Gamerail
Encyclopedia
GameRail was a private network
designed to improve the performance of online gaming
. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri
, GameRail purportedly used its "heavily peered
, geographically distributed" network gateways
in combination with various Internet Service Providers (ISP) in an attempt to reduce latency
(network delay ,“lag” or “ping”), packet loss
, and jitter
(delay variation) in online games.
GameRail seeks to act as a bridge between ISPs and game servers. A client application is used to reroute gaming traffic away from an ISP’s typical connection through the Internet
and instead onto GameRail’s private network, where it is routed directly to the desired game server. This approach tries to provide a customer with the shortest and fastest connection possible.
In Summer 2007, 10,000 First Person Shooter (FPS) and Real Time Strategy (RTS) servers were peered with the GameRail network. GameRail suggested that with peering up to 34 million homes with broadband
connections in the U.S. and Canada could use the service. GameRail initially targeted FPS/RTS games such as Counter-Strike
, America’s Army, Quake
, and ETQW and Massively Multiplayer Online Games(MMOGS) beginning with Fury
because of their appreciation for a high quality, low latency connection. Support for console games was under development.
As of April 18, 2008 the network has been shut down. "It is with deep regret to announce that the GameRail network has been discontinued at this time. Thank you to the gamers who have participated in the GameRail trial and support of its development as we worked to solve the issues of latency and network quality and their impact on gaming. We believe that latency and network quality will continue to affect the gaming experience and while we are still believers in the GameRail concept, the market does not appear to be ready to support a standalone network for gaming at this time."
As of Jul 2, 2009, the site is back up with the message, "The NEW GameRail - Coming Q4 2009 GameRail had shut its doors in April 2008. Now, the innovative private network, designed to increase Internet performance, is under new management. We have some great plans lined up, including a new lower pricing structure and a vastly improved network infrastructure. Keep an eye on this site for more details!".
For games such as MMOs, many users don't appear to need the services as many are latency-resistant (such as World of Warcraft).
With no real endorsement of the product by their target demographic (e.g. professional gamers) and no reviews of the product either online or in print media, the product lacks legitimacy.
Telecommunications network
A telecommunications network is a collection of terminals, links and nodes which connect together to enable telecommunication between users of the terminals. Networks may use circuit switching or message switching. Each terminal in the network must have a unique address so messages or connections...
designed to improve the performance of online gaming
Online game
An online game is a game played over some form of computer network. This almost always means the Internet or equivalent technology, but games have always used whatever technology was current: modems before the Internet, and hard wired terminals before modems...
. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
, GameRail purportedly used its "heavily peered
Peering
In computer networking, peering is a voluntary interconnection of administratively separate Internet networks for the purpose of exchanging traffic between the customers of each network. The pure definition of peering is settlement-free or "sender keeps all," meaning that neither party pays the...
, geographically distributed" network gateways
Gateway (computer program)
A gateway is a link between two computer programs or systems such as Internet Forums. A gateway acts as a portal between two programs allowing them to share information by communicating between protocols on a computer or between dissimilar computers....
in combination with various Internet Service Providers (ISP) in an attempt to reduce latency
Latency (engineering)
Latency is a measure of time delay experienced in a system, the precise definition of which depends on the system and the time being measured. Latencies may have different meaning in different contexts.-Packet-switched networks:...
(network delay ,“lag” or “ping”), packet loss
Packet loss
Packet loss occurs when one or more packets of data travelling across a computer network fail to reach their destination. Packet loss is distinguished as one of the three main error types encountered in digital communications; the other two being bit error and spurious packets caused due to noise.-...
, and jitter
Jitter
Jitter is the undesired deviation from true periodicity of an assumed periodic signal in electronics and telecommunications, often in relation to a reference clock source. Jitter may be observed in characteristics such as the frequency of successive pulses, the signal amplitude, or phase of...
(delay variation) in online games.
GameRail seeks to act as a bridge between ISPs and game servers. A client application is used to reroute gaming traffic away from an ISP’s typical connection through the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and instead onto GameRail’s private network, where it is routed directly to the desired game server. This approach tries to provide a customer with the shortest and fastest connection possible.
In Summer 2007, 10,000 First Person Shooter (FPS) and Real Time Strategy (RTS) servers were peered with the GameRail network. GameRail suggested that with peering up to 34 million homes with broadband
Broadband
The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...
connections in the U.S. and Canada could use the service. GameRail initially targeted FPS/RTS games such as Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
, America’s Army, Quake
Quake (series)
The Quake series is a line of first-person shooter video games produced by id Software.-Overview:The Quake series is somewhat unusual in that its focus changes frequently; the story of Quake II has nothing to do with Quake, and Quake III Arena has little to do with either of its predecessors...
, and ETQW and Massively Multiplayer Online Games(MMOGS) beginning with Fury
Fury (computer game)
Fury was a player versus player competitive online role-playing game / massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Auran. It was released on 16 October 2007 and was shut down on 7 August 2008...
because of their appreciation for a high quality, low latency connection. Support for console games was under development.
As of April 18, 2008 the network has been shut down. "It is with deep regret to announce that the GameRail network has been discontinued at this time. Thank you to the gamers who have participated in the GameRail trial and support of its development as we worked to solve the issues of latency and network quality and their impact on gaming. We believe that latency and network quality will continue to affect the gaming experience and while we are still believers in the GameRail concept, the market does not appear to be ready to support a standalone network for gaming at this time."
A
User Experience
GameRail has gone through several releases of their desktop client with mixed success. There has been much controversy over whether the product actually works (examples like this GotFrag Thread) and is seemingly hit-and-miss for most users even in forums that they promote such as this. While some users have experienced improvement, many have seen either no improvement or higher latencies. While "in theory" the product should work, reality suggests that the problem of Internet latency in the United States is inordinately complex and likely to be insurmountable for a 3rd Party to resolve. With this product, there can be no guarantees.For games such as MMOs, many users don't appear to need the services as many are latency-resistant (such as World of Warcraft).
With no real endorsement of the product by their target demographic (e.g. professional gamers) and no reviews of the product either online or in print media, the product lacks legitimacy.
- Reviews from target demographic, Texas Team Players Texasteamplayers.com
External links
- www.GameRail.com (
Site is back up, under new management) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5GQwPpovmA