Advertisment

Multiplayer Services

author-image
PCQ Bureau
New Update

Multiplayer gaming offers the ultimate adrenaline rush to

those who are tired of beating lifeless computer-generated enemies. The growth in the

popularity of Internet gaming can be gauged from the fact that Microsoft’s

"Internet gaming zone" alone has some 1.1 million registered users. There are

tons of servers offering hundreds of games of every genre to avid gamers.

Advertisment

You need to subscribe to a multiplayer gaming service

online to play across the Internet. Here’s an overview of some of the popular servers

on the Net for multiplayer gaming.

Kali

This program started from the famous iFrag DOOM (from the

makers of Kali) patch that allowed you to play DOOM over the Net. But when Descent came

out, iFrag had to be modified. Instead, the authors decided to write an IPX emulator, a

program that would fool your computer into thinking that the TCP/IP protocol that you use

to access the Net is actually a LAN using the standard IPX protocol. Thus was born Kali.

Advertisment

Incidentally it’s named after the Indian goddess of

death and destruction. The shareware version allows you only 15 minutes of game-play. To

get the full version (downloadable from www. kanli.net) you need to pay a registration

amount of $20, that gives you unlimited time, access to over 50 games and no restrictions.

All in all, Kali has more games and users than any other gaming service, and offers good

value for money, though some work needs to be done on the usability and the interface.

Mplayer

What makes Mplayer stand out is that it’s free. This

site is excellent for gamers who are new to the concept of Internet gaming and want some

experience. Mplayer is thoroughly slick and professional in its presentation. You get to

create your own personality by selecting a logo or a picture to represent yourself to

others.

Advertisment

Mplayer also offers chat rooms where gamers can get

together and chalk out strategies and game plays. A downer at present is that Mplayer

offers only 10 games, whereas Kali is compatible to all IPX-compliant titles. But, they do

have some of the popular tiles such as Quake, Diablo, and Warcraft 2.

Internet

Gaming-Zone

Microsoft has got it all figured out as far as online

multiplayer gaming is considered, and this shows in this neat, well organized, and

informative site. With a massive user base (like most other MS products) and a knock out

selection of games (including Spades, Age of Empires, Monstor Truck Madness, etc), the

Zone is a happening destination for online gaming. It offers free online registration and

features regular gaming news and events. The site was designed for IE and doesn’t

work all that well with Netscape.

Bezerk

Snappy graphics, a slick interface, and some pretty

multimedia snippets makes this site visually appealing. The games aren’t bad either.

This site specializes in word and board games. The—"You don’t know Jack and

Acrophobia" variety of games.

Advertisment