The history of the world wide web on consoles Part 2

Atari Jaguar

The Atari Jaguar voice modem was never a commercially released product but it seems that it supported atleast one game and that was Ultra Vortek.













Source: http://www.atarihq.com/museum/jaglynx/jagmodem.html


Philips CD-i

Even the illfated philips cd-i that was released in 1993 had two modems released in the US and for the EU market but good luck finding them!.

Here is a dutch ad about the online service for the cd-i



22ER9080 (Tele-CD-i Assistant)

External modem for all CD-i players, developed by Philips and CD-Matics. Features a 2400 bps data and 9600 bps fax function. Only for professional applications, like the Bose In-store CD-i title.



22ER9985 (CD-i Internet Kit)

This kit consists of an external 14.400 bps data/fax modem and access software for CD-i. Sold in Europe as CD-Online and in the US as Web-i. It allowed CD-i owners to browse the Web, write and receive e-mail messages and view Usenet newsgroups.


There were actually some games that supported online gaming on the cd-i , one game that I think supported this was Atlantis - The last resort.



Source: http://www.philipscdi.com/accessories/network.htm



Apple Bandai Pippin


Apple Bandai Pippin which some say is the biggest console flop ever had a builtin 14,4k modem (possibly 28.8, 33.6 in later models). The main purpose of the modem was mainly just to surf the web since the Pippin was supposed to be a "media" console and not just a gaming console so I don't think any of the games made use of the modem but I might be wrong!.



The @World Browser is to be packaged with the company's new Pippin World, an easy-to-use Internet surfing device that brings the excitement and information of the World Wide Web and multimedia CD-ROMs to the standard consumer television."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Bandai_Pippin



Sega Saturn


Sega Saturn also had its own modem called Sega NetLink and it was released in Japan,EU and the US.







Tiger Electronics Game.com

The Game.com was a crappy handheld released by Tiger Electronics in 1997 but it had a modem that would let you upload high scores , check your email and browse the web.






http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game.com




Sega Dreamcast

"In most regions the Dreamcast included a removable modem. The original Asia/Japan model had a 33.6 kbit/s modem and consoles sold in Japan after September 9, 1999 had a 56 kbit/s modem. All American models had a 56 kbit/s modem, while all PAL models had a 33.6 kbit/s modem. Brazilian models manufactured under license by Tec Toy did not include a modem, which was available separately. The regular modem could be replaced with a broadband adapter that was sold separately."





The DC actually had two broadband adapters, the official one and one that was meant for homebrew development and that one is a bit cheaper than the official one but it does not work with games as far as I know. Just like with saturn the dreamcast used the SegaNet online service but Europe used something called Dreamarena.



Nintendo 64/DD

"Nintendo 64DD was a peripheral for the Nintendo 64 games console. It plugged into the N64 through the EXTension Port of the Nintendo 64's bottom side, and allowed the N64 to use proprietary 64 MB magnetic disks for expanded data storage. Although it had been announced before the launch of the N64, the 64DD's development was lengthy. It was eventually released in Japan when the console was in its twilight years. It was a commercial failure, and was never released in either the US or Europe"





"The released version of 64DD included a modem for connecting to the network RANDnet, an audio-video (female RCA jack, and line in) adapter called the Capture Cassette to plug into the main cartridge slot, and a mouse and keyboard that plugged into the controller inputs."

Most of the games on the 64DD were later brought over to n64 or gamecube so theres not many exclusive games left on it.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64dd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randnet#RANDnet

The SharkWire Online was a gameshark cheating device for N64 that came with a modem so you could directly download the latest cheats.



"While subsequent GameSharks were released for the N64, the SharkWire Online was not updated, and more games continued to be made that it was unable to unlock, and were unplayable using it. Before InterAct closed down operations SharkWire Online and all other trademarks of GameShark where sold to Mad Catz."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SharkWire_Online

Nintendo Gameboy

World Port GBX was a modem released by Datel that worked on both the GBC and GBA and seems to have had as much use as the Game.com modem.



Sony Playstation 2

Playstation 2 was the second console with a ethernet adapter after the dreamcast but something that is lesser known is that in Japan it had a online service that is the predecessor to PSN that you accessed using the PlayStation Broadband Navigator disc that only works on Japanese ps2s. It should be noted that this only works on fat ps2s since it requires you to install the disc onto a hdd , something is possible on a ps2 slim since it does not have any ide port.





http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Broadband_Navigator


Nintendo Gamecube

The Nintendo Gamecube had a ethernet adapter that plugged into a port underneath the gamecube , this adapter became very popular cause you could boot homebrew with it using a backdoor in the game "Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II"

Only Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II, Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus, and Phantasy Star Online Episode III: C.A.R.D. Revolution from Sega, and Homeland made use of this adapter for online gaming and all the PSO games can today be played on other platforms which leaves Homeland to be the one single exclusive gamecube game that you can't play online on a wii cause it requires the BBA.




And from here it went on to Microsoft creating the Xbox Live Service for Xbox 1 which is today used by the 360 while PSP/Playstation 3 has PSN and DS has DSI Shop.

Oddly enough PSX which was the most successful system of the 90s had no modem! but there was a i-mode cable released for it supported by Motorola cellphones used by a handful of games.