[PuPPeT]

ENA in the UK
SCEE's official statement of October 31, 2002 confirmed that its launch package would mirror that of the US. As a result, it will contain the Ethernet Network Adaptor (ENA), a disc that will include an unspecified number of online demos – the US version had two – along with a detailed step-by-step user guide. The whole package will retail for around £40 and the UK will be the first country in Europe to test the waters of PS2 networked gaming, with Germany following a close second. The question is: how will we contend with the numerous obstacles that obviously stand in our way?

Use any existing narrowband connection, log on to the technical support forums for EverQuest Online Adventures and you'll be faced with questions about connection problems, port triggering and server dropouts to name but a few. It's a far cry from the plug-and-play responsiveness that most console gamers have come to expect. In fact, the more forums you read, the more PC everything becomes. Arguments about the decapitations in Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven fall away and you find yourself in the ninth circle of tech hell alongside broken IT managers and stacks of out-of-date Dilbert calanders. It's a worrying realisation that instantly provokes a host of concerns. Are UK gamers likely to suffer from a graduation of server support depending on who develops the game they're currently playing? Would it really be a good idea to invest in a router if you've already got a PC? In the absence of a browser, how will non-computer-owning gamers learn valuable information from support sites? And what of the future of broadband? Are we really on the brink of that non-stop data-streaming dream we mentioned earlier? Questions, questions, questions… When faced with so many, the only real option is to shine up those apples, visit the proverbial horse's mouth, and see if it'll bite.

Shiny apples
Can we find anywhere selling apples between Paddington and Soho Square, the location of SCEE's HQ? No. What we can find, though, is the vice president of business development, Nainan Shah, ready to chat about all things networked and PS2 shaped. Equip opens by asking him about how Sony had dealt with the technological issues, both inside and outside the company.

"Our approach on the whole, and in the network area especially, is very open," he begins. "We haven't got all the answers internally and we're not trying to tell the development community how to attack this area. What we're trying to ensure is that there's a core of technology for our internal studios, and that this is also available for external developers who don't want to get into low-level development. A good example of this is our SCRT middleware for network gaming – a basic suite of enabling technologies. If an external company wants a ready-made solution, then this is available for them to use."

The current situation in the US is that each PS2 online title has its own dedicated server, meaning you effectively have a different identity and password every time you log on. What Equip wants to know from Shah is whether the same would be true of the UK network. "Our open philosophy once again applies to the server and community technologies and to hosting solutions as well," Shah elaborates. "We have our own infrastructure, but it's perfectly open for developers and publishers to create their own solutions. In the US the model has been that the publisher of the product has taken responsibility for the actual server management."