[jrnichols]

I also think that the rise of quality gaming consoles helped kill off LAN parties. the xbox/etc took over pretty fast.

[lelandfe]

Xbox System link was a thing, for a time.

Xbox Live and co. was probably the real death knell of LAN.

[giobox]

System linking IMO came of age even earlier, in the PS2. The original PS2 hardware could system link over 4 pin FireWire (I-Link in Sony speak or whatever they branded it). Late generation ps2 hardware dropped the FireWire port.

Connecting two PS2s via FireWire/I link, two multi-taps and two big tvs for 8 player time splitters 2 is an all time favourite memory of mines.

Memory is fuzzy, but I think Gran Turismo 3 also could do this.