It was the spring of 1993 and I was in the sixth grade. The mall in my hometown still had an arcade. It was called Take Ten. And right there, out in front, where everybody passing by could see it, was The Game. It was the most eagerly anticipated arcade game ever. People were lined up in the hallway to play it, under the classic “winner stays, loser goes to the back of the line” rules. The Game was Mortal Kombat II.
Fast-forward twelve years. Another sequel has just hit the market and everybody’s standing in line to have a crack at it. But where’s the long line at the arcade? Where’s the clink of quarters and the excited whispers? Nowhere. Do you know why? Everyone’s at home, playing Halo 2 on X-Box Live.
Of course online gaming is nothing new. PC gamers have been playing first-person shooters over modem connections and LANs for over a decade now, and multi-user dungeons have been around even longer.
But after the introduction of Sega.net for the Dreamcast, online gaming for consoles became a reality. And after Sony took its PlayStation 2 online and Microsoft followed up with X-Box Live, more and more console gamers are making the jump to online play. Because of this cultural shift in the gaming community, the games and the gaming industry is changing and not necessarily for the better. Now, most games have a multiplayer feature and nearly all of those multiplayer modes are designed with online play in mind. Updates to games such as extra levels or characters (even for offline single-player games such as Metal Gear Solid 3) are being made available online. A good number of games are also marketed—and even worse, reviewed--solely on their online gaming capabilities. Offline and single-player features are being all but ignored in some cases.
Of course, it must be said that online gaming has its advantages. Online game servers such as X-Box Live offer gamers new ways to play their games. A server can offer gamers opportunities to create teams, download and upload new levels, and organize tournaments. All of this can be done from the comfort of the gamer’s own home, with no footwork or networking involved. Online gaming also legitimizes gaming as a true competitive event in a way; with organized tournaments and leagues, not to mention prizes, it’s hard to see gaming as strictly a hobby. Games are also no longer static products. With expansions (such as the famous Hurricane Pack for X-Box’s Ninja Gaiden) available online games have longer shelf lives. And then there is the all-around attraction of the Internet itself; online gaming brings people of different cultures together for an activity of mutual interest.
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