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GameRail Creates First Private Network for Gaming

gamerail.com — If you play a lot of online games, you'll love this ... the new company "GameRail" has just opened the doors on their website and is now is accepting beta sign-ups for testing of the first network ever to be optimized exclusively for online gaming. GameRail claims that they'll give you lower latency and fewer hops to any game server.

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  • bakajoe, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Hope this works.
    • Software2, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Hmmm... a service that gives one kind of data priority over another... almost as if it had multiple tiers of priority.

      But who needs net neutrality? This is totally different.
    • invader, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4...
    • DamionFury, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6@Software2

      Clearly you don't completely understand what Net Neutrality is all about. The core of Net Neutrality is centered around the preventing Tier1 networks (Like AT&T, Sprint, etc) from charging websites for the 'privilege' of being accessible. The essence being that neither you, nor me, nor any other consumer has any say in whether or not we are able to access specific websites on the Internet. GameRail appears to be a Tier2 network (Like MSN, Earthlink, AOL, etc) that provides us, the consumers, access to the Internet.

      If the difference between Tier1 and Tier2 networks isn't clear, allow me to make this analogy. You could look at Tier1 networks like a car company, we'll use Toyota as an example. Toyota makes the cars (bandwidth) and then they lease the cars to the dealerships (Tier2 Networks) who make them available to the consumers. In this analogy, Net Neutrality would mean that Toyota must make all of it's cars available for lease to all of it's dealerships equally and for the same price worldwide. The dealerships aren't absolutely required to carry all of the vehicles but it may be difficult to compete with the other dealerships if you don't provide the same selection to the consumers.

      GameRail is choosing to tailor their "selection" to gamers. What remains to be seen is whether they'll be able to compete with all the other "dealerships" out there.

      *Note: I am not an expert on Net Neutrality and I am well aware that the above analogy is an oversimplification and inadequate. It's the best I could come up with on short notice. If you are curious, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_Neutrality for more info.
    • DamionFury, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0 [double post - deleted]
    • rsayers, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Obviously it does, if you check their details page, you can see that the main internet tube is very clogged, they add a new tube to the internet, thus increasing speed. Genius
  • LLCOX, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1I'll give it a whirl for the 21CW.
    • Miniman, on 10/12/2007, -4/+121CW Sucks, www.bf2combat.net FOR THE WIN.
  • MixMastaKooz, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2Sounds cool! I need to apply for the closed beta...
  • IotaOrionis, on 10/12/2007, -16/+5It means that playing counter-strike while high will be harder now; everything will be going so fast I might fall out of my chair trying to keep up.
  • l0ne, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10It may be the first nationwide (USA) network, but it is by no means the first. Many smaller countries have had similar services since forever, like NGI (www.ngi.it), which also doubles as a general-purpose ISP.
  • fusionspill, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2this should be interesting how this works, first time i heard of this.

    anyone know of any similar website that is doing the samething but with playstatoin and/or xbox support?
  • teamparadox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The only way this would really work is if this were an ISP instead of just a service. I dont have a problem with lag and latency gaming online anyways. Im gonna sign up and give it a try to see if this is for real or bull****.
    • seanalltogether, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2but wont it still require the same amount of hops to get to the end server? How many milliseconds are really wasted transitioning from one provider to the next at different nodes?
  • insinuate, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3neato...I signed up for the beta. I wonder how you go about using it, Maybe start up an application on your machine that works with your game and more importantly your router/internet connection to connect to their what sounds like a VPN? Should be a neat lesson for Networking/IT. :)
  • RedDogPaPi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6i could be wrong but, wouldn't you still have the route from you to them, and then them to whatever gameserver?
  • HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7Not even first for the US. I remember seeing such a company at E3 during the dotcom boom. They flunked out. This one likely will too.
  • adamcarrington, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8TEN called... they just wanted to wish you luck from the year 1995.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_Entertainment_Network
    • Lorian, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Wonder how long it takes for it to get wikified.
    • justice7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2hilarious

      i was thinking the same thing
  • SBee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Valve attempted something like this years ago.
  • KidInBeaver, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1while u wait for this site to open up

    try http://listofonlinegames.com it has 4,700 + online games to play
  • moonwell, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well lets just say some new marketing garbage, nothing new here. Maybe they use MPLS VPN or kinda stuff.
  • EntropyMan, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Hmm. So I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing from a network neutrality point of view. On the one hand, you could argue that telcos could also create their own parallel networks too to improve video delivery instead of partitioning existing networks into multiple tiers of service and multiple prices. But if big ISPs spend money on new parallel (video, game, etc..) networks instead of improving general infrastructure, it has the same effect.

    On the other hand, telcos could argue that if this company does actually make a parallel internet for games, it should be forced to live by the same content-agnostic rules and carry general IP traffic too.

    That said, I see no evidence they've created a real parallel network of their own here.
    • HappyScrappy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Net neutrality is about the last mile. Not should you be allowed to make your own faster backbone to extend your presence around the world with better fidelity, but should your local telco be able to reduce your quality of service for different destinations.

      Without net neutrality, the telcos could make this gaming network ineffective by downrating all gaming packets unless you paid them an additional screw-you fee to not do so.

      Net neutrality ensures possiblities by allowing the end user full access to the backbones. It doesn't prevent possibilities like opening up a new backbone for better latency.
  • Gism0, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2On a kind of related note, you can use Hamachi to virtually network computers over the internet. You can use it to play LAN games with your mates over the net. http://www.hamachi.cc/
  • vick04, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2How can I get my ISP or favorite game server connected to GameRail?
    Contact your ISP or game server provider’s customer service department and request that they connect to GameRail. The cost for them to interconnect is free (beyond any “local loop” fees required to reach one of our many interconnection points).

    Good luck getting the people that host the game server you play on to buy into that bs.
  • justice7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3anyone remember Kali.Net?
  • doit3d, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I know someone personally who owns a GSP (Game Service Provider). We have discussed this very topic before. I see they want people to pay $15 a month for this service after the beta.

    I do not see this as working and a GSP I know thinks the same. There are too many variables that cannot be controlled by GameRail, as stated by previous posters above.

    I will say that this new "service" is an inventive way to score a quick dollar or two from people who do not make informed decisions. Kind of reminds me of that $250 LAN card that suggests that it can lower your ping.

    I have some beachfront property in Idaho, real cheap. Anyone interested?
    • indiewizard, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0You're talking about the Bigfoot Killer NIC.

      http://www.killernic.com/KillerNic/

      From http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/01/bigfoots-killer-network-interface-card-reviewed/ : We were never ones to stand in the way of pure gamer PC overkill, and Bigfoot's Killer Network Interface Card (NIC) fits that bill nicely. They've managed to take a commodity PC component and build $280 PCI card around it, complete with 64MB of DDR RAM and a 400MHz processor. Cries of extortion and vaporware have been leveled, but now that IGN have got their hands on the device, they seem to think it's worth the hyperbole. One thing they were careful to point out before firing it up is that the Killer NIC runs Linux, so that processor and RAM can be put to more use than just routing your frags -- a firewall or a bit of anti-virus software could reside right on the card to check over data before it even gets to your PC, and IGN figures a BitTorrent client would be possible, allowing for full-speed gaming while you use any remaining bandwidth for downloading that dev release of Leopard. As far as actual gaming performance, IGN's preliminary results were fairly impressive. The card bumped the framerate on the bundled F.E.A.R. from 74 to 86 fps, and the ping went from an average of 67ms to 45ms. If you're seriously considering dropping the cash you might want to wait around for a bit more scientific testing, but so far things aren't looking too good for Mr. Videogame's budget and his killjoy Excel spreadsheet of doom.

      Aforementioned IGN review: http://gear.ign.com/articles/729/729557p1.html

      Amazing what a single Google search can do.
    • justice7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1waste of cash.
  • CherryTzors, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Love the idea... hate that it's gonna be payfor.
  • driftwood07, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1this will not work
  • IotaOrionis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What is dugg and what is not strike me as odd; anything not supporting a blatantly neo-marxist liberal viewpoint is burried into the ground, while everything else is raised towards the heavens upon a pedastal made of Michael Moore's divine fat. Odd no doubt.
    • justice7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1so that tells you what about a democratic site algorithm and its users?

      perhaps that user opinion and bias plays a huge role in what gets promoted?
    • IotaOrionis, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'd say that's true to a disturbing degree; in that opinions contrary to those of the majority here, are totally quashed. It is not to say this is necessarily evil, only that the quelling of differing ideas and opinions does not promote intellectual progress.
  • KarlZimm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I would just like to note that GameRail IS different from it's predecessors and can definitely give a better level of service to those using it.

    1) Using GameRail saves both the ISP and the Content Provider/Game Server company money, thus they have ample incentive to sign-up for the product. The more ISPs and game server providers that participate the better their chances are. Charter Communications, a major cable Internet provider, has already signed up as one of the ISPs and there are dozens of game server companies signed up, and the product hasn't even launched yet.

    2) Their product really does go around most of the issues you may have with packet loss or latency on the Internet. It isn't about the extra time it takes going from carrier to carrier, it is about the potential problems that exist from going from carrier to carrier. One may not have enough capacity at that peering point, one may redirect your packet in a different direction, etc. This setup bypasses all that, connecting you directly from your ISP to the game server provider, that is it, one direct path. It may not reduce your ping by that much depending on how good your ISP and game server provider's routing were in the first place, though it could be a significant difference, but it should completely eliminate packet loss, jitter, etc. except for that caused very locally with your ISP.

    Also, this does not have anything to do with net neutrality. They are basically establishing a network strictly for gaming. It is a backbone of their own, not really a part of the Internet, as it only connects users to partner game server providers, it doesn't connect anyone to anything else.
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