Peer-to-Peer Suitability for Collaborative Multiplayer Games

Peer-to-peer communication is emerging as one of the most potentially disruptive technologies in the networking sector. If the interest in such technologies as Napster, Morpheus and Gnutella is any indication, peer-to-peer networks will be a major component in the future of computer communications and the Internet. In this work, we conducted a case study by implementing the Xiangqi game using a P2P networking technology. In so doing, we gained a deeper understanding of P2P communication in general and a more in-depth knowledge of the specific technology used. We encountered a number of issues while implementing our multimedia application using the JXTA P2P framework, but we were nevertheless able to create a working prototype that functioned satisfactorily. We thus concluded that P2P was a feasible alternative to the current server-based multi-player gaming paradigm.