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'''Total Entertainment Network''' (TEN) was an [[online gaming]] service that existed from September, 1996<ref>"TEN goes commercial; Leading interactive entertainment network for game players offers special introductory pricing to first 25,000 members," ''Business Wire'' Sep. 23, 1996. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/TEN+goes+commercial%3b+Leading+interactive+entertainment+network+for...-a018698627</ref> until October, 1999. T E Network, Inc., which created and operated the TEN service, was formed from the merger<ref>"Planet Optigon, Outland to merge and form "The Total Entertainment Network"; Online Entertainment companies merge, receive venture financing from Kleiner Perkins, Caulfield & Byers," ''Business Wire'' Apr. 24, 1995. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Planet+Optigon%2c+Outland+to+merge+and+form+%22The+Total+Entertainment...-a016857194</ref> of [[Planet Optigon]] and [[Outland]] in June, 2005 when they received their first round of VC funding from [[Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers]].
'''Total Entertainment Network''' (TEN) was an [[online gaming]] network created by Optigon Interactive, which was founded in 1991 by CEO [[Daniel Goldman]], founder of the [[Inner Circle BBS]], and VP Content Development [[Janice Linden-Reed]]. [[Greg Harper]], now the President of iWin<ref>iWin, http://www.iwin.com</ref>, was VP Business Development for Optigon and co-founder of TE Networks.


The service offered [[PC]] game players a place to play [[DOS]] and [[Windows]]-based games online with and against other players, to chat, to download game-related content, and to compete for high scores and to win tournaments. The service was bundled with many PC games and offered as a subscription service. Some of the games supported on TEN include [[Duke Nukem 3D]]<ref>"3D Realms Titles Go Exclusively to TEN for 5 Years; TEN to be exclusive online partner for all upcoming titles, including Duke Nukem 3D," ''Business Wire'' Mar. 19, 1996. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/3D+Realms+Titles+Go+Exclusively+to+TEN+for+5+Years%3b+TEN+to+be...-a018104297</ref>, NASCAR Racing Online Series<ref>"NASCAR Speeds onto the Internet: TEN Puts Pedal to the Metal with Sierra On-Line and NASCAR," ''Business Wire'' Dec. 3, 1996. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/NASCAR+Speeds+onto+the+Internet%3a+TEN+Puts+Pedal+to+the+Metal+with...-a018896455</ref>, [[Magic: The Gathering Online]], [[ARC]], [[AD&D's Dark Sun Online]], [[Quake]]<ref>"TEN Shakes Up the Gaming World With Addition of QUAKE; First commercial Internet entertainment network adds to list of high-quality content," ''Business Wire'' Sep. 30, 1996. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/TEN+Shakes+Up+the+Gaming+World+With+Addition+of+QUAKE%3b+First...-a018731815</ref>, [[Quake 2]], [[Shadow Warrior]], [[Wulfram]], [[Warheads]], [[Masters of Orion]], [[Blood (computer game)|Blood]], [[WizWar]], [[Command & Conquer: Red Alert]], [[Command & Conquer]], [[Panzer General]], [[Twilight Dawn]], [[Diablo (computer game)|Diablo]], [[Warcraft]], [[Deadlock: Planetary Conquest]], Big Red Racing<ref>"TEN Revs Its Engines with Big Red Racing; Leading interactive entertainment network for game players lines up more hit content," ''Business Wire'' Sep. 6, 1996. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/TEN+Revs+Its+Engines+with+Big+Red+Racing%3b+Leading+interactive...-a018651257</ref>, and [[Myth (computer game)|Myth]].
In 1994, Planet Optigon launched a beta of '''Total Entertainment Network'' via Sprint's national .X25 network. The service was a community portal and casual game service, with games such as Chess, Checkers, Descent and SimCity available to its subscribers, as well as "web" based email and usenet news. [[Outland]], founded in 1993 by [[William Lipa]] and [[David King]] was the first "game only" service on the Internet which required a paid subscription.


Many online games, especially PC games adapted for online game play, require low and consistent latency to play well. It was a major challenge circa 1996 for consumers to find consistent [[low latency]] connections to central servers or to other game players because of the latency intrinsic to dial-up [[modems]] and the heavy congestion at the [[Internet peering point]]s. T E Network, Inc. partnered<ref>"TEN and Concentric Forge Alliance to Provide Fastest Possible National Gaming Network," ''Business Wire'' May 16, 1996. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/TEN+and+Concentric+Forge+Alliance+to+Provide+Fastest+Possible...-a018290454</ref> with Concentric Network Corporation to offer consumers Internet access dial-up numbers that would provide the reliable low latencies they needed to play online games. Concentric optimized their network and their dial-up technology for the TEN service.
Kleiner Perkins, the first major investor in TEN, also invested in Concentric Networks, a low latency ISP, and [[Excite]], a search engine and web portal.


After the success of [[Blizzard Entertainment]]'s free [[Battle.net]] service for Diablo and their claim that offering online play as a feature of the game boosted retail sales by 10%, PC game publishers started following Blizzard's lead and offering free online game play. This undermined the subscription business model of TEN and their strategy to be the exclusive place to play popular PC games online. As Internet advertising was starting to gain traction, T E Network decided to focus on easy-to-access and easy-to-play browser-based games that would appeal to a broad audience and attract enough unique users to drive an advertising-based business model. T E Nework, Inc. became<ref>"TEN Becomes pogo.com: Bingo Beats Quake," Wall Street Journal Interactive, Oct. 1999. Available online at http://www.costik.com/pogo.html</ref> [[Pogo.com]], Inc. to pursue this new strategy.
In 1995, as part of the investment from [[Vinod Khosla]] at [[Kleiner Perkins]] Planet Optigon's eighteen employees merged with Outland's three to form TE Network. The resulting company maintained the "Total Entertainment Network" brand and the executive team of four VP's and the Chairman/CEO from Optigon were joined by the CTO from Outland. The [[business model]] for the companies shifted to serving the [[hardcore gamer]], including connecting players to online opponents while providing a [[low latency]] connection between them. A new windows operating system based and [[IP]] based server and client were created with a greater focus on low latency.
The TEN brand and management continued with new service offerings, provided online [[ranking]]s, gaming [[tournament]]s, one of the first MMORPGs, the D&D based Dark Sun Online, and match-making services to gamers.


== Beta Version from Planet Optigon ==
The service offered PC game players a place to play DOS and Windows-based games online with and against other players, to chat, to download game-related content, and to compete for high scores and to win tournaments. The service was bundled with many PC games and offered as a subscription service. Some of the games supported on TEN include Duke Nukem 3D, NASCAR Racing Online, Magic: The Gathering Online, ARC, AD&D's Dark Sun Online, Quake, Quake 2, Shadow Warrior, Wulfram, Warheads, Masters of Orion, Blood, WizWar, Red Alert, Command & Conquer, Panzer General, Twilight Dawn, Diablo, Warcraft, Deadlock, and Myth.


[[Planet Optigon]] developed and launched a beta version of an online gaming network and community portal that was called the Total Entertainment Network. It was a subscription service with a DOS client that offered [[Chess]], [[Checkers]], [[SimCity]], email, and chat<ref>"Showdown at the Virtual Corral," San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 5, 1995. Available online at http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/1995/01/05/DD7710.DTL</ref>. It was available via Sprint's national X.25 dial-up network. This version was discontinued soon after T E Network, Inc. was formed.
The site charged either an hourly or monthly fee for this service. The site had some exclusive content, but failed to grow quickly enough to support itself as more and more competitors began offering Internet based game services [[free of charge]].

In 1996, TEN began its slow shift back to its roots in casual gaming. T E Network acquired Michael Riccio's WebDeck service, which offered Java-based versions of Euchre, Spades, and Hearts that ran in the popular web browsers circa 1998, to accelerate this transition. Excite was their first partner. On [[September 1]], [[1999]], TEN completed its repositioning by relaunching itself as Pogo or [[Pogo.com]].


In [[2001]], Pogo.com was sold to [[Electronic Arts]].

This is a [[1997]] excerpt from the now-[[defunct]] TEN website (www.ten.net): <ref>Internet Archive, http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.ten.net</ref> written by [[Jason Kapulka]], who went on to found [[PopCap]], a leading developer of [[casual game]]s

{{cquote|You've just taken the first step into the underground world of TEN. Right now, thousands of people are playing hit multiplayer games like Duke Nukem 3D, Deadlock, AD&D DARK SUN, Command & Conquer, Red Alert, Diablo, Blood, and QUAKE over the Internet. Not to mention the hit games that will soon be playable over TEN such as Shadow Warrior, Twighlight Lands, and NASCAR Racing Online Series. You also get chat rooms, tournaments, game rankings to determine the best players, member profiles and more. All you need to do is install the TEN software to join in the action.}}


== References ==
== References ==
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== See also ==
== See also ==
*[[Duke Nukem 3D]], a popular game playable on the TEN network
*[[Pogo.com]]
*[[Pogo.com]]


==External links/Press Releases==
== External Links ==
* Internet Archive of the TEN website, http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.ten.net
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1995_Sept_8/ai_17373135 TEN Signs SSI title "DarkSun"]
* [http://www.costik.com/pogo.html TEN Becomes pogo.com: Bingo Beats Quake]
* [http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles/1996/sep96/96n0928/96n0928.asp&articleid=803&guid= Smart Computing Article "Will Multiplayer Games Make A Net Killing Online?"]
* [http://www.phildavidson.com/tech/fora/gamsig01.htm Game Developer's Conference talk by TEN CEO/Founder Daniel Goldman]
* [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/The+Total+Entertainment+Network+partners+with+Macromedia%3B+license+of...-a017269857 TEN's 1995 Vision regarding user created content]
* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_1996_March_19/ai_18104297 3D Realms Titles Go Exclusively to TEN for 5 Years; TEN to be exclusive online partner for all upcoming titles, including Duke Nukem 3D]

Revision as of 10:32, 11 April 2007

Total Entertainment Network (TEN) was an online gaming service that existed from September, 1996[1] until October, 1999. T E Network, Inc., which created and operated the TEN service, was formed from the merger[2] of Planet Optigon and Outland in June, 2005 when they received their first round of VC funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

The service offered PC game players a place to play DOS and Windows-based games online with and against other players, to chat, to download game-related content, and to compete for high scores and to win tournaments. The service was bundled with many PC games and offered as a subscription service. Some of the games supported on TEN include Duke Nukem 3D[3], NASCAR Racing Online Series[4], Magic: The Gathering Online, ARC, AD&D's Dark Sun Online, Quake[5], Quake 2, Shadow Warrior, Wulfram, Warheads, Masters of Orion, Blood, WizWar, Command & Conquer: Red Alert, Command & Conquer, Panzer General, Twilight Dawn, Diablo, Warcraft, Deadlock: Planetary Conquest, Big Red Racing[6], and Myth.

Many online games, especially PC games adapted for online game play, require low and consistent latency to play well. It was a major challenge circa 1996 for consumers to find consistent low latency connections to central servers or to other game players because of the latency intrinsic to dial-up modems and the heavy congestion at the Internet peering points. T E Network, Inc. partnered[7] with Concentric Network Corporation to offer consumers Internet access dial-up numbers that would provide the reliable low latencies they needed to play online games. Concentric optimized their network and their dial-up technology for the TEN service.

After the success of Blizzard Entertainment's free Battle.net service for Diablo and their claim that offering online play as a feature of the game boosted retail sales by 10%, PC game publishers started following Blizzard's lead and offering free online game play. This undermined the subscription business model of TEN and their strategy to be the exclusive place to play popular PC games online. As Internet advertising was starting to gain traction, T E Network decided to focus on easy-to-access and easy-to-play browser-based games that would appeal to a broad audience and attract enough unique users to drive an advertising-based business model. T E Nework, Inc. became[8] Pogo.com, Inc. to pursue this new strategy.

Beta Version from Planet Optigon

Planet Optigon developed and launched a beta version of an online gaming network and community portal that was called the Total Entertainment Network. It was a subscription service with a DOS client that offered Chess, Checkers, SimCity, email, and chat[9]. It was available via Sprint's national X.25 dial-up network. This version was discontinued soon after T E Network, Inc. was formed.

References

  1. ^ "TEN goes commercial; Leading interactive entertainment network for game players offers special introductory pricing to first 25,000 members," Business Wire Sep. 23, 1996. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/TEN+goes+commercial%3b+Leading+interactive+entertainment+network+for...-a018698627
  2. ^ "Planet Optigon, Outland to merge and form "The Total Entertainment Network"; Online Entertainment companies merge, receive venture financing from Kleiner Perkins, Caulfield & Byers," Business Wire Apr. 24, 1995. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Planet+Optigon%2c+Outland+to+merge+and+form+%22The+Total+Entertainment...-a016857194
  3. ^ "3D Realms Titles Go Exclusively to TEN for 5 Years; TEN to be exclusive online partner for all upcoming titles, including Duke Nukem 3D," Business Wire Mar. 19, 1996. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/3D+Realms+Titles+Go+Exclusively+to+TEN+for+5+Years%3b+TEN+to+be...-a018104297
  4. ^ "NASCAR Speeds onto the Internet: TEN Puts Pedal to the Metal with Sierra On-Line and NASCAR," Business Wire Dec. 3, 1996. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/NASCAR+Speeds+onto+the+Internet%3a+TEN+Puts+Pedal+to+the+Metal+with...-a018896455
  5. ^ "TEN Shakes Up the Gaming World With Addition of QUAKE; First commercial Internet entertainment network adds to list of high-quality content," Business Wire Sep. 30, 1996. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/TEN+Shakes+Up+the+Gaming+World+With+Addition+of+QUAKE%3b+First...-a018731815
  6. ^ "TEN Revs Its Engines with Big Red Racing; Leading interactive entertainment network for game players lines up more hit content," Business Wire Sep. 6, 1996. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/TEN+Revs+Its+Engines+with+Big+Red+Racing%3b+Leading+interactive...-a018651257
  7. ^ "TEN and Concentric Forge Alliance to Provide Fastest Possible National Gaming Network," Business Wire May 16, 1996. Available online at http://www.thefreelibrary.com/TEN+and+Concentric+Forge+Alliance+to+Provide+Fastest+Possible...-a018290454
  8. ^ "TEN Becomes pogo.com: Bingo Beats Quake," Wall Street Journal Interactive, Oct. 1999. Available online at http://www.costik.com/pogo.html
  9. ^ "Showdown at the Virtual Corral," San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 5, 1995. Available online at http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/1995/01/05/DD7710.DTL

See also

External Links

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