GamesOnLine Update

Post by **King of Creation** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 9:36 pm

[ Company -> Update ] - More info on <a href="http://wikipocalypse.duckandcover.cx/in ... y">Company: Interplay</a>

A mystery poster going by the name of interplayrip has posted a short description of the life of <a href="http://www.gamesonline.com" target="_self">GamesOnLine.com</a> over at the <a href="http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boar ... &read=1404" target="_self">Raging Bull Forums</a>.
<blockquote>
gamesonline.com was
registered many, many years ago. It actually had a full website back in
the day, etc. It was designed to be a separated child company of
Interplay's that would offer streaming online content and games. The
company basically broke the webteam off from Interplay and created it's
own entity. If it worked out the company would go out on it's own,
stock options, the whole shibang. If not, Interplay would take the
company back in under it's wing. I'm sure you can guess what happened. 
</blockquote>
So it looks like GamesOnLine was another long planned out project that still hasn't resulted in anything. Spotted @ <a href="http://ragingbull.lycos.com/mboard/boar ... LY">Raging Bull Forums</a>

AftershockVibe · Post by **AftershockVibe** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 3:37 pm

Indeed it did apparently... Archive.org has copies of several previous incarnations;
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.gamesonline.com

Post by **King of Creation** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 5:25 pm

Yeah...this was way back in the day. I may not have even had a computer at the time.

New Online Games Service To Include Interplay's Descent and Battle Chess 4000 plus Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Descent To Undermountain, MUD II and many others.

ENGAGE Signs First Content Delivery Deal With America Online

IRVINE, CALIFORNIA (May 1, 1996) -- Interplay Productions announced today that it has spun off ENGAGE Games Online, a new and unique online service for multi-player games and entertainment. ENGAGE will feature many of the most popular titles from its founding company, Interplay, as well as additional high-end games and entertainment content from other leading companies.

ENGAGE has already signed a deal with America Online to deliver its content to AOL's more than five million members beginning this summer. Announcements regarding other major online services, new content partners, direct Internet access and possible additional investors will be forthcoming over the next several weeks. ENGAGE will also make several important announcements at a press conference during the E3 Conference to be held Thursday, May 16th at 12:30pm in the Los Angeles Convention Center.

"There is no question we are all moving into the new world of online. The business model for ENGAGE will provide the best opportunity to access the greatest number of people," said Brian Fargo, founder and CEO of Interplay. He continued, "There is a different set of challenges associated with running an online company. I would liken it to running a television station. We have put a top-level management team in place that has over 25 years combined online experience."

Online industry veteran Jeff Leibowitz has been named president of the new company, which will be based in Irvine, California. ENGAGE is the third online service that Leibowitz has helped build, having played a key role in the development of both Reuters Money Network for reality Online and, prior to that, the ImagiNation Network for At&T.

"ENGAGE is unique for consumers in that it will be available on most major online services, usually with no extra surcharge, as well as on the Internet. For developers it's unique because, by putting games on ENGAGE, they can reach consumers no matter how they access the world of online, and with only one port and one business arrangement. Developers also benefit from access to the extensive hands-on online service experience of ENGAGE's management team and strategic partners," Leibowitz stated.

ENGAGE will feature an impressive array of high-end multi-player games as well as some less intense fare for non-gamer members of the family. Most of ENGAGE's games are worldwide exclusives, including such best sellers as Descent, Castles II and Avanved Dungeons & Dragons: Dragon Dice from Interplay as well as MUD II from Dr. Richard Bartle, the founder of MUD Games. Titles from other content partners will be announced over the coming weeks and months. ENGAGE will offer as many as 15 games by the end of 1996 and then plans to add about one additional game each month.

Online users will access ENGAGE games and other entertainment content through a consistent and intuitive Windows 95-based graphically rich, animated 3-D interface, regardless of whether they access ENGAGE via the Internet or an online service. In addition, chat area, bulletin boards and other service areas will be accessible through the graphical front end. A 2-D version will also be made available for quicker downloads from the major online services or from various World Wide Web sites on the Internet.

For further information on ENGAGE and the E3 media event, contact interActive agency at 213.932.8368.

Post by **King of Creation** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 5:28 pm

And damn...these few headlines from the first update just goes to show how awesome Interplay was:

ENGAGE SIGNS FIRST CONTENT DELIVERY DEAL WITH AOL
ENGAGE TO BE CARRIED ON PRODIGY
ENGAGE TEAMS UP WITH CONCENTRIC TO OFFER A LOW LATENCY INTERNET SOLUTION
ENGAGE SIGNS EXCLUSIVE GAME DEAL WITH PHILIPS MEDIA
ENGAGE EXPANDS CONTENT BASE WITH MORE EXCLUSIVES FROM INTERPLAY PRODUCTIONS
ENGAGE CLOSES DEAL FOR SIMCITY 2000
ENGAGE SIGNS EXCLUSIVE CONTENT DEAL WITH THE IMPROV
ENGAGE INKS DISTRIBUTION DEAL WITH TIME WARNER CABLE'S FULL SERVICE NETWORKtm
ENGAGE SIGNS EXCLUSIVE CONTENT DEAL WITH INTERWORLD PRODUCTIONS.
ENGAGE SIGNS EXCLUSIVE DEAL WITH BLIZZARD FOR WARCRAFT II:TIDES OF DARKNESS
ENGAGE TO FEATURE CAESARS PALACE VIRTUAL CASINO
ENGAGE GAMES ONLINE ANNOUNCES FIRST INVESTOR
ROLEMASTER: MAGESTORM AND SPLATTERBALL ARE AMONG INITIAL TITLES TO DEBUT ON ENGAGE
BOB DERBER OF MAXIS JOINS ENGAGE MANAGEMENT TEAM
ENGAGE ANNOUNCES FIRST BETA TESTS
ENGAGE INKS DISTRIBUTION DEAL WITH EARTHLINK NETWORK
ENGAGE ADDS BEST-SELLING GAME WARCRAFT II: TIDES OF DARKNESS TO BETA TEST

Killzig · Post by **Killzig** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 6:54 pm

I remember when Interplay tried to stream their games. I guess they didn't realize that most people who use the internet hate ...buffering...buffering...buffering... streams.

Valve's slowly building STEAM up into something like this as an alternate form of distribution but I know how many people out there hate STEAM.

Post by **DarkUnderlord** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 2:41 am

I remember when Interplay was just Brian Fargo walking around selling stuff on disks to hippy-run game stores.

Oh wait, no I don't.

Dan_Wood · Post by **Dan_Wood** » Thu Jul 28, 2005 1:24 am

I remember this shit. Their business model was founded on monthly service charges, which were on par with extortion.

Steam may not be that good, but at least there's the illusion that you've bought something. Sure, I can play my Halflife 2 (After downloading for days on end) offline, but I have to connect to the World Wide Weber in order to reinstall it after Windows shits itself.