| Now we see thousands of people playing online | | | | The 80s - some pause before the storm |
| games such as tetris, ping pong, mario bros, super | | | | 1980's saw growing craze for the video and computer |
| mario etc for free but despite its history dating back to | | | | game craze, but online gaming wasn't on the horizon |
| 1970s, for most people online gaming began with the | | | | yet. New games with better sound and graphics were |
| explosion of Internet in 1993 and with the advent of | | | | introduced and gained popularity. Pole Position and |
| Doom and Warcraft sometime in 1994 or 1995. This | | | | Pac-man were two that achieved big popularity. It was |
| got further boost with publishers starting to add Internet | | | | during 1980's when Nintendo introduced its first gaming |
| connectivity to computer games in 1994-95. | | | | system. |
| The media, in fact, have themselves been ignorant | | | | The 90s - revolution begins |
| about online games history. As far as they are | | | | The 1990's saw the phenomenal growth in both |
| concerned, online gaming just coincidentally happened | | | | popularity and technology mostly because of the rise |
| when their advertisers started producing | | | | of 3-D and multimedia. |
| Internet-capable games. But it isn't so... | | | | Myst, the intellectual adventure game introduced |
| Early Years of development | | | | gaming on the CD-ROM format. Fancier 3-D graphics |
| In early 1950's a college student created a game much | | | | hardware made FPS (first person shooter) games |
| like Tic-Tac-Toe for a class project to be played on | | | | such as Quake possible. |
| dinosaur computers of those days complete with | | | | The late 1990's saw the exponential growth of the |
| cathode ray tubes for the screen display. The 1960's | | | | Internet, MUDs (multi-user dungeons) which made online |
| had MIT students programming a game called "Space | | | | games wildly popular. New and improved graphical |
| war" that could be played with two people over a | | | | interfaces had people all over the world playing against |
| primitive network. The late 1960's brought the first "real" | | | | each other not only in FPS games but also in real time |
| video games like table tennis and shooter games. | | | | strategy games (RTS games) as well as third person |
| The 70s - the game begins | | | | games like Grand Theft Auto. |
| Serious online gaming began with the first interactive | | | | This was also the period when websites started |
| online game called ADVENT. In fact networked | | | | offering online games such as tetris, ping pong, mario |
| gaming got conceptualized with ADVENT. Networked | | | | bros, super Mario, and other free online flash games |
| gaming had users playing against each other within an | | | | and non-flash based games free for playing after |
| online fantasy world. The first networked game was | | | | registering with them. This really pushed online gaming |
| called Mazewar, a game which involved networked | | | | into the popular psyche. |
| players traveling through a maze and attempting to kill | | | | The 21st Century - world is just a playground |
| one another. | | | | Early years of the 21st century were dominated by |
| Next came the interpersonal interaction in a multi-player | | | | the DVD-CD-ROM. It has changed the way online |
| environment. The first such game was called | | | | games are played. The latest gaming systems such |
| DUNGEN. DUNGEN had players competing against | | | | as Sony's play station and Microsoft's X-box have |
| one another to complete a series of quests. DUNGEN | | | | networking capabilities to enable people play with each |
| provided with new settings and players each time the | | | | other in real time from all over the world. Exponentially |
| user logged on. | | | | growing broadband internet services have made |
| The late 1970's saw the start of video game craze | | | | playing these online games possible in true sense of |
| with more and more households getting computer | | | | the word. |
| savvy. As a natural corollary, people started writing | | | | The only drawback to the constantly evolving |
| their own games for the home computers. These | | | | technology for online games is that what you buy |
| programming hobbyists traded and sold these | | | | today might become obsolete by the next year. |
| home-grown games in local markets. | | | | Luckily, for the serious gamers, the resale industry for |
| Other changes in the 1970's were home gaming | | | | these online games is huge. This resale industry is just |
| consoles which used game cartridges. That meant the | | | | another element to the ever-changing history of online |
| people could collect games cartridges for one base | | | | game. |
| unit instead of having bulky game console systems. | | | | |