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Wow. I really thought of myself as a Super NES fan, but I learned two things today: 1. Doom was released on the Super NES. (I enjoyed the DOS version but nev

Wow. I really thought of myself as a Super NES fan, but I learned two things today: 1. Doom was released on the Super NES. (I enjoyed the DOS version but never played it on the SNES). 2. the Super NES supported multiplayer for some games (including DOOM) via the XBAND modem. some more info: https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Super_NES#:~:text=Doom%20for%20the%20Super%20Nintendo%20Entertainment%20System%20was,NTSC%20version%20being%20available%20in%20a%20red%20casing https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Super_NES#:~:text=Doom%20for%20the.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XBAND https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XBAND

miek 6y ago
I will never forget seeing the advertisement for the NES Teleplay modem [0] in Nintendo Power. It never launched, but one did launch for the Famicom [1]. You probably know about SNES banking already, but if not, see [2] [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleplay_Modem https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleplay_Modem [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Computer_Network_System https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Computer_Network_Syst... [2] https://boingboing.net/2016/07/14/online-banking-for-nintendos.html https://boingboing.net/2016/07/14/online-banking-for-nintend...
aspenmayer 6y ago
I remember seeing info about XBAND in hardcore (import) gaming magazines like GameFan and Electronic Gaming Monthly, but hardly any info in more mainstream mags like GamePro. Never heard much of anything in Nintendo Power, but it’s a glorified first-party game ad vehicle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameFan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameFan http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/gamefan/GameFAN.htm http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/gamefan/GameFAN.htm https://archive.org/search.php?query=GameFan https://archive.org/search.php?query=GameFan https://www.polygon.com/2014/9/29/6867993/egm-electronic-gaming-monthly-history-kunzelman https://www.polygon.com/2014/9/29/6867993/egm-electronic-gam... http://alifewellwasted.com/2009/01/23/episode-one-the-death-of-egm/ http://alifewellwasted.com/2009/01/23/episode-one-the-death-...
- dimator 6y ago
  There's an excellent retrospective on YouTube about the xband and how it was built. It was a product ahead of its time. For example, the way they got games that weren't built for laggy multiplayer to work was unbelievable: they recognized the cartridge and patched the code. Yes, that means every game that worked was a result of a custom built patching of that game's code at run time! https://youtu.be/k_5M-z_RUKA https://youtu.be/k_5M-z_RUKA
  - aspenmayer 6y ago
    That’s a great video, thanks for posting it. I remember hearing it was similar to how a Game Genie worked, but that’s a lot more work than expected. Very impressive for 1993-1994.

miek 6y ago

I will never forget seeing the advertisement for the NES Teleplay modem [0] in Nintendo Power. It never launched, but one did launch for the Famicom [1]. You probably know about SNES banking already, but if not, see [2] [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleplay_Modem https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teleplay_Modem [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Computer_Network_System https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Computer_Network_Syst... [2] https://boingboing.net/2016/07/14/online-banking-for-nintendos.html https://boingboing.net/2016/07/14/online-banking-for-nintend...

aspenmayer 6y ago

I remember seeing info about XBAND in hardcore (import) gaming magazines like GameFan and Electronic Gaming Monthly, but hardly any info in more mainstream mags like GamePro. Never heard much of anything in Nintendo Power, but it’s a glorified first-party game ad vehicle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameFan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameFan http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/gamefan/GameFAN.htm http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/gamefan/GameFAN.htm https://archive.org/search.php?query=GameFan https://archive.org/search.php?query=GameFan https://www.polygon.com/2014/9/29/6867993/egm-electronic-gaming-monthly-history-kunzelman https://www.polygon.com/2014/9/29/6867993/egm-electronic-gam... http://alifewellwasted.com/2009/01/23/episode-one-the-death-of-egm/ http://alifewellwasted.com/2009/01/23/episode-one-the-death-...

dimator 6y ago
There's an excellent retrospective on YouTube about the xband and how it was built. It was a product ahead of its time. For example, the way they got games that weren't built for laggy multiplayer to work was unbelievable: they recognized the cartridge and patched the code. Yes, that means every game that worked was a result of a custom built patching of that game's code at run time! https://youtu.be/k_5M-z_RUKA https://youtu.be/k_5M-z_RUKA
- aspenmayer 6y ago
  That’s a great video, thanks for posting it. I remember hearing it was similar to how a Game Genie worked, but that’s a lot more work than expected. Very impressive for 1993-1994.