XLink Kai
| Developer(s) | Team XLink |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 7.4.26 / October 27, 2012 |
| Operating system | Windows, Linux, Mac OS X |
| Website | http://www.teamxlink.co.uk/ |
XLink Kai is a method developed by Team-XLink for online play of certain compatible video games. It enables players on the Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox and Xbox 360 to play games across the Internet using a network configuration that simulates a world-wide local area network (LAN). It also allows gamers of the original Xbox, whose live servers Microsoft shut down in April 2010, to play online again.
Gamers need to register their XTag username, which will be used to log onto XLink Kai services. The XLink Kai software will have to be downloaded and installed on a computer. The console has to be connected to a home network and the software to be run on the computer. The user has to log-in into the software on the computer. Now, selecting 'system link' or 'LAN' in compatible games will connect the console and game to the Kai servers, ready for online play.
Summary
XLink Kai is tunneling software which acts as a proprietary LAN network (it 'tricks' the servers into believing it's a LAN) to connect users from all over the world, creating a free online gaming network. For XLink Kai to work, the Kai client program must be installed and running on a compatible Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux device.
For modified ("modded") Xbox consoles, much of the functionality can be provided directly within the Xbox Media Center (XBMC) GUI. The Kai client is still required to be running on a computer on the user's network, but players can control connections directly through the console. It is also possible to run the Kai client on other Linux-based devices, such as wireless routers or NAS devices running third party firmware replacements such as DD-WRT or SlugOS.
Features
Xlink Kai supports Nintendo GameCube,[1] PlayStation 2,[1] PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable,[2][3] Xbox[1][4] and Xbox 360 LAN enabled games. It features integrated chat lobbies in which players can meet and converse prior to starting a game session. Clan, tournament and ladder lobbies are also integrated for some games. A list of compatible games can be found on the Team-XLink website. Special considerations have been made for the Xbox 360, which is designed by Microsoft to be incompatible with this kind of software. The console will automatically drop connections if the ping is > 30 milliseconds in a system link connection. However a patch has been released to bypass this limit on modified consoles.[5] At one point support for the Nintendo DS was planned, but was never completed.[6]
XBMC for Microsoft's Xbox console has a control client for XLink Kai that allows control of the XLink Kai software program from the user's Xbox via XBMC GUI. MC360 is a skin for XBMC by Blackbolt that gives the XLink Kai client (XBMC-Live) a familiar interface resembling the Xbox 360's factory dashboard and Xbox Live's connectivity for friends, arenas, etc. XLink Kai was removed from XBMC builds 14099 and later. To use it, run XBMC build 14095. This can be done as a program inside another version (more recent) of XBMC.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://www.joystiq.com/2004/11/30/xlink-kai-free-online-gaming-for-the-masses
- ↑ http://kotaku.com/027086/psp-online-hack
- ↑ http://www.joystiq.com/2007/03/21/xlink-kai-turns-ad-hoc-into-infrastructure/
- ↑ http://news.teamxbox.com/xbox/5971/New-Tunneling-Application-XLink-Kai/
- ↑ http://n4g.com/news/554911/hackers-remove-the-xbox-360s-30ms-ping-limit-for-system-link.
- ↑ http://www.gamezone.com/editorials/xlink-kai-may-support-ds