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Warp Pipe Launches With Mario Kart Support
jkeyes writes "The Warp Pipe project for playing LAN GameCube games online has just released Beta 0.3 for Windows. This is the first release to support Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, contains significant optimization, and even has region-free play, so you can battle against gamers from Japan or Europe - the first Macintosh beta is planned for next week."
how long is this project going to live? Its just a matter of time till theDMCA blasts it to oblivion right?
"Seriously, the entire Nintendo not believing in online play... wtf?"
Nintendo has stated before that they don't feel the on-line world is quite ready yet. What they want to do is avoid a re-occuring cost for the players. If on-line pay means a subscription, and the service isn't like top-notch (lag?), it's not interesting to Nintendo.
I want on-line play too, but at least Nintendo's thinking about their gamers here.
"Derp de derp."
I want on-line play too, but at least Nintendo's thinking about their gamers here.
Well maybe, I applaud them for not rushing into some half-assed online service that sucks as well as it blows. What worries me though, is from everything that I have heard about the next Nintendo console, The big N has no intention of pursuing any sort of online plan. This might be ok, but they need to leave the option available to their 3rd party developers.
I say include a broadband/modem option(or sell them seperately) and let the 3rd parties forge the online services. Even if Nintendo themselves don't want to make online games they are going to regret it if they castrate the online possiblity entirely.
Having said this, If Nintendo does go after the warppipe developers they are making a very grave mistake. As pigheaded as they can be about some things, I doubt they would do anything that stupid.
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
Is the limitation on online play within the Nintendo Gamecube Broadband Adapter? Or is that just a glorified network card that depends upon the game to use?
As pigheaded as they can be about some things, I doubt they would do anything that stupid.
Like going after the original Game Genie, a device that takes nothing away from games, but extends and expands them? Of course, that was years ago, Nintendo has probably learned their lessons. And on all those GBA mods they tried to C&D.
... made me seriously consider buying a gamecube instead of an xbox this xmas.
For 99, I'd get the latest in home entertainment technologyl, complete with online play (even if still buggy, as I presume it is since it's a beta).
Before unleashing the wrath of the DMCA upon these hackers, Nintendo should think about the advantages brought to it's console at absolutely no cost whatsoever.
Hack your mind out of its sandbox.
The last GPL'd release of Warp Pipe (including sources) is available here for download.
They already do this. The Broadband Adaptor, which does nothing but add a standard 10baseT network port, is available to those that want it (required to use Warp Pipe), and it allows interested developers to develop online games for the Cube. Phantasy Star Online is an example of this (so far the only one). Some games (Kirby Air Ride and Mario Kart: Double Dash) allow use of the Broadband adaptor to play the games over a LAN connection. All Warp Pipe does is tunnel the communication over the Internet.
Intelligent responses welcome, flames will be met with marshmallows.
I was refering to their next console, though perhaps I wasn't as clear as i could have been. Nintendo's biggest sin with the broadband adapter of this generation is the relatively modest quantities of them that have been produced. When I bought PSO last January, I speant weeks looking in stores for a BBA, I was however able to order it direct from their website. I am not sure if they are easier to find now or not.
On Wall Street they say "buy low, sell high" On the pad we say, "buy high, sell high" Isn't that somehow better?
Really? That's intersting.
The stores around where I live have tons of the adapters. In fact, more stores had the adapters in stock than still had consoles.
Almost nobody (relatively) plays online console games. Nintendo is wise to wait until that market matures.
There weren't "modest quantities", the stores just do not order many. In fact, they don't order much period (see: people yelling at Atlus to print more copies of Disgaea, Atlas people screaming back, "tell your stores to actually order shipments!"
Considering the way Nintendo whores out it's GBA-GC link cable with the promise of extra content (most of which really should have been enabled from the start), I can only imagine how much stuff they'd force you to go online for... they'd probably end up giving you only half a game. The other two quarters would be unlocked via the internet and GBA link respectively... No thanks!
-"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -EH
Can't wait for this thing to be stable, plan on grabbing an adapter soon as they get a 1.0 release with a match finder built in. as long as it runs decent, it will be great to play people from around the world at a game which, for the first time in a long time, I feel i'm deadly at. Bring it on
...and this project is based out of Canada.
BlackNova Traders
your mom didn't raise any suckers she must be oh so proud.
Here is a cookie, take thy trolling elsewhere.
Warp Pipe is over thinking. A simple network-to-network VPN works.
Fortress of Insanity
I am pretty sure Nintendo's real story is they don't feel that online play is currently profitable. Miyamoto, etc. have said just that in several interviews over the past couple years.
:D See Pokemon, GC link cable, those E-cards, all of the price-fixing through the years, first GBA being essentially broken, GBA SP needing a separate purchase for headphone jack, endless SNES->GBA rereleases, etc. Nintendo loves 'ripping off' their players, and always has. Doesn't necessarily affect their game quality (lack of developer freedom for the Nintendo non-heavyweights seems to, though that is another story).
Never heard the "avoid a re-occurring cost for the player" reason - not to rag on Nintendo, but that is probably the least likely Nintendo statement ever. Closest I have heard to that is that Miyamoto doesn't think gamers will pay monthly fees for online access, which is kind of funny - as is your very charitable spin on that kind of comment.
There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion. -- Francis Bacon
"Nintendo loves 'ripping off' their players, and always has."
Ripping off? People go happily buy stuff and they're being ripped off? O_o
"Derp de derp."