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GameTap is a subscription-based video game service by Turner Broadcasting System (TBS). Dubbed by TBS as a "broadband entertainment network", the service provides subscribers with the ability to play hundreds of classic arcade and computer and video games for a single, flat monthly fee of US$9.95. Subscribers can play as many games as they like for the flat fee.
GameTap also features video programming related to video games, including first-run episodes of Space Ghost Coast to Coast with historic figures from video gaming as guests.
GameTap launched with over 300 games and this number has since grown to over 500 . Every Thursday, four to ten new games are added.
Corporate support
AOL partnered with GameTap to integrate their instant messenger, to "enhance the gaming experience", after GameTap was previewed at E³ 2005.
The initial list of game licensees included Activision, Atari, Intellivision Lives, Midway, Namco, Sega, and Taito. Since its inception, more companies have licensed their software, including: Eidos Interactive, G-Mode, Ubisoft, CodeMasters, Vivendi Games, Electronic Arts, Capcom, Take-Two Interactive, Interplay and SNK.
No Nintendo games are available through GameTap. Several sources suggest that Nintendo will make its back catalog available only through its own planned service, the Virtual Console. "GameTap Goes Live On Monday", Mercury News Interactive, http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2005/10/gametap_goes_li.html , visited June 23, 2006 "VC&G Review: GameTap", Vintage Computing and Gaming, http://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/archives/97 , visited June 23, 2006
To cancel one's account, a customer must call a GameTap representative. Some customers have reported being pressured to stay subscribed.
Supported consoles
Besides Windows and DOS titles, and emulations of original arcade machines, GameTap also emulates classic home computers and consoles including:
- Atari 2600
- Commodore 64
- Dreamcast
- Intellivision
- Neo-Geo
- Sega 32X
- Sega Game Gear
- Sega Genesis
- Sega Master System
- Sega SG-1000
Requirements
- US residence
- A broadband Internet connection
- Windows 2000 or XP (Apple version is in the works)
- Pentium 4 or Athlon 800MHz or better processor
- 3D video card with 32MiB VRAM and DirectX 8.x or OpenGL 1.1
Notes
External links
Online gaming services | Arcade games | Multi-emulators | Time Warner subsidiaries
"GameTap"