Introduction

Even with more and more households gaining access to broadband Internet connections, lag time while playing online PC games is still a problem. Enter Austin Texas based Bigfoot Network who claim to have created a technology that will eliminate online game lag in your PC. Sounds too good to be true? Firing Squad decided to try to learn more about this effort by asking some questions from Bigfoot Network CEO Harlan Beverly.

FiringSquad: First, how did Bigfoot Networks come to be formed?

Harlan Beverly: I am an extreme hardcore PC gamer, and have been since I was a kid. I LOVE online games, so much so that I met my wife online and married her virtually in UO before I married her in real life. We even had virtual kids, and later followed them up with the real things.

I am also a network chip and protocol expert. I was even a chip Architect at Intel Corp. for a while. While at Intel, I was responsible for making corporate desktops and servers run incredibly fast using Network Acceleration technology. But corporate servers are not my love, I love games. So, I decided to apply my talent to my passion and start the first company whose sole purpose is to fight Lag. I even got an MBA from U.T., just to learn how to start this business. It was there I teamed up with Mike Cubbage and Bob Grim to launch Bigfoot Networks.

FiringSquad: How did the idea to come up with a product to eliminate Lag in PC games come about?

Harlan Beverly: I spend all my free time playing online PC games and all my work time designing networking chips. The only thing that messes with my world is Lag. I can sometimes be heard screaming LAGGG in the middle of the night. It was a very simple decision, once I realized my team and I had the skills that it would take to fight Lag in a meaningful way.

Incidentally, the product is designed to fight Lag… it is my dream to one day eliminate Lag, but that’s like trying to eliminate Viruses. Viruses still exist today, even though most of us use anti-virus software, keep it updated, and feel protected.

Ultimately, people still get Viruses on their computers even with the protection. But they get less of them, and the ones they do get cause less damage. We want to arm people with a weapon to fight Lag, we call that weapon (a technology really) LLR Technology. LLR means Lag and Latency Reduction, not elimination. As a Gamer, I’d take less Lag over the status quo any day. We are providing a weapon to finally be able to get ‘Less Lag’.

FiringSquad: Some people might believe that with broadband Internet connections becoming more prevalent and faster among consumers there is little need for such a product. What is your reaction to this assumption?

Harlan Beverly: I tell them to read the white paper at BigfootNetworks.com. The reality is that people experience tons of Lag even on T1 and T3 networks, let alone on Cable/DSL networks. This is because the network by itself is only 1 of the 3 causes of Lag. In fact, our products are designed to work best with gamers who already play on broadband.

FiringSquad: How will your PC add-on card help to eliminate Lag in PC games, especially with other factors like Lag from Internet routers could hamper PC game online performance?

Harlan Beverly: On March 22nd, we will release some of the details behind our technology. The technology is called LLR, Lag and Latency Reduction. Everyone can read more about LLR at our website on that day. In general, you’ve said it right, it helps to fight Lag. It does this using a custom designed Gaming Network Processor (the first of its kind) to fight all 3 of the causes of Lag (Client, Network, and Server). If I told you exactly how it worked, I’d have to kill you: what matters is, it works, and reduces Lag in a meaningful way.

FiringSquad: Will game developers have to write special software to support your add-on card?

Harlan Beverly: No.