Combat Cable FAQ Written by W.N.Worth
nathan@gladstone.uoregon.edu
12/99 ver 2.0

This FAQ is for private and personal use. It can only be reproduced
electronically, and if placed on a web page or site, may be altered as long
as this disclaimer and the copyright notice appear unaltered and in full and
I am notified. This FAQ is not to be used for profitable or promotional
purposes, etc. Please do not use this FAQ on your website or in your game
magazine without asking me first. I'll probably say yes but I still want you
to ask.

1. What is a combat cable/game link/link cable?
Well, they are all the same things. The official name of the device is the
Combat Cable. It sounds kinda silly though. It allows you to hook two
Playstations together and play selected games with multiple players on two
TVs. According to James Dunford, "The cable has a peak baud rate of
4Mbits/sec and feeds data directly to the CPU, which processes it and
transmits it to the other machine at the baud rate specified by the
programmer." I don't know what it means but it works.

2. Why do I want one?
You need to ask? Multiplayer arcade action! No more of that split screen
junk! Now you can play death-match Doom games (Quake II is supposed to
support the link cable), Head to head racing action, Real-time war-sims, all
sorts of good stuff! You can only do some really cool and innovative things
with the link cable. The first person fighting in Bushido Blade gives a
whole new spin to the genre. In addition, there are many secret things that
you can only do when linked. GOOD STUFF!

3. What games support the combat cable?
This is by no means a complete list. Some of these are not confirmed either.
If you know of other games that support the combat cable, or disagree with
the list please contact the author, me. nathan@gladstone.uoregon.edu. Games
that have been confirmed by me personally have a little [C] after them.
Games with a [S] have been confirmed by Scipio


Andretti Racing
Armored Core  [C]
Armored Core: Project Phantasma  [C]
Assault Rigs
Bogey Dead 6 [C]
Burning Road  [S]
Bushido Blade [C]
Bushido Blade 2 [C]
Blast Radius [C]
CART World Series [S]
Command & Conquer: Red Alert [C]
Command & Conquer: Red Alert/ Retaliation [C]
Coolboarders 2 [C]
Cyberspeed
Decent
Decent: Maximum
Destruction Derby [C]
Duke Nukem: Total Meltdown [C]
Doom [C]
Final Doom [S]
Formula 1 [S]
Formula 1 '98
Formula 1: Championship Edition
Grand Tour Racing
Grand Tour Racing '98 [C]
Grid Runner  [Possible Problems]
Independence Day
Krazy Ivan [S]
Micro Machines V3 [Possible Problems]
Motortoon Grand Prix [C]
Need For Speed [S]
Red Asphalt [C]
Ridge Racer Revolution [C]
R4: Ridge Racer Type 4 [C] (you'll need 2 copies of disc 1)
Return Fire II
Rogue Trip [C]
Robotron X
Test Drive 4 [C]
Test Drive: Off Road [C]
Twisted Metal 3 [C]
Toca 2
Wipeout [C]
Wipeout XL [C]
Wipeout 3 [C] (See #15 to see how)
Streak Hoverboard Racing [S]
San Francisco Rush [C]
Dead In The Water [C]


4. Do I really need to buy two copies of the game?
Well.... You do need two copies but you needn't buy them. Now I'm no legal
analyisist but I do believe it is legal to copy a game you own. Now if one
of your Playstations is modded you don't need to buy a second copy. Ta-Da!

5. Where can I get a combat cable?
Any video game store should have them. I got mine at Software ETC. Who makes
them and how much? I know of three companies that make a combat cable. The
official Sony cable (SCPH-1040) is about $20, Madcatz makes one for around
$20, and Nyko makes one for $10. I don't understand the price variance. I
know Sony is more expensive because it's "Official" but who knows about
Madcatz. The Nyko cable is 8 feet long but the others don't state their
length. I bought the Nyko cable a year ago and have never had any problems
so it gets my recommendation.

6. What all will I need and how do I hook everything up?
2 Playstations, 2 TVs, 2 controllers, and 2 copies of the game. Optional are
2 memory cards, another 2 controllers and 2 Gamesharks. Just hook up the two
Playstations as usual and plug the combat cable into both serial I/O ports.
It's cake.

7. Can I hook up more than two systems?
No, but it would be cool. Maybe the next Playstation will support more
than two systems hook-ups.

8. If I unlock tracks on some game and save it to my memory card, will it be
usable on both systems?
Depends. But usually you can only use tracks saved on memory cards one in
each Playstation.

9. What about Gameshark cheats? Will cheats on one system work on both?
Nope, you'll need 2. Maybe you'll get lucky and Interact will accidentally
send you two when you upgrade.

10. Will the link cable be used on the PS2?
I have no idea. Sony says the PS2 will be totally backward compatible but I
don't see a link post on the  backside. There is a USB port though. I think
you may be able to link two PS2s together but not a PS1 and a PS2 and that
sucks. We could see a huge market for linkable games if they could link
together.

11. Where can I get more information?
There are a couple sites that list what games are linkable but this FAQ
covers all they have. You could always email me if you want.

12. How do I spot a linkable game?
Well there is supposed to be a little symbol on the back of the game if it
is linkable but in some cases the symbol id not there. R4, Wipeout 3 and
Twisted Metal 3 do not have the symbol but they are linkable.

13. Are Warcraft 2 and Duke Nukem: Time to Kill linkable?
NO! It should be but it isn't. Also, the PSX version of Warcraft 2 sucks so
even if it were linkable it's not worth buying.

14. What's the deal with the games that are linkable but they don't say so
on the box or manual?
Well, to my knowledge there are 3 games like that. Ridge Racer Type 4,
Wipeout 3 and Twisted Metal. On R4 the link mode isn't all that polished.
You can only drive with the interior view and there is only head to head
mode. No AI players. I figure they didn't want to screw with it any more and
just blew it off. I couldn't guess why Twisted Metal 3 doesn't say it's
linkable. Wipeout 3 is the biggest pain in the ass because it's only
linkable with the use of a code.

15. So how does that WIPEOUT 3 code work?
Enter "LINK" as the Default Name on both games. There should be a flash and
you will be able to play linked. You can have up to 4 players this way.

16. Who are you to be the authority, jackass?
Well, I have 28 games I play linked. Or is it 56...ah well. In addition, I'm
the only one who wrote a FAQ. If you have questions, you are welcome to ask
me. My email is on this thing somewhere.

17. Where is this FAQ posted?
GameFAQs should have a copy, my page http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~nathan
has it up and I may periodically drop it on some PSX newsgroups.

18. Who are you thanking?
I'd like to thank the Playstation Galleria (http://www.vidgames.com), and
Richard's Unofficial Playstation Page (http://www.teleport.com/~rhm) for
lists of linkable games. I'd also like to Thank James Dunford
(J.Dunford@lmu.ac.uk) who wrote the Playstation FAQ that I stole his quote
from. I don't think He'll mind. Avid Gamer, who kicked me until I finished
this version. Scipio for confirming some more games. And most of all I thank
Zorak, the most diabolical mantis in the universe. See him on Space Ghost:
Coast to Coast, Fridays at 11:00 (EST) on the Cartoon Network.


This document copyright (c) 1999 W.N.Worth