XLink Kai Beta For GC, Xbox Tunneling Launched

Thanks to an anonymous reader for pointing to the Xbox-Scene messageboards, where a public Beta 0.03 has been announced for the Windows-based XLink Kai tunneling software, compatible with both GameCube and Xbox. XLink Messenger was previously one of the more popular Xbox apps of this kind, since it "tunnels your system link traffic between people, creating an Xbox Live style environment for free", and XLink Kai is a "rewrite... from the ground up" that also supports Nintendo GameCube in a similar way to the previously mentioned Warp Pipe GC tunneling software, which also "enables you to play LAN-supported GameCube games over the Internet for free with other GameCube gamers."

Comments

Probably highly illegal.

[Anonymous Coward]

M$ will have your balls in a thin wire.

sounds interesting

[anthony_philipp]

ill have to try it out. now what they need it to get software that allows cross-platform playing. people with x-boxes could play people with gamecubes who could play people with ps2s. cheaper form of online pc play today.

Re:sounds interesting

[KozmoStevnNaut]

Of course, that would also require games that are our for all three consoles *and* has network connectivity on all three.

I can't really find any games that fulfill these two requirements.

Re:sounds interesting

[Rick the Red]

What would be cool is if you could combine games, like Halo and Mario Kart.

Re:sounds interesting

[AvitarX]

A little Double Dash vs PGR2 vs GT

I wonder who would win?

Re:sounds interesting

[anthony_philipp]

well if it ever happened it would be similar to online pc gaming now, you can have different computers with dif oses playing together. and if it grew wildly popular it might start seriously detracting from pc games.

XBox Tunneling for Linux?

[floamy]

Well, this is the third utility of this type I have heard of. XBConnect is very good I hear, but it has no Linux version. There is also xbgw, and while it has a linux port, it is unmaintained and does not work well. Has anyone heard any plans for XLink or XBConnect to make avaiable linux versions?

Re:XBox Tunneling for Linux?

[Anonymous Coward]

well there is this project at sf but it doesn't have anything than a bit of protocol discussion - this originated in this thread, but it has been stalled since November.

not for linux, but the best for windows.

[palewhitemale]

I have not head of anything for linux from the folks at XBConnect. If you have windows and you want to play halo online though, check it out, it's got the best players online.
Also, we've found that for 4on4 games with 2 boxes and even with 3 boxes it's possible to play with the small upstream that a cable modem offers. It's only for much bigger games that you need to the big bandwidths/
check for our hosts Okay-Halo-Player or okiegu007

Having tried this...

[AIX-Hood]

I've been trying this and xbconnect. Although the Xbox based game browser is great, there's no way to talk to people on your xbox to negotiate games. I grabbed an Xbox headset, but 99% of players on these things don't have them, as they haven't bought the Xbox live/headset combo. This makes you have to go back to the PC keyboard which negates the convenience of a console based game browser. Xbox live handles all of this by having game companies write code so that it's already in tune for this. The xlink site mentions that game companies can write code to integrate this too, but I think we all know how likely that's going to be.

How, exactly?

[Hamster Lover]

What is illegal about proxying network connections to another Xbox/Gamecube over the Internet? Damn ingenious if you ask me.

Re:How, exactly?

[unclethursday]

I think what he means is that if it allows Xbox Live games to be played, as if they were on Live but not on Live, Microsoft might have something to say about it. It may not be illegal, but Microsoft might be able to pull up contractual issues or something against them if they so desired (IE publishers agree to use Live, and Live only for their Xbox online games, or something, and by offering tunnels for Live games, they would force Microsoft's hand in order for Microsoft to continue to uphold its end of the contract; or other such).

I don't know, though. I use Live, myself, not tunneling software, since the tunnels were genrally too laggy when I tried them.

Re:How, exactly?

[kgbkgb]

You actually used the tunneling software, and you don't even know how it works? Pay more attention man.

They don't allow you to play "Xbox Live games", "as if they were on Live but not on Live."

They're tunneling the system link feature, creating a virtual network. It has nothing to do with Live.

Re:How, exactly?

[unclethursday]

Sorry, I'll go back in time to before Live came out (you know, when I was using the tunnels for Halo), and figure it out more thoroughly for you.

But, a lot of XBL games do allow for system link games as well. Tunneling software allows you to play system linked games online. The XBL titles can also be played online through XBL.

I've heard, but haven't used to confirm, that some of the tunnels now allow the voice communicator to work as well.

Take an Xbox Live game with system link capabilities, set it up for system link, and play with someone online and able to use the voice communicator through a tunnel....and you have a Live game, being played online, but not on Live.

It may not be the same, but if the game supports both system link and Xbox Live, then according to how Microsoft wants people to play them online, going through tunnels is a no-no.

screw this shit

[Anonymous Coward]

This is slashdot. We demand a GPL multi-platform tunneling client and server.

Re:screw this shit

[Rick the Red]

Screw that. We demand GPL code that plays pirated Xbox games on embedded Linux PDAs and cell phones.

+5 Informative

[Anonymous Coward]

RTFA, that is already supported.