GameRail Offers Low-Lag Network for Gamers
By Rich Miller on Jan 3, 2007 in Providers, GameRail
Progression Networks will use the meet-me room of the Bandwidth Exchange in St. Louis to enhance connectivity for GameRail, a high speed network that directly connects online game players to the servers that host the most popular and demanding titles. By using a network peering approach to ISPs, universities and game server providers (GSPs), GameRail plans to deliver superior performance to its subscribers. Low latency (”lag”) is crucial in multiplayer first-person shooter games like CounterStrike, where a slow connection can much up gameplay and/or leave a player at a competitive disadvantage. The service, which is free during its current beta period, eventually plans to charge $15 a month for subscribers.
“Because of the Peering opportunities with the Bandwidth Exchange Buildings’ existing clients, we are able to fast start our network and also provide superior performance for our peer’s online gaming subscribers,” said GameRail’s CEO Blake Ashby. “Turning up in a carrier hotel like the Bandwidth Exchange Buildings also give us rapid access to leading carriers to build a national network.”
GameRail describes itself as “is an evolution in the network model specifically designed to minimize latency and improve a computer gamer’s online experience.” GameRail allows gaming traffic to get on the private network in the gamer’s home city and then transit over the private network all the way to the site of the game server. GameRail can reduces network hops (and thus latency).
If you’re interested in learning more about the game hosting/GSP market, check out the Game Hosting Guide for a directory of providers and resources.
