Patent ID: 7803052

Claim:
A method of communicating between a server device and a plurality of game consoles comprising a first game console and a second game console on a network, the method being implemented in the server device and comprising: receiving, at the server device, a request from the first game console for information describing one or more of a plurality of game sessions created by one or more of the plurality of game consoles other than the first game console, each of the one or more of the plurality of game sessions comprising: a title identification (ID) field containing an identifier of a game being hosted at a second game console different from the first game console; and a host address field containing a fully qualified address comprising an XNADDR of the second game console, wherein: each of the one or more of the plurality of game sessions is created at the second game console and is communicated between the second game console and the server device through a set of application programming interfaces (APIs); and the set of application programming interfaces (APIs) is made available and exposed to the game hosted at the second game console to facilitate: creation of the one or more of the plurality of game sessions at the second game console; and search of the one or more of the plurality of game sessions by the plurality of game consoles; and responding from the server device to the first game console with the information describing the one or more of the plurality of game sessions as well as one or more game session keys associated with the one or more of the plurality of game sessions, wherein: each of the one or more game session keys is created at the second game console in order for the first game console to securely communicate to the second game console and to join the game hosted at the second game console; and the information facilitates the first game console playing the game hosted at the second game console without the first game console being further routed through the server device.