Planet Ring (video game)

Planet Ring is a video game developed and published by Sega for the Dreamcast home game console on December 4, 2000 in Europe only. The disc was distributed for free in the United Kingdom through the Official Dreamcast Magazine and was one of the few games released in PAL regions to support the Dreamcast Microphone as well as the Dreamcast Keyboard.

The Planet Ring game experience is like an online community as it is one of the first video games to require the user to be connected to the internet at all times, predating Microsoft's Xbox Live. The game contains four online minigames to help promote the Dreamcast's internet features. These minigames include "Dream Dorobo", "Ball Bubble", "SOAR" and "Splash". Up to 32 players could compete in online events. Before being allowed to play online for the very first time, the player must design a small character with various specifics like sex, hair design, clothing, age, intelligence and a few other factors. This character represents the player in the world of Planet Ring. The character can be seen on the planet surface and can run around the entire globe visiting the varying attractions.

Unlike other games that allowed the use of the Dreamcast Broadband Adapter (BBA), this game was dial-up only. The game was playable across the whole continent of Europe so players in the UK could play people from France, Spain, Germany, etc. Although the original Dreamcast online servers were shut down in 2002, the game has been brought back online due to a homebrew server development in June 2013. This new server was due to an open-source server project called Earthcall which was developed by using the SDL.net library.