Sega’s broadband adapter hits America

High bandwidth for the Yanks a reality

Posted by Staff
you may now turn green
you may now turn green
How many of you want a fast, permanent Internet connection? Trust us, this Internet thing is going to be big. Even though Sega has made some mistakes in the past, everyone deserves a second chance. Sega has managed to get things right with the Dreamcast: good hardware, good software and a competitive price. Because Sega has been posting losses for the last four years, thanks to the 32X, Saturn, etc. they do not have the money to properly market their innovations. The Dreamcast was the first console ever to include a modem and all of a sudden on-line gaming became a reality. Now, prepare for light-speed.

The Dreamcast comes with either a 33.6k modem or a 56k modem depending on which country you live in. 56k is currently the fastest possible connection speed available through copper telephone wires. The quality of on-line gaming is dependent on ping times. A ping time is a measure of the latency between two computers on the Internet. If you had a ping time of 500ms, it would take half a second for your character to respond to your actions. In a game like Quake you would effectively be firing at where someone was. With Broadband all that is going to change.

Broadband is about speed, as it utilises digital and fibre optics networks. British Telecom’s ADSL connections or a cable modem will give you a speed boost of between five to fifteen times. No more waiting for images to download onto your screen, instead imagine streaming movies and extremely low ping times, ideal for on-line gaming. One design feature the Dreamcast sported was its modular modem. It takes but a second to remove it and replace it with the Broadband adapter.

If you have access to a broadband connection, then hooking your Dreamcast up to it is almost essential. Great games like Quake 3, Pod 2, Unreal Tournament and Phantasy Star On-line all support the new adapter. Not only is Broadband fast, it is always active. This means that after your monthly subscription fee you do not have to pay for call charges. So if you fancy immersing yourself in the Internet and on-line gaming, this is the way to do it.

We’ll bring you information on whether it will be possible to use an American adapter on an English console as soon as we can test it. Sega are still unsure if and when the broadband adapter will be released in Europe. It might be time to start a petition.
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