Part 1: Introduction
The largest growing trend in the gaming industry today is without a doubt the feature of online gaming. Online gaming is present in both consoles and on the PC platform, available in different formats such as a Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) or as a dedicated server between a bunch of friendly players. One format that had previously been given negative reviews by consumers from all over the world is where the game software itself is hosted on a server and not your platform. However, this may all change with the introduction of a new dedicated online gaming service, GameTap.
GameTap is part of the Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time-Warner company. Officially launched on October 17, 2005, GameTap was the talk of the town across the industry since it was announced in a press release last April. The concept behind GameTap is to offer gamers a way to legally access literally hundreds of games without shelling out a fortune purchasing them or worse yet, face legal woes downloading the software from "questionable" websites.
Part II: Installation and Setup
GameTap is amazingly easy to install and setup. Simply visit the GameTap website, fill out the registration form, provide a billable credit card number, and click on the link to download and install. Before you do that, you have to make sure that you meet the system requirements (from www.gametap.com):
To run the GameTap application, your system will need to meet the following minimum requirements:
1. GameTap is not supported in Windows 98
2. Windows-based PC's more than four years old may experience difficulties.
3. Apple Macintosh computers are not currently supported (but we're working on it)
Internet Connection:
* Broadband service: DSL, DSL light, or cable modem (minimum 384k)
Hardware, Software, and Other Requirements:
* Windows 2000/XP
* Pentium IV or AMD Athlon 800MHz or better
* 256MB RAM
* 5GB available storage (for application)
* Video Card: 3D-capable video card with 32MB VRAM or greater
* DirectX 8.X and OpenGL 1.1
Once you download and run the executable (about 26M in size), the client itself does all the work.
