Over the years, we have watched a lot of products come and go that are supposed to improve your gaming experience. It looks like Super Computer International (SCI) finally came up with a program I would keep on my desktop. This has to be the most useful product for gamers since the invention of the mouse. Over the last two months, I have spoke with Jesper Jensen and Tom Evans of SCI, and Jason Henderson of Verizon Gaming to understand the ins and outs of this program. The PlayLinc client beta is out, so I finally got to put it through its paces.





Chat

PlayLinc got it right by choosing AIM as its chat client. In fact, that is how you log into the client. No need to add another messenger to an already crowded list of clients. Your AIM buddy list is not only intact but it can be used to game with your contacts. Buddies that are using the PlayLinc client get a P next to their name.

Voice

PlayLinc also allows you to setup your own voice server. It is a simple as dragging your buddies to the voice channel to give them an invite. All the basic controls you would expect to be there are present. The server is hosted on the SCI network.

Server Browser

To access the server browser you must go to the games menu and pick the game you want to play. It scans your PC for installed games and also lets you manually search for games to install. PlayLinc features the fastest game browser ever made, hands down. An unfiltered list of over 13,000 Counter-Strike servers was presented to me in less than five seconds. Details and filters are easy to access and use without using pop-ups or changing to a new menu. Double clicking a server will automatically launch the game and connect you to the server.



Free Servers

Yes, you read that right. PlayLinc allows you to create and control your own game servers for FREE. Just hit the Launch button and pick, host server. This will allow you to launch public or private servers with full admin control. You can select your server location; East, West and Dallas for now. When I tested the program, only eight of the most popular FPS games servers were supported. There are more games that you can host on the way. An advanced menu allows you to change map list as well. The only thing that would make this perfect would be the ability to upload custom server configs. Since it is still in beta, I will cross my fingers that it is coming.

After getting the setting how I liked it, all I have to do is hit launch and I join my newly made server. I can invite buddies through PlayLinc to join the server, or people can join it just like you would any other server.