Catapult wasn’t the first company to try and bring online gaming to consoles, but it was the one that actually turned it into something viable. If not for the Xband, we might not have seen SegaNet, or later on Xbox Live and the Playstation Network. Catapult was the first to make playing against someone long distance a concept that was actually workable on consoles, and many Genesis fans have fond memories of playing Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam over their phone lines. Recently, Sega-16 chatted with Catapult’s former Vice President of Software Development, Konstantin Othmer, and he had much to say about the company and its famous product.

Fans of the 16-bit era fondly remember the Xband, Catapult’s ground-breaking online service. Long before anyone ever even considered something as elaborate as Xbox Live, Genesis and SNES gamers were battling each othe cross country on Mortal Kombat and Super Street Fighter II. Sega-16 was lucky enough to chat with former Xband programmer David Ashley, and he had some really insightful things to share about the service and what it was like to be a part of gaming’s first large-scale attempt at bringing head-to-head action to players all across the country.