Online Gaming: New Trend of New Generation - Literature review Example

Online Gaming; New Trend of New Generation With the expansion of science and technology the modern world is showing a high level of acceleration of progress. The introduction of Ethernet and Internet has brought about revolutionary progress in the field of communication and information science. Similarly the world of entertainment has undergone a mammoth change. There is the emergence of online games. This new concept of game provides huge entertainment not only for the children but also the people of all age. It has been attracting the attention of persons of all age since it was born. On the other hand it is subject to huge debate regarding its good and bad effects on the world. Everyone knows what online game is and how it is played so it would not be wise to discuss about these topics in these papers. What we can do is a pedagogic scrutiny about the history of the evolution of the online games and the technologies used in such games. What are the causes behind such a worldwide popularity of online games and finally how it affects the society? Evolution of the Online Games since 1990s: Though the online games started with the emergence of computer science the online games started to diffuse all over the globe since 1990s. After the process of globalization the worldwide accelerating popularity of internet caused a boost up for the online gaming. After that gradually online games gained its popularity all over the planet. The milestone of the internet gaming was established in the year 1991. On that year Tim Berners-Lee invented the revolutionary system of World Wide Web (WWW). This system was fruitful in combining and formatting words, pictures, sounds and hyperlinks across different platforms for the creation of pages which could be similar to word processor document. At the same year the first HTML code was posted. After the usage of Hypertext the first game was “Stormfront Studios’ Neverwinter Night” on Advanced Dungeons and Dragons was launched on America online. At the same year different parlour games such as checkers, chess, bridge etc were published. The next milestone in online gaming system was the introduction of Wolfenstein 3D by id software. That gave the computer game history a huge boost up. In the year 1993 Mark Anderson and a group of student programmer were successful in launching Mosaic, which was the first graphical web browser. That was followed by a gigantic growth rate of Internet traffic. On the December there was the release of Doom. In 1994 the launching of Sega Saturn and Sony Play Station are launched in Japan was another advancement in the world of online games. In later years, Sony Play Station Became one of the bestsellers. In the year 1995 there was the launching of JAVA by the sun company. This was undoubtedly a havoc advancement of the entire system. On the other hand Windows 95 by Microsoft Corporation Limited attracted a huge response and Sony Play Station was released in USA. In 1996 ID Software released Quake 3 dimensional game featured with multiplayer technology. Later on a free programme ‘Quake World’ was introduced that made internet game easier for modem users. In the same year Meridian 59 (made by Archetype Interactive, marketed by 3DO), a highly graphical multiplayer game was introduced. It was the first game for which only a monthly rental was charged. Macromedia also started making multimedia contents for CD in order to release multimedia software online and launched Shockwave 1.0. In the year 1998 a Korean Software company named NCsoft introduced Lineage. That became one of the world’s most popular MMORPGs. Another game that was released in the same year was Half Life (built around on Quake 2 Engine) by Sierra. In the same year the game Sera Dreamcast was released in Japan. It was the first, which gave the console users the first opportunity of online gaming. On the year 1999 Sony launched the full 3 Dimensional MMORPG Ever Quest. Over years the modified version of this game attracted many customers. Sierra released the game Team Fortress Classic a modified form of Quake Team Fortress mod. On the same year beta 1 of Counter Strike, a modification based on Half Life was released and became a huge milestone by generating more than 4.5 billion player minutes per month. On the year 2000 Sony launched Play Station 2 and set a new record of selling 1 million consoles in two days. On the year 2001 Saga released the first online RPG on console, Phantsay Star Online for the Dreamcast. On November 2001, Microsoft released Xbox, which was equipped with a Network Interface Card to accommodate a high-speed Internet connection. Another interesting game Anarchy Online was launched in the same year. This was the first game that used ‘instancing’. This game became heavily popular. At the same time ‘Dark Age of Camelot’ which was one of the three largest MMORPGs in North America was released. In 2002 the multiplayer war theme shooter based game Battlefield 1942 came into the market and achieved huge popularity all over the world. Some other games like Call 2 by Asheron, Sims Online, Earth and Beyond by Electronic Art and Westwood Studio etc were released. But those couldn’t succeed to draw the attention of players and left the market. In the year of 2003 the MMORPG game Star War Galaxies (based on the story ‘Star Wars’) was released by Lucas Arts and SOE. Sony also brought a new game named Ever Quest Online Adventures that was using a world which was distinct from the PC version. Another MMORPG game Project Ethiopia came into market. A secondary market revenue model in which there was an exchange system between game currency and real currency characterized this. On October 28th, Square Enix brought the PC version of Final Fantasy XI into market. Later on, it was made feasible for the Play Station 2 and which enabled the Pc users and console users to participate in the same world. The buyers were also offered a hard drive with the PS2 version of the game. Eve Online and Shadowbane, both characterized by PvP systems, were among the major MMRPG releases. In 2004 the entrance of Halo 2 with single-handedly quadruple usage of the Xbox line shook the online game world. The North American MMORPG market for games faced a boom along with the Lineage 2 and City of Heroes by NC Soft. Counter Strike 2 was reconstructed in the retail version Doom 3 and Half Life 2. That generated huge response in the market. The next part of Ever Quest, Ever Quest2, was launched by the SOE. Immediately it attracted 50000 subscribers. Another game that emerged in America was World of Warcraft. The demand of this game was so high that the company had to double the capacity within two weeks of launch. But still the supply couldn’t suffice the demand for it. Simultaneously, the first MMORPG of Blizzard set a new record by breaking all the existing record of sales and subscribers of other games. In 2005 the same thing was repeated within Europe and China. Over time the online games have gained enough popularity over the world. Among the online games there are many games for multiplayer options. Those multiplayer games always help to promote a social network. Moreover, through the Internet and online games, there is a connection of different people from different country and different ethnicity. That enables the players to be aware of the culture of each other. So the online games help the players form a linkage that would enable us the exchange of cross-country cultural information. In the age of globalization such flow of information is a healthy sign for the individual as well as the nation. The collective multiplayer games nurture the sense of universal brotherhood, solidarity and integration. On the other hand there are many games, especially the strategy games, sharpening the intelligence of the players concerned. That is of course a good side of the online games. The schoolteachers of UK also encourage the students to play strategy and educational games. That is healthy for the intellect of the child. Like the brighter sides there are some darker side also according to the law of the nature. First of all, sitting a long time in front of the screen of the personal computer may cause damage to the nerves, especially the optical nerves. That is harmful for spinal cord also. Moreover, there is a trend among the young people to play game for hours. The online games are so interesting that it is hard for them to leave. That may cause hamper to their studies. Another point that we should note that, in one hand there is a connection with the people from different corners of the globe and on the other hand the connection with the society to which they belong are weakened. This is because they don’t have enough time to communicate with the society. The online game is harmful for physical fitness also as it replaces the physical games. Sometimes violent games awaken the criminal instinct among the players. So in the next context we are going to make a cost benefit analysis and only then we can finally conclude whether the online game is a bliss or a curse for the society. References 1. Anderson, C. A. (2003) Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions, APA Online, available at: http://www.apa.org/science/psa/sb-anderson.html (accessed on september 30, 2008) 2. Anderson, C.A. and B.J. 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