In the twenty-first century human life is completely dependent on technological advances. Nowadays, all of our actions are conditioned by technology and much more with the great revolution that the massive spread of Internet has become.
The Internet has allowed us to perform every act of our daily life in a easier and faster way (communicating with other people, entertainment, information search, shopping ...) and to access a new reality full of opportunities.
In this regard, we all know that gaming has always been one of the most popular choices of entertainment for humans. As such, it has also been affected by the advent of the Internet. This has involved the projection of the traditional games to the virtual world and the creation of new forms of game due to the almost unlimited possibilities that cyberspace offers us.
The possibility of using a computer to play on computer networks started around 1979 when a group of students at the University of Essex created a computer version of the famous role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons.
This electronic version was based on the use of alphanumeric text. Thus arose a new type of games known as MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons or Domains) that would develop quickly through the Internet still poorly understood, thus resulting in the first virtual communities.
The first game multiuser game was created by Lucas Films Games and designed for the Commodore 64. From it emerged later games like EverQuest, Asheron's or Ultima Online. But the real revolution came in 1993 with the creation of the World Wide Web. Users had the option of free access to smaller versions of desktop gaming basically promotional purposes, such as the first installment of the Doom. Besides the fast spread of the Internet as a medium of entertainment it provided improved technologies for networking users and their approach to society.
And... what about consoles?
The first console that incorporated the possibility of Internet connection for network play was Sega Saturn, that since the launch of Sega NetLink attachment consisting of a 28-Kbps modem allowed the use of e-mail, web browser and the ability to multiplayer games over the Internet.
Then the console Sega Dreamcast followed them, released in Japan in 1998, which included a factory of 56 Kbps modem. From it, the most followed consoles such as PlayStation 2, Xbox and Gamecube, Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable, began to offer the possibility of being connected to the Internet.
Communities of online players:
Actually, the cyber space is, for many people, a chance to escape from their real life, so with the advent of Second Life games this people are able to perform actions that they cannot develop in their real lifes and create another version of themselves that represents them in the virtual world.
In this sense, we face a variety of online games which involves a great diversity in the profiles of the users because we are living in a global and multicultural society and this is being extrapolated to the Internet, where people of different countries and different characters are able to share their entertaiment moments by playing online.
By the way, we found significant differences between users of multiplayer games and those which are not.
In addition, we have seen how several studies show us the differences between the preferences of men and women when playing online. The main difference is that in the use of paid content online there are many more men than women, as there are lots of contrasts between the way the two genders spend their leisure time and their money. However, the number of women players online is incresing so fast in the last years.
Another very important distinction is the player's age: children aged 14-17 years prefer to play with known friends because they feel more comfortable. On the other hand, adults feel more curious about the game against unknown people because they feel more excited about this kind of experiences.
In some other cases, we face the fact that age is not important to play online and nor to build online communities: we can find communities of online gaming formed by lots of members from different ages, but with similar interests when playing online.
In fact, there is a large universe of communities of all types of online games: among them we thought it was interesting to write about communities of online gaming that are being formed through social networking games (which are experiencing exponential growth right now) and online gaming communities through our mobile phones.
As a matter of fact, in this moment online games developers are betting on mobile phones to create their projects because of the success of smartphones (from where people remain 24 hours a day connected to the Internet and to lots of new contents online).
The widespread use of these media, has permitted the adaptation of different games (as well as creating new ones) to these successful media, which has been very innovative and has also been very popular among users.
In case of social networks, we find a new type of online game in which the plot unfolds through the participation of members of a social network: the more active participants the game has, the more important the plot becomes (similar to what happens in social networks: it is always about communicating and sharing experiences in real time in your social network with your friends, they who are usually people that you have met or that have also shared some experiences with you...and the more contacts and friends you have, the more information you can get access to).
In fact, one of the most important components of a social network is the diversity of communities that are formed through preferences, likings and online games. Just because the fact you show your contacts your preferences about online games (Online Poker, Texas HoldEm Poker for example), you can meet people who are registered in the same social network that you are in and also you can add them as friends and play with them too. This is, clearly, a new way of socialization.
What about smartphones?
With the success of new mobile phones in the Contemporary Age (smartphones), the range of the Internet and social networks has increased, so that people do not access this sites from their virtual computers, but from their phones too, which are always connected to the Internet and which are also constantly being observed by the owners. In this sense, online gaming communities, are to be multiplied by multiplying their reach.
The gaming communities existed before the advent of online gaming. Examples of this affirmation are the table players clubs, sports leagues, role playing...
The advent of the virtual world and new technologies opened a wide range of possibilities for communication between people anywhere in the world and this is also extended to the gaming world.
Thanks to what is called Web 2.0 (term used to define the virtual space that is aimed at the online collaboration of individuals) was possible to create a variety of new communities within the virtual world that goes beyond the game itself and the end of it. This also began to produce a change in the habits of the players compared to traditional behavior.
That's how we can understand, this new type of community adapted to cyberspace as the place of online interpersonal connections and interactions that allows not only the replacement of old communities, now with more possibilities, but the creation of new ones with almost no limits and above all space motivating the interaction of people in the game.
Interaction in these communities causes something similar to what usually occurs in real life. In the same way we use to meet our colleagues at work, partying…we are able to do the same in these communities so that we can change the partner with whom to share our leisure time and we can meet new people too.
Furthermore, we find different ways to interact and discuss any topic related to online gaming and one of the most important are the forums which solve questions that may arise to the players or offer recommendations on any type of game.
Making an overview on the many online gaming communities, we find that some of the most important are collected in this website, which is becoming very useful for lots of online players:
http://www.actiontrip.com/features/fivemostpopulargamecommunities.phtml
Why are online games so successful nowadays?
Now, talking about the future of online gaming and comparing data from 2010, the year in which this business earned an amount exceeding one million dollars (partly due to advertising and selling goods), it is expected that by 2015 the amount will be around five thousand million, and it will be available thanks to social networks and the great number of games embedded in them.
The online game's success has been associated with a number of factors that are attractive and interesting to modern people, accustomed to the use of new technologies.
First, it emphasizes the convenience and comfort because online gaming is all about distance communications (either with other players around the world who are connected to the Internet at the same time, or using a computer program default). The fact is that each player is free to play from where, when and how he or she wants.
On the other hand, the success of online gaming has occurred because of the success of the Internet, that has been introduced as a basic tool for human beings of the contemporary era.
In developed countries, almost all individuals have a device that they always carry with them (Personal Computers, Smartphones...) and allowing them to be 24 hours a day connected to the network.
The fact that people are connected to the Internet 24 hours causes the creation of a virtual reality in cyber space similar to the real world by keeping in touch with friends, keep conversations through video calls, play, work, etc..
Then, we find the factor that causes morbidity in lots of players: to play against people who may be a thousand miles away and who you never had met in your real life: most of times, people play to each other without knowing how the other player looks like.
This success has been taken by advertising companies too:
Advertising companies have found in online gaming a new holder to improve the diffusion of lots of famous brands. That’s how the players become new and potential objectives for adversing.
There are advertising agencies that have opened divisions specializing in video game advertising integration. There are also 27 interactive agencies and development and advertising in the US only.
It’s been proved, that players are so interested in the game that they retain in their minds most of the brands that they can see while they are playing.
Actually, a study by Nielsen Entertainment and Activision, carried 500 men between 13-34 years active gamers, found that those brands that were recalled significantly in the game attracted the same interest in buying (or even higher) as announced on TV.
That is why advergaming (that’s how this kind of advertising is called) is becoming one of the most increasing ways of making successful advertising.
Finally, we can draw some ideas from the concept of online gaming and its consequences:
Regarding the advantages that we had already mentioned in this article (as meeting new people around the world and having exciting plots to get into) there are also disadvantages such as addiction that can cause the game online, the confusion of virtual reality with the real life, the origins of unwanted contact or replacing more healthy leisure activities.
For some people online gaming is a great source of socialization. However, they should keep in mind that in some cases this kind of socialization is not real because on several occasions people interpret roles and lose their identities.
The perception of the Internet as a society in itself has allowed the creation of successful online games like Second Life or WOW. In this games, not just the person adopts a role in virtual web projects but also their aspirations and desires in real life may come available in the game, that's why there are some people who starts considering the plot of the game as a second life perceived by the players almost as real.
In fact, life in Second Life games is real in the sense that the community that is formed and the virtual space on the Internet are created exactly equal as societies in meat and bone, since the content and purpose are practically the same. There is no particular purpose in such games, there are no winners or losers, it's just that, as in real life is, each one marks his own goals and just interacts.
Absolutely everything that people do in the real world can be done by avatars in Second Life's virtual reality, and even more: avatars can look like the player wants and there are also possibilities that are not achievable in real life: fly, teleport, etc..The quality of graphics causes the player the feeling of living what is happening to the avatar, and the quality of graphic effects will be enhanced by the introduction of 3D and 4D games during next years.
Second Life is essentially a platform, a kind of blank canvas where the players put into play their imagination and where they can create whatever they dream of, even counting the smallest detail (Universities, Governments, Farms, Political Parties, New Countries, Banks, People, Animals, Nature...everything that already exists in the real world and what is to come).
For this reason, the possibilities offered by this type of online games for the modern people's aspirations at all levels, and the great social revolution that has resulted are improving so successfully.
And this is just the beginning: perhaps the advances in technology in the coming years will increase the projection of people into the virtual world to the point to confuse the real world with the virtual world.
Sources:
By Rosa López Robledo and María Rodríguez Rodríguez
No comments:
Post a Comment