GameLine was a dialup game distribution service for the Atari 2600,[1] developed and operated by Control Video Corporation (CVC, now AOL).
GameLine had an exclusive selection of games, and its pioneering business model eventually gave rise to America Online.
Legal issues caused cable providers to step away from the service, leaving Von Meister with a delivery tool and no content.
CVC tried, but failed to obtain licensing agreements from the largest game makers, such as Atari, Activision, Coleco, Mattel, and Parker Brothers.
[5] GameLine was originally envisioned to provide not just games, but also news (NewsLine), stock quotes (StockLine), sports reporting and scores (SportLine), electronic mail (MailLine), online banking (BankLine), online forums (OpinionLine), and a wide variety of information including airline schedules, horoscopes, and classified ads (InfoLine).
Even though the GameLine was discontinued, the investors and founding members of CVC went on to start a new company that would continue to use the technological infrastructure they had built.