Satellite Internet and Online Gaming: Does It Work?

Online gaming is one of the fastest growingand PC that, according to subscribers that have
trends in the world right now. With games such astested and played them, do and do not work
Runescape boasting subscriber numbers of aroundover satellite internet. This is not a definitive list of
a million and World of Warcraft exceeding 7 milliongames guaranteed to work, so be cautious as
active members, the total number of MMOGresults may vary.
subscriptions is verging on the absurd, quicklyWhat Works
approaching the 14 million mark worldwide[6/06,Xbox/Xbox360/PS2/Handheld Games:
mmogchart.com]. This tremendous growth in theGhost Recon: Advanced Warfighter
popularity of the online gaming industry has, inBattlefield 2: Modern Combat(for me anyway
part, been fueled by the accessibility of high-speeddoesn't for some others)
broadband internet. A high-speed connection allowsPerfect Dark Zero
for a much more enjoyable game-playAll Tony Hawk games
experience. Everyone knows that online gamesMario Kart DS
work exceptionally well on DSL and Cable internetCall of Duty 2
connections, but what about the newerMedal of Honor: Rising Sun
high-speed service satellite internet? As satelliteSocom 3(mixed results)
internet is becoming more readily available andSocom 2(so-so)
cost effective more and more rural dial-upNascar 06 total team control(works kinda)
customers are making the switch to cash in onRainbow Six Series(Host boots for high ping
the faster speeds and always on access. But,usually, But CO-OP and 2 V 2 work well)
when it comes to online gaming many areSplinter Cell: Double Agent
concerned that their game-play experience will bePC Games:
less satisfactory, if they can even connect to playRunescape
at all.Asheron's Call
The reason for this concern is the issue ofEverquest
latency. Latency is an expression of how muchEverquest 2
time it takes for a packet of data to get fromWorld of Warcraft
one designated point to another. This is direlyStar Wars Galaxies
important when it come to on-line gaming in thatDark Age of Camelot
latency translates into the time that it takes fromRoma Victor
the moment that a button is pushed to when theEve Online
action is performed in the game. Often this canStar Wars: Empire at War
mean the difference between life and death. WithDungeon and Dragons online
DSL and Cable the response time is almostWarcraft3
immediate, being betweenGuildWars
50milliseconds-150milliseconds. The latency forCity of Heroes(very difficult to connect to the
satellite internet is betweenpatch server..other than that it works fine)
600milliseconds-800milliseconds. This may soundFinal Fantasy XI
like the end of online gaming for someone whoContract Jack
has just made the switch to satellite internet butAuto Assault
it is not. Although this degree of latency does allAces High Online flight sim
but rule out first-person shooters there are aTrackmania
good number of MMOGs that operate well over aWarRock Beta
satellite internet connection. And, although theStar Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast
effects of latency can never be completelyStarPeace
eliminated, there are ways in which to improveAmerica's Army
upon them. The simplest way to do this is byRed Orchestra
speeding up the way that one's computer handlesDiablo 2
and responds to information being transferredTitan Quest
through the connection and by increasing the totalF.E.A.R.
amount of available bandwidth. Some operatingPostal 2
systems have built in reserves on bandwidth thatWhat doesn't work or is not enjoyable
are non-essential to the functionality of most webXbox/Xbox360/PS2/Handheld Games:
applications, see link for a tweak .Far Cry Instincts Predator
By eliminating non-essential services i.e. bandwidthHalo 2
hogs that the average user never utilizes andNBA Live 2006
dedicating more physical resources to the mostQuake 4
used application can help tremendously. MinimizingPrey Demo
the effects of latency down to the bare minimumRatchet and Clank: Deadlocked
allowed by the laws of physics enables one toPC Games:
play more online gaming that was before notStar Craft
workable and also speeds up the responses ofBattleField 2 Demo
other games that already do work. So, althoughCall of Duty 1&2
there are limitations to on-line gaming over satelliteBattelfield2
internet there are also ways to improve uponBand of Brothers
game-play responsiveness and many games thatC&C Generals
will play well without operating system tweaks.UT2004(playable..
Below is a list of online games for both console