Posted June 09, 2015
So I have a question.
Does anyone remember MSN Zone?
I bought Rainbow Six again just now and remembered that the primary way I used to play it was through MSN Zone because its only option for internet play in-game was MPlayer.
For those not in the know, MSN Zone was MSN's browser-based matchmaking system for games in the early 00s. It used activeX controls to establish a virtual VPN (Think Hamachi, it did that using ActiveX) and force games to launch in LAN mode. All you had to do to play multiplayer was go to their website, let it load up the activeX controls, and then point it at the directory your games were installed in.
It became wildly popular because of how easy it was to use and because you didn't need to download a client to use it. It all was packaged inside of IE or an optional download. It also became a hangout due to the fact that anyone could talk to anyone else and weren't walled in their specific game community like Gamespy. I think it lasted about five years before Microsoft axed it.
But it made me think, do you think GoG would benefit by having something like that instead of their Galaxy client? Something quick and easy like that which isn't a hassle and doesn't involve downloading tons of clients?
I for one would love a GoG Zone.
Does anyone remember MSN Zone?
I bought Rainbow Six again just now and remembered that the primary way I used to play it was through MSN Zone because its only option for internet play in-game was MPlayer.
For those not in the know, MSN Zone was MSN's browser-based matchmaking system for games in the early 00s. It used activeX controls to establish a virtual VPN (Think Hamachi, it did that using ActiveX) and force games to launch in LAN mode. All you had to do to play multiplayer was go to their website, let it load up the activeX controls, and then point it at the directory your games were installed in.
It became wildly popular because of how easy it was to use and because you didn't need to download a client to use it. It all was packaged inside of IE or an optional download. It also became a hangout due to the fact that anyone could talk to anyone else and weren't walled in their specific game community like Gamespy. I think it lasted about five years before Microsoft axed it.
But it made me think, do you think GoG would benefit by having something like that instead of their Galaxy client? Something quick and easy like that which isn't a hassle and doesn't involve downloading tons of clients?
I for one would love a GoG Zone.