Mod Universe

Online gaming is one of the fastest growing trends in the world right now. With games such as Runescape boasting subscriber numbers of around a million and World of Warcraft exceeding 7 million active members, the total number of MMOG subscriptions is verging on the absurd, quickly approaching the 14 million mark worldwide[6/06, mmogchart.com]. This tremendous growth in the popularity of the online gaming industry has, in part, been fueled by the accessibility of high-speed broadband internet. A high-speed connection allows for a much more enjoyable game-play experience. Everyone knows that online games work exceptionally well on DSL and Cable internet connections, but what about the newer high-speed service satellite internet? As satellite internet is becoming more readily available and cost effective more and more rural dial-up customers are making the switch to cash in on the faster speeds and always on access. But, when it comes to online gaming many are concerned that their game-play experience will be less satisfactory, if they can even connect to play at all.

The reason for this concern is the issue of latency. Latency is an expression of how much time it takes for a packet of data to get from one designated point to another. This is direly important when it come to on-line gaming in that latency translates into the time that it takes from the moment that a button is pushed to when the action is performed in the game. Often this can mean the difference between life and death. With DSL and Cable the response time is almost immediate, being between 50milliseconds-150milliseconds. The latency for satellite internet is between 600milliseconds-800milliseconds. This may sound like the end of online gaming for someone who has just made the switch to satellite internet but it is not. Although this degree of latency does all but rule out first-person shooters there are a good number of MMOGs that operate well over a satellite internet connection. And, although the effects of latency can never be completely eliminated, there are ways in which to improve upon them. The simplest way to do this is by speeding up the way that one’s computer handles and responds to information being transferred through the connection and by increasing the total amount of available bandwidth. Some operating systems have built in reserves on bandwidth that are non-essential to the functionality of most web applications, see link for a tweak http://www.wildblue.cc/wbforums/showthread.php?t=3323 .

By eliminating non-essential services i.e. bandwidth hogs that the average user never utilizes and dedicating more physical resources to the most used application can help tremendously. Minimizing the effects of latency down to the bare minimum allowed by the laws of physics enables one to play more online gaming that was before not workable and also speeds up the responses of other games that already do work. So, although there are limitations to on-line gaming over satellite internet there are also ways to improve upon game-play responsiveness and many games that will play well without operating system tweaks. Below is a list of online games for both console and PC that, according to subscribers that have tested and played them, do and do not work over satellite internet. This is not a definitive list of games guaranteed to work, so be cautious as results may vary.

What Works

Xbox/Xbox360/PS2/Handheld Games:

Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat(for me anyway doesn’t for some others)

Perfect Dark Zero

All Tony Hawk games

Mario Kart DS

Call of Duty 2

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun

Socom 3(mixed results)

Socom 2(so-so)

Nascar 06 total team control(works kinda)

Rainbow Six Series(Host boots for high ping usually, But CO-OP and 2 V 2 work well)

Splinter Cell: Double Agent

PC Games:

Runescape

Asheron’s Call

Everquest

Everquest 2

World of Warcraft

Star Wars Galaxies

Dark Age of Camelot

Roma Victor

Eve Online

Star Wars: Empire at War

Dungeon and Dragons online

Warcraft3

GuildWars

City of Heroes(very difficult to connect to the patch server..other than that it works fine)

Final Fantasy XI

Contract Jack

Auto Assault

Aces High Online flight sim

Trackmania

WarRock Beta

Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Outcast

StarPeace

America’s Army

Red Orchestra

Diablo 2

Titan Quest

F.E.A.R.

Postal 2

What doesn’t work or is not enjoyable

Xbox/Xbox360/PS2/Handheld Games:

Far Cry Instincts Predator

Halo 2

NBA Live 2006

Quake 4

Prey Demo

Ratchet and Clank: Deadlocked

PC Games:

Star Craft

BattleField 2 Demo

Call of Duty 1&2

Battelfield2

Band of Brothers

C&C Generals

UT2004(playable..not enjoyable)

Ragnarok

Prey Demo

Civ 4

Battlefield 2142

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction Walkthrough Part 6

Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One $59.99 4-Player Cooperative MayhemProduct InformationIn Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One play together online or offline as thegreatest heroes (and villain) in the Ratchet and Clank universe formthe unlikeliest team in this hilarious adventure.  We find ourheroes in the midst of a dilemma of intergalactic proportions when Dr.Nefarious' latest evil plan goes awry leaving Ratchet Clank Qwarkand Nefarious ...

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time $12.00 Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time for PS3... Concluding the events set into motion by Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time will at long last answer some of the franchise fans' largest questions. After discovering that Clank's disappearance was engineered by Dr. Nefarious, Ratchet races to rescue his best friend. Unfortunately, he discovers tha...

Little Big Planet 2 $22.99 LittleBigPlanet 2 (LBP2) is a puzzle-platforming game for PlayStation 3 with new built-in functionality allowing players to create advanced content, including full-fledged games of all sorts, which can be shared with others within the LittleBigPlanet online network. The third game in the LittleBigPlanet franchise, the toolset within LittleBigPlanet 2 provides players with the ability to easily c...

Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction Signature Series Guide (Brady Games Signature Series Guide) $17.99 The Future Is Now! The evil Emperor Percival Tachyon, leader of an ancient race of foes called Cragmites, is back for revenge. He wants nothing more than to wipe the last known Lombax off the face of the universe. But Ratchet and Clank, intergalactic heroes of sorts, will see that the Emperor fails miserably. EVERY GOLD BOLT REVEALED Learn what it takes to uncover every hard-to-find Gold Bolt ...

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time Signature Series Strategy Guide (Bradygames Signature Guides) $14.75 BradyGames’ Ratchet and Clank Future 2: A Crack in Time Signature Series Strategy Guide includes the following: A comprehensive walkthrough of the entire game. WEAPONS AND GADGETS: Learn all about every weapon and gadget, along with ways to upgrade each weapon. Plus all hidden items and collectables are revealed! BESTIARY: Complete listing of even the toughest foe encountered in the game...

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One Signature Series Guide (Bradygames Signature Guides) $10.99 BradyGames’ Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One Signature Series Strategy Guide includes the following: Ratchet and Clank All 4 One, the humorous actionexploration game for the Sony Playstation 3. -Signature Series treatment makes this strategy guide a COLLECTIBLE ITEM for fans of the Ratchet & Clank series. -Official ARTWORK enhances pages designed for beauty and easy of use. -Exclusive MAPS found on...

Ratchet and Clank 8-Inch Plush Set $24.99 From the popular Playstation video game, Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One come these adorable plush! Must have for any Ratchet and Clank fan! Intergalactically adorable! This Ratchet and Clank 8-Inch plush set contains 2 individually packaged plush (subject to change): 1x Ratchet 1x Clank Fresh from the video game, Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One is Ratchet, an intergalactic grease monkey and his loveable, uptight robot, Clank. Mezco's award-winning design team has pulled everyone's favorite Lombax and his sentient robot pal from the world of videogames and transformed them into plush figures with amazing detail. These 1:6 scale 8-inch plush figures feature game specific designs.

Ratchet Graphite Shaft Puller $149.99 STEELCLUB® Graphite Shaft Pullers now offer even better performance. The interchangeable rubber clamp has been modified for greater clamping pressure. The Selectable Hosel Stop accomodates all shaft tip diameters. This innovative feature is the best in the industry. • Precision CNC Machined • Ratchet Bolt Pushing Rod • Ratchet Bolt Top Clamp • Selectable 0.335” - 0.500” Hosel Stop • 2-1/2” Rubber Clamps • Vise Mount

Kre-o Transformers Ratchet $19.99 Autobot police car includes 2 Kreon mini-figures-- G1 Ratchet and a Medic with a fire axe and stretcher! Kre-o are the Transformers you build! Compatible with LEGO and other construction toy lines! He's more than meets the eye! Take the 187 bricks in this box and you can create a Ratchet robot, a Ratchet ambulance, and anything your imagination can crank out. In vehicle mode, the Kreon mini-figures can ride inside! Let's create fun with Kre-O!

Activated Carbon Pillow - Fits Rapids Pro PS3 and PS4 - 2 pk $9.99 Activated Carbon Pillow is designed for providing chemical filtration in your Rapids Pro PS3 or PS4 wet/dry aquarium filter.

Transformers Robot Heroes Ratchet vs. Megatron Figures $6.49 Classic robots, big heroes! The Transformers Robot Heroes mini-figure 2-packs features awesome movie characters in a chunky, fun style. In this set, Megatron does battle with the Autobot medic Ratchet. Race into action with the Galaxy's Greatest Collection of mighty metal warriors! The most powerful heroes from the Planet Cybertron are here to battle for the fate of the universe. With the incredible ability to change into every day objects and technology beyond your wildest dreams, these robot heroes are more than meets the eye!

Activated Carbon Filter Pad - Fits Rapids Pro PS3 and PS4 - 2 pk $7.99 Activated Carbon Filter Pad is designed for providing chemical filtration in your Rapids Pro PS3 or PS4 wet/dry aquarium filter.

Poly-Fiber Filter Pad - Fits Rapids Pro PS3 and PS4 - 3 pk $7.99 Poly-Fiber Filter Pad is designed for providing mechanical filtration in your Rapids Pro PS3 or PS4 wet/dry aquarium filter.

TV Guide Lucky Letters $19.99 TV Guide Lucky Letters

Skullcandy 2011 GI SGS For PS3 - Black/Red $99.99 Communication is the key to teamwork, and Skullcandy Gaming Series G.I. is the key to communication. Whether you're sniffing out drops or dipping into the heal pot, the 40mm power drivers of the G.I. Give you full, realistic sound in a comfortable, long-haul design. (Product is not compatible with HDMI cables.)

The Modern Guide to Clubmaking Video DVD $23 A two-hour video guide to assembling woods, irons and putters. Shows how to trim and measure graphite and steel shafts, size and install grips, swingweight clubs, etc.