It’s time to talk about my good buddy RJ. RJ45, that is. Well, technically, we’re going to talk about how ethernet cables, which tend to use an RJ45 connector, are glue that once bound so many of us together in multiplayer gaming bliss (before then, too, but my part of this story began at the turn of the century). It was a joyous copper pipeline for so many who might have looked askance at the four-player couch multiplayer that was the only context in which most ordinary people could relate to gaming with friends. That’s right; we’re talking LAN parties.
You know the ones. You heft, in multiple trips, your whole gaming rig — a beefy CRT monitor, honkin’ water-cooled desktop machine, keyboard, headphones (or outboard speakers if you’re…
