Peripheral Vision: Netlink
If you had a Sega Saturn, this handy device would get you online
» PLATFORM: Saturn » RELEASED: 1996
» COST: $199 (launch), £35+ (today, boxed) £25+ (today, unboxed)
This rather featureless slab of black plastic cost a bomb back in the mid-nineties, but for Saturn owners it represented a gateway to worlds beyond the bedroom. The Netlink is a 28.8Kbps modem which was only released in North America and on a limited trial in Finland. One purpose of the device was to allow players to access the internet, using a dedicated browser disc developed by Planetweb and optionally the Netlink Keyboard and Netlink Mouse. Later versions of the browser even supported chatrooms via IRC.
The other major purpose of the modem was online multiplayer gaming, with players directly dialling one another rather than connecting to servers as is standard today. However, the first games to support this would not arrive until over nine months after the Netlink’s launch, and very few were ever released. Just five North American games supported the modem, three of which were updated online ready versions of previous releases – Daytona USA Championship Circuit Edition: Netlink Edition, Duke Nukem 3D, Saturn Bomberman, Sega
Rally Championship Plus: Netlink Edition and Virtual On: Netlink Edition. The Netlink was not commercially successful in North America, and plans for a full European rollout were cancelled in 1997.