Hardware: Online Arena
| Hardware: Online Arena | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | SCE London Studio |
| Publisher(s) | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Producer(s) |
Peter Edward Tom Holmes |
| Designer(s) |
Nick Ryan Pritpal Panesar Gareth Peddie Aaron Gandaa |
| Artist(s) |
Noel Flores‑Watson Iki Ikram Matthew Painter Matthew Harwood |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 2 |
| Release date(s) | November 7, 2002 |
| Genre(s) | Vehicular combat game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
Hardware: Online Arena is an online multiplayer game that focuses on vehicular destruction using varying means such as missiles, lasers and machine guns. The game was released for PlayStation 2 with the launch of online play for the console and was thus arguably the first online game for PS2. The game was not a huge commercial success, selling very little. To boost sales, the game was added onto the network access disk that came with the purchase of the network adaptor and, as a result, the game was one of the three most popular games played online during 2005, having over 200 users on at any one time. GamesMaster Magazine said the game was, "A great indicator of the shape of things to come for PS2 online."
A followup on PSP was released in 2005 under the name Fired Up. A PlayStation 4 game based on the original called Hardware: Rivals was released as a PlayStation Plus exclusive beta on the PlayStation Network on September 29, 2015.