.

It's already been done - at least somewhat.

Programs like XBConnect give you a friends list as well as chatrooms where likeminded people can meet and organize a game.

It takes advantage of the xbox LAN connectivity (all xbox's have ethernet adapters included by default, and can be connected via hub/switch for large multiplayer battles) and emulates the packet structure, fooling the xbox into thinking traffic that is sent through the internet is legitimate and is taking place on a LAN. Most games that support LAN play work with it already; there is no need for an xbox live subscription at all.

Take a look for yourself

It's already been done - at least somewhat.

Programs like XBConnect give you a friends list as well as chatrooms where likeminded people can meet and organize a game.

It takes advantage of the xbox LAN connectivity (all xbox's have ethernet adapters included by default, and can be connected via hub/switch for large multiplayer battles) and emulates the packet structure, fooling the xbox into thinking traffic that is sent through the internet is legitimate and is taking place on a LAN. Most games that support LAN play work with it already; there is no need for an xbox live subscription at all.

Take a look for yourself

There's just no way those solutions will be competing with commercial online gaming platforms, like XBox Live, any time soon though. Mostly, for technical reasons: most console users don't want to have to deal with setting up a LAN or even basic routing functionality (as you have to do when using a tunneling tool), no matter how simple, they just want stuff to work out of the box. Exposure is another problem: XBox Live is a household name. Most people, on the other hand, don't even know that independently run online gaming services exist.

It will be interesting to see how the PC gaming crowd, which is generally more inclined to tweak their systems and try new stuff, will react when free, preferably open-source online services become widely available. With high-bandwidth Internet access becoming affordable, or even standard, in many areas this might just turn out to be a very interesting thing(tm).

You can use any xbox game that supports lan play online with xbconnect. The free version works quite well, especially with halo, since that's what everyone plays online. There's no voice like with live, but capture the flag online with halo rules. My gamertag on Live! is RedChina, so add me to your friends list.

Thanks,
Chris Benard
www.talkingtoad.com

Guilty? What an odd question. Correction...What a meaningless question

"Have I felt the *need* to use Linux instead of OS X?" Not even once. Heck, ever since I got a 12"PB to replace the Sony laptop that I had been carting around for 2 years, I don't even feel the need to use Win2K. OS X just works, which allows me to get work done, instead of twiddling/tweaking/patching.

Well, to be completely truthful, I did fire up the old VAIO the other day so that I could get on XBConnect and play some Halo on the ol' XBox.

But other than that, I've been OS (se)X-ing it, 24x7.

---anactofgod---

If someone didn't have an XBOX Live account, why the HELL would they have an ethernet cable jacked into their box with a connection to the outside world?


There is several reasons for this. If you have a modded Xbox you need the ethernet connection to transfer files to and from your computer. Your modded Xbox can also update time via time server. You can get a news ticker on your dashboard. If you're running xbox media player you can connect to shoutcast.com (Internet Radio). Also weather you have a modded box or not there are to networks you can connect to and play games with other xbox owners. www.xbconnect.com and www.xlink.com

I bought a used xbox because I new I was voiding the warranty as soon as I got it. I bought the xbox not for the games, but for the capabilities of the media player. The fact that you can stream your audio, video, and pictures to your TV really apealled to me. The capabilities of the Xbox as a media player are tremendous and the price is such that it's the cheapest solution. I priced out components to build one and the price was double what I was into the xbox.

If someone didn't have an XBOX Live account, why the HELL would they have an ethernet cable jacked into their box with a connection to the outside world?

Gee, I don't know.

You mean XBConnect? That's for "tunneling", i.e. tricking the XBox into connecting to another XBox across the internet, but making it think it's just over a LAN.

"my PC is just fine. and it serves a hell of a lot more functions than a console system."
That's great, but a PC does not replace a console. A console is meant to serve one main function: Gaming. There's no OS to deal with, no hardware upgrades to play the latest releases, no conflicts with Norton Utilities, etc. You just buy whatever game you want, stick it in the console, and play.

"Unless the system they are offering is $25.00 and I dont have to pay any sort of monthly access (like if it were to utilize my *exisiting* lan and broadband connection - without a large price for a lan adapter - i will continue to have no interest in console systems."
My Xbox came with an ethernet adapter and I play online on a regular basis (Halo mostly) for free using Xbox Connect. It basically creates a network tunnel between the computers, fooling Xboxes into seeing each other under system link. For $50, you can play all those Live games with voice support which you have to experience to understand how much fun it is. Definitely worth the $50.

"What they should do is focus on making a PCI card that you can insert into your PC and utilize its hardware to make it a 'console' system in that it can hold the controllers and play all the games - for a minimal cost.
They were thinking about doing this with another console. I forget which one, but I believe it was the Dreamcast. I think it's an idea worth exploring, but it definitely shouldn't be their primary focus. Most people are afraid of the buttons on their DVD/VCR remote control. They're not going to buy a product that requires opening their computers.

"then make all the money off the price of the games (which are already overpriced at $50.)"
Pass the crack pipe, please. Take a look at the cost of games on the PC. The cost of games are equal in the mainstream retail market and you can find bargains for both kinds of games through pricewatch, ebay, etc. Personally, I just rent my games and "back them up" to my 120GB drive that sits in my modded Xbox.

Many XBox games support multiplayer online gaming (albeit with additional software) in a similar way that PS2 does. For instance, games like Halo, Ghost Recon, etc. play very well WITHOUT Live! (see XB Connect, or Gamespy's XBox Tunnel). Granted, these tools are not supported by MS, nor are they accessible to the beginner user; however, the numbers on the servers demonstrate that there are a large number of people that have figured out how to use them. In this sense, I think it's fair to say that Sony & MS are almost on par (they're not, but they're similar).

I think the key take-away, however, is that Live! is that it is NOT JUST a way to play multiplayer games online. It is also a way for MS to provide support for things like content upgrades (a la Everquest), and easy access to playing with your other friends online (something that PS2 doesn't can't support without a centralized server). The latter point is important because it means that even the non-Internet savvy can use Live!'s online service; PS2 users may not be so fortunate.

Live! also provides a headset that works right off the bat with any Live!-enabled game. That's cool! Think about it -- talking is much cooler than breaking out of the action to type. That's why it's more fun to play at a LAN party than having everyone play at home and communicating by pressing the `T' button. ;)

The content upgrade thing sounds cool, too. We have yet to see it happen in a big way for games yet, but the possibilities here are extremely cool. After finishing the nine missions of Splinter Cell, I can tell you that I am DYING for the downloadable missions. *cross fingers* Let's hope it actually comes to pass. :)

In sum, MS and PS2's strategies clearly seem different here; it seems that the infrastructure laid down by Live! will allow for much much more -- it's a matter of seeing whether they decide to take advatange of it all.

And we Xbox owners have been able to play Halo and other games online for several months now with no subscription required.

And now I'm playing Mech Assault, Unreal Championship, and others for about $5 a month. Sure, it might go up after this initial offer, but I'm still getting my $50 worth over the next 12 months regardless. It's a great deal.

btw...how much was that PS2 network adaptor you're using to play all those Free games? Oh and you need a memory card as well don't you?

Basically, XBconnect is a piece of software that will run on a Windows PC on your local network. Put the Xbox on the local network, and the Xbox will see the XBconnect client as another Xbox. Thus you can use the "System Link" feature that is built into many games, used for playing multiplayer games with 2 or more Xboxen (I believe up to 16)

The great thing is that the XBconnect client interfaces through the Internet to find other players, but makes it appear to your Xbox that they are on your local network.

It is a way to play multiplayer games on the Xbox for free!

I've used it for Halo, and Unreal Championship, and had good results. The lag is usually minimal, and although sometimes not perfect, I'm sure the true Xbox Live suffers the same fate.

It's worth a look, especially if you already own a Windows PC, and a router. All you have to do is hook up your Xbox via ethernet.

i agree that microsoft can do whatever they wish with their service.

yet i keep reading a common theme here in this thread, "good it'll keep the cheaters off".

i've been investigating modding my xbox this past week, and i have to say, i haven't seen one single "cheat" implimented into any game yet. and i really don't think that's the point! i think i shall still mod my xbox for reasons like:

backing up games
giving my xbox ftp functionality
patching the dashboard so it will display it in progressive scan
playing homebrew games and software like mame, quake2 (port), etc.

so you say that i lose out on xbox live? we'll figure a way around it :)

You can play Halo online with the system link option if you download XBConnect. I have been using this for a while and it works for most of the big name games. Halo, Ghost Recon, THPS4, and a bunch of others.

-Juxel

The only drawback is NTSC consoles cannot play against PAL ones.

Except they already have.

For example xbconnect (Gamespy have another one), and there's even a Linux version somewhere.

Basically people have produced a tunneling application that fakes the local LAN facility for multiplayer games and pushes it over the net. Nothing nasty happening yet (well, expect getting my ass kicked in Halo by 9 year old kids, but that's depressing, not nasty)