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Verizon Caters to Broadband Gamers
Strikes Deal with Playlinc, launches game portal
by Karl Bode Wednesday 30-Aug-2006 tags: gaming · telco · content
A day after Verizon announced they'd be offering Microsoft's Live suite of services to DSL and Fios customers, the company unveiled Playlinc, a gamer-centric portal and free game server hosting outfit the company says will "change the face of on-line gaming forever" (see both SCI and Verizon press releases). Verizon also launched their Verizon Game Network website, which features news, blogs, forums and other features for "online gaming aficionados." We're not seeing how the site differentiates itself from other game content offerings, but it may be appealing to the casual gamer with a brand-new Fios connection looking for a launching pad.

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53059959
Temp banned from BBR more then anyone

join:2002-10-02
PwnZone

1 edit

free game servers

i've tried it, its ok. the gameservers are indeed free, and launch before your eyes. east coast servers are run at iad1 here in ashburn, dunno about west.

they come with some preconfigured settings, you can select from a few different ones

if you don't join the server within like 10 minutes, it closes itself. I guess it would be good for scrims and stuff. for counter-strike you set a pass and use rcon for admin stuff. nothing like amxmod or adminmod yet. I havent tried other games.

still a lot of work to be done.

you use your existing AIM/ICQ account

heres a sample IP from their east coast gameservers
208.67.50.33
they apparently contracted out limelight networks to run the gameservers.

easier link to their forums:
»208.67.52.68/forums/index.php

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
kudos:29

Re: free game servers

All depends on how they hold up under strain, I would think.
MicaTurbo

join:2001-08-27
Ottawa, ON

Other Offerings?

Playlinc gives you access to create dedicated servers hosted by them...should their network remain stable, free servers ain't a bad deal at all and I have yet to see any "other offerings" doing that.

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
kudos:29

Re: Other Offerings?

Yeah, I was thinking of the portal itself, the server hosting is a nice touch if they provide enough bandwidth. Clarified.

99664227
Heavily MODerated
Premium
join:2002-11-21
USA

Thumbs up.

Not bad at all. No other ISP is even considering this.
chemaupr

join:2005-06-06
Alexandria, VA

Re: Thumbs up.

Verizon is in the right track, they are becoming the ISP of choice (well, that is if you have one)...

uther

join:2001-12-04
Saint Louis, MO

Great idea...

That is, if all you play is First Person Shooters...

I personally can't play em, so this is pretty much useless to me.

Let's see some support for RTS games like Rise of Nations, or 3rd person click and kill games like Diablo II.

Uther
pcnetworx1

join:2005-09-21
Bethel Park, PA

Re: Great idea...

As far as I was aware, don't most RTS games you simply have one person host it on a "basic" rig then connect? Warcraft 3, Starcraft, etc is what Im thinking about.

I've never heard of an RTS needing a 3rd party dedicated server besides Freeciv IIRC, how many RTSs with dedicated servers are there? Seriously, please correct me on this if this is a wrong assumption.
Kearnstd
Elf Wizard
Premium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ
RTS arent really server dependant, by this i mean Battlenet for example just does the match making. the Bnet server doesnt get involved with the gameplay itself.
--
[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports

AnnaS8

join:2005-05-26
Annapolis, MD

What free games?

I am just curious how much spyware comes with these downloads? Oh or how about some of that lovely "DRM" rootkit stuff? Sorry I don't mean to be cutting on them but usually if it looks too good to be true than it usually is. I am just waiting for the "catch" here.

PunkGod

join:2003-02-02

Re: What free games?

said by AnnaS8:

I am just curious how much spyware comes with these downloads? Oh or how about some of that lovely "DRM" rootkit stuff? Sorry I don't mean to be cutting on them but usually if it looks too good to be true than it usually is. I am just waiting for the "catch" here.
Your reading it wrong. There talking about free hosting server.

AnnaS8

join:2005-05-26
Annapolis, MD

Re: What free games?

No I understood that. I am just stating that free very rarely means free. Just want to make sure it isn't installing things without our knowledge is all. If they aren't then it is a good thing.

PunkGod

join:2003-02-02

Re: What free games?

said by AnnaS8:

No I understood that. I am just stating that free very rarely means free. Just want to make sure it isn't installing things without our knowledge is all. If they aren't then it is a good thing.
The software is free and so is the hosting.
jebba2005

join:2005-01-13
Portland, ME

PLaylinc was Playstinc at first

They unveiled it for the fios grand tourney, and it was a mess. I cant recall how many times they postponed/changed the tourney but it was really pathetic. As the tourney got rolling the client was much better.
It is a great idea, now instead of being able to host a 12 man server from home I can start a 24 or more person, still be able to boot morons, etc. If I had fios I wouldnt need playlinc. Since Im not in danger of fios being deployed near me, I may just try playlinc again.
You need AOL messnger acct or ICQ, but you dont need either proggy on your pc, as playlinc has its own chat client.

pnh102
Reptiles Are Cuddly And Pretty
Premium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD

New Broadband Gaming Fee

I suppose Verizon will now charge a $3 broadband gaming fee to cover the costs of this.
--
Only SHATNER is Kirk.

stephenju
Premium
join:2002-05-17
Bedford, MA

Re: New Broadband Gaming Fee

said by pnh102:

I suppose Verizon will now charge a $3 broadband gaming fee to cover the costs of this.
And I suppose someone will b*tch before they do. Oh, wait. You just did.
jasonhenders

join:2006-08-30
Grapevine, TX

Advertising

This product is an international play.

Advertising, guys. When you launch a server, it takes a while to set it up-- and during that time you watch an ad. This whole initiative will be supported by ads, then digital downloads, new services, etc.

Remember, this is a whole different model from the model where you rent one BF2 server to stay up 24/7-- these are dynamic servers; you start one then it drops back into the ecosystem. The cost is much different.

The Fios Tournament did hold in practice for a few days while we started the PlayLinc beta. On the other hand, without PlayLinc there would have been no way for that many people to play simultaneous one-on-one games-- so I'm glad we made it happen.

Let's see... we do support RTS games, but generally through GAN-- PlayLinc has this feature, a totally unique one, where you can launch a LAN game across the net. So you can host your Red Alert 2 or Starcraft game on your own system and play against your buddies on the net.

Thanks for the comments!

Jason Henderson
Games Product Manager
Verizon Communications
indy0365

join:2001-08-25
Franklin, IN

http://www.kali.net/

some of us like this almost free 20 $ lifetime

run the server from your house your computer is the server can run lan games as well fools windows think you on a lan thousands of games supported

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