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There’s never been a bigger time for games – specifically online games, than right now. The fact that people have always enjoyed the competitive and mentally stimulating nature that a game can provide is just a part of the reason. What makes it so compelling via the Internet is that there are clear advantages that traditional game playing can’t match. Plus, there are major Internet companies that are seeing the business case and potential for this industry. In fact, it’s estimated that it will be a $6.8 billion business by 2011.
Role playing games, puzzle games, traditional games like chess and backgammon – they are all becoming big in the online world, with more and more people playing every day. So, what makes online games more fun and what are the specific benefits one can enjoy?
Ability to Play from Home at Any time
Obviously, the idea that you can play from home, whenever your heart desires is a big draw. There’s no need to go down to the local chess hangout, or smokey bar. No need to go over to a friend’s house either. Simply boot up, jump on and sign in. You can play your best friend from the comfort of your own bedroom.
Low Subscription Cost or Free Use
A lot of the major online gaming companies feature a low subscription cost for its members. This is one reason for the major rise in these sites memberships. Many sites also have free games; games such as Scrabble, Family Feud, Dominoes and Jewel Quest can be played for free. The free online versions of the games offer users the chance to experience the game before making the decision to purchase and download.
The Chance to Compete with Best
OK, so your best friend isn’t really that good at backgammon. But, you want to improve your game. You also want to be challenged. Well, with online games, you can truly compete with the best there is. Want to play some stellar chess players? You’ll probably find a few online. Looking for some tough competition in Mah Jong Quest? Again, you’re only an Internet connection away from engaging some high quality players. Of course, at the same time, you may encounter some fairly weak players too. It may take some time to cultivate relationships, but they are out there. And online is really the only true way to find them quickly.
Making New Friends
So, you tend to be somewhat introverted, but still want to develop some new friendships. How about joining an online game site and meeting a few people? It happens every day. Many games offer advanced features that allow you to interact with other players in real time. Plus, you may make some cool international connections, which makes for a much more interesting exchange. Different cultures, different personalities, but one thing definitely in common – you both like playing online games.
High Quality Sound and Graphics
Your brand new X Box has a fantastic sound and graphics package, but you had to pay a lot to get it right? Well, your online games will have some pretty incredible audio and video features as well, but guess what? You didn’t have to pay to experience it! Plus, as more and more companies join the industry, you’re going to see them competing on this level. How are they going to get more people to join their site and play games? They’ll make the games state of the art –with all the new technology and latest features.
So, there you have it, the virtues of online games. It’s easy now, after analyzing it a bit, to see what has fueled the incredible growth. Whether you are attracted to it for competitive reasons, cost issues, the variety of the offerings, or any other reason, one thing is definitely true: an entire new online community is being developed in a very short amount of time. People, who would have never had the chance to meet, are not only interacting in a totally new way, they are having a great time doing it!
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There exists some ephemeral quality that separates gamers from the rest of humanity, some thing that makes us, us and them, not us. I’ve never been able to quite put my finger on it, but it is inescapably there. Today, in hopes of moving closer to that essential quality of gamerosity, we examine part of what makes us tick. In particular, we take a look at what draws different types of gamers to the hobby. Every gamer plays for different reasons, but there are common threads that tie the experience together.
Many gamers are motivated by the challenge a game can present. Success in a game may be governed by any of a wide variety of abilities. A First Person Shooter requires twitch reflexes, a steady hand and the ability to remain calm under pressure. A word puzzle game may require an extensive vocabulary and the ability to rethink the uses of old words, but no measure of speed. A sports simulation might well require an in-depth knowledge of the topic, in addition to arcade skill, but is unlikely to have terribly much concern for linguistic acumen.
The common thread is that all of the games challenge some subset of a player’s abilities. This challenge can be a powerful motivator. The Challenge Motivated gamer is drawn to a game that tests their skills, preferably one that tests them to their limits. The gamer may also be motivated by the natural improvement that comes from working at peak. They are driven then, not only to excel, but to improve. Challenge Motivated Gamers thrive whenever a game pushes their skill set of choice, but may be disinterested in games that fall too far away from the target.
Competition is a close cousin of challenge. Many gamers are driven by the need to prove they are the best, to be pitted against their fellows and come out on top. Competition minded gamers range from those looking for a challenge in a fair fight to the sort of win-at-all cost leet speaking infants that give us all a bad name. Competition can be easy to take too far. There is nothing inherently wrong with being driven by competition. To some extent, competition is merely challenge taken to the extreme. It is only when it leads to mistreating your fellow player that it begins to become less a motivation and more an unfortunate personality quirk. Competition Motivated players thrive on those games where they are pitted against one another with the outcome dictated by skill at playing the game. They will often wane in those environments that either require cooperation, such as many MMORPGs, or in games where skill plays a much smaller role, such as in less sophisticated card or dice games.
Next week we will take a look at some other common gamer motivations, including Creativity and Escapism.
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In part 2 of this series we took a look at Creative Expression and Escapism, two significant motivators of the common gamer. The week before that, we covered Challenge and Competition. This week we have a look at Socialization and try to tie it all together.
Social interaction is a subject on which we gamers take a fair bit of static from our non-gaming peers. Sometimes this is because they mistake differing priorities for introversion. Wanting to talk about the relative merits of the Western Plaguelands against Winterspring as a post 55 grinding location isn’t really any different from wanting to talk about the strength of the Bill’s secondary, its just that one of them is relevant to a somewhat narrow audience (give it time.) Sometimes, however, the criticism is merited. We tend to be somewhat socially awkward folk, in part because the hobbies in which we invest a sizeable amount of our time have rigid rules governing most interactions, making them poor training for the free wheeling reality of human discourse. For some gamers, the Social Interaction found in the gaming experience is a primary motivator.
Social activity in gaming occurs on many levels. At a very low level, gaming can be a reinforcer for existing social groups. Think of a group of friends getting together to play a board game or some Half Life. The social activity found in modern online games can be much broader in scope. MMORPGs, to which discussion of the current state of gaming always seems to gravitate, are essentially groups of people that already share some primary common link. The friendships formed through online cooperation and friendly competition can be one of the biggest draws of such games. Anyone who has ever stayed up later than they should because their guild needed them or because someone asked them to has experienced this. These online relationships are no less real, no less significant than their offline analogues. They are, however, different.
The interaction that takes place within a game is structured and often, online gamers see only part of one another. It is difficult for a group formed around a particular activity to bond as deeply as a group of friends that exists solely for the purpose of supporting one another. To avoid turning to diatribe on not forgetting your real loved ones we’ll stop following that chain of thought. The important thing is that some game players are purely Socially Motivated. Such individuals thrive online, where other players can be met and interacted with. For these people, the heavier the social component of the game, the better. Interestingly, many games with a high degree of social complexity also have a large amount of the mathematical complexity that may drive away socially motivated gamers. In pure form, this type of gamer is seeking an experience that blurs the line between games and chat environment.
Challenge. Competition. Creation. Escape. Socialization. Five different motivators, all of which combine to make up the motivation of a particular gamer. We could add more, certainly, but these will do for now. So where do we go with this? I’m having to physically restrain myself from drawing a pentagonal map and plotting individual gamers on the five motivational axes. While it would look neat and might be an interesting topic for an esoteric role-playing text, it wouldn’t get us anywhere.
A more useful tack, perhaps, is to think about what motivates us individually. Knowing yourself and what drives you can help you figure out what sort of games you should be playing and, more importantly, which will never give you anything but frustration. Understanding the motivations of others can give us insight that will better help us relate. Many arguments over what to do in online games arise because the different party members are motivated differently. A Creative and a Challenger aren’t likely to crave the same activities from a night of dungeon delving. Nor are an Escapist and a Competitive going to even speak the same way about a game. For one, a game may be a world waiting for his immersion. For the other, a game is a matrix of numbers waiting to be solved and conquered. We all have a little of each in us and if we can understand what drives us we can both better interact with one another and increase the joy we find in gaming.
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Video games have been getting a bad rap. Sure, a few involve nothing more than pointing several deadly weapons at the Undead and blasting them into a bajillion pieces. And there are cases of people wasting otherwise productive hours conquering a virtual kingdom and accumulating pixelized gold instead of going out and getting a real job.
But there are many, many times when video games actually provide a noble purpose in society. When they make you a better person. Or at least, a smarter person.
Because there are video games that are actually built on logic and reasoning, and involve complex problem solving that you can take with you even after you’ve walked away from the computer screen.
Take Tetris. Okay, so it’s a couple of colored blocks set against a metallic, monotonous sound track – but it takes some degree of analysis and quick thinking to assess the shape of the pieces dropping from the top of the screen and deciding where to put it. Factor in that the game speeds up periodically, and the pile of blocks grows with every mistake you make, until you reach a point when one wrong move can kill your chances of breaking the world record—and your brain starts working pretty fast. Faster, in fact, than you would normally use it in the course of the day; admit it, most of the stuff you do at the office is pretty mind numbing, anyway. Between sharpening pencils and performing lightning-fast spatial analysis exercises, Tetris looks like it’s actually good for you.
And then there are the memory games. Ever spent 20 minutes looking for your keys? Or stood at the center of the parking lot, trying to remember if you parked on the same floor? Well, memory games can work that brain muscle so you don’t forget the important stuff (and yes, that includes your wedding anniversary). Studies show that memory isn’t really a function of IQ; it’s a skill: the ability to organize information in your brain, and then retrieve it through a series of memory-triggers. Not all of this is conscious (although you can take active steps to improve memory by researching on what methods you can use). But like all skills, it improves with use. Hence, memory games. The best part about memory games is that they’re actually fun (as opposed to simply memorizing a list of the capitals of each state, or the periodic table of elements) and even relaxing. Yes, relaxing. You’re doing something you love and getting smarter at the same time. Not a bad way to spend a 20 minute break between meetings.
And then there are the strategy games. Conquering the world, running a city, shaping an empire from a handful of barbarian villages to being the first country to set up a space station on Mars—obviously, these aren’t just random point and shoot games. They’re about the same skills you learn in business school, but with cooler graphics: how to manage resources, motivate people, and set goals.
So yes, video games can make you smart. Tell that to Mom next time she tells you to hit the books.
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Many other review websites may tell you that the online rental game clubs are anything but inadequate, just like any other company or system ever concieved, there are a few drawbacks. Although online rentals are a huge step in the right direction for video game rentals and storefront rentals, the drawbacks are few and far between. Let us take a look at them below:
Pros:
1. Online video rentals offer thousands of video game rentals with the newest video game titles being released on rental as soon as they come out. Older games are always available as well.
2. Deliveries are recieved in your mailbox within 2-3 business days of your order.
3. No late fees or delivery due dates for any game in stock. All games can be kept for as long as you wish.
4. Rental companies generally offer used games that are only a few months old for a much lower price than you would be able to find at any storefront or retail store location.
5. Customer service is always there to help with any shipping, tracking, or game problem that may arise within 24 hours.
6. Memberships are alot cheaper than renting games at a storefront rental if you tend to rent games more than 3 or 4 times a month.
7. Some online rental companies supply instructions, reviews, cheats, and community reviews to the public, online, so that gamers to make an informed decision on what to rent.
8. You will be provided with different rebates and special offers for being or signing up as a member.
Cons:
1. If you occasionally rent a game from time to time and don’t usually rent more than 1 or 2 games a month, you may be wasting your money. Make sure that you know how much time you have available each month to devote to you favorite games. If your time if very limited, you may want to consider a 1 game a month plan or even cancelling if you are not playing at all. Almost all rental companies offer cancellations at any time unless you got offered a contract for a certain low price plan.
2. Some contract memberships will charge you a fee even if you do not rent any games at all during your entire membership. Make sure that you will make good use of your membership, even if your recieving a discount from other companies for signing onto a contract. It won’t save you anything if you dont use it.
3. You may be one of those busy people, like many of us, who do not know when you may have the time available to spend on playing video games. When you do realize you have the time, you dont have 1-3 days to wait for a game to show up in your mailbox. Storefront rentals may be just the right choice for someone like you. You can pick up your game anytime and play it for the times that you have available.
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Even if the PS3 came out with a bit of a slow start in 2007 don’t let that fool you… the PS3 is just gearing up for a great year with some expected hot releases. Here’s a rundown of three games coming out in ‘08.. EA’s NFL Tour, Free Radical Design’s HAZE, and Konami’s Coded Arms Assault.
NFL Tour
Coming from EA Sport’s BIG division is what can be considered a bit of a spin-off of their hit series NFL Street. They’ve gotten rid of the streets and beaches in favor of larger spectacle arenas. No more playing with barrels and street side walls, you’re playing in front of huge crowds with pyrotechnics and the whole 9 yards. There are some advancements in gameplay as well – if a player initiates contact you are given an opportunity to break through the tackle, trip up the receiver or give your hit a little extra “umph”. Street players will see the familiar “Gamebreaker” power-ups, and much of the game is left unchanged otherwise but an upgrade on the look of the graphics. This game is expected to drop on January 8th so get ready for it!
HAZE
Playing as a recruit of a corporate army owned by a large supposedly peace-keeping organization Mantel you are expected to play this game through atleast twice. Why twice? Well once on both sides obviously, this is because playing on Mantel’s side your realize that you along with your fellow soliders are randomly pumped up with a drug called Nectar, but this leads to some unexpected consequences. The other time through you take the side of the rebels you so viciously were fighting. With some great looking graphics and AI that apparently doesn’t feel useless… this gem is being released stateside January 18th.
CODED ARMS ASSAULT
Konami released a game on the PSP early in the system’s lifetime by the names of Coded Arms and after receiving success with the title they’ve gone ahead and made another in the series for the PS3. Like HAZE, Coded Arms Assault is a futuristic FPS with you playing a solider. Apparently your character is a young hacker who gained access into a system they shouldn’t have been in and is placed in a virtual warfare. Bullets are replaced with hexagons, and enemies vaporize. With the game running off the Unreal 3 engine expect some gorgeous looking graphics to go along with the “digitized” effects. This game doesn’t have an official release date yet, but just from the looks of it you’ll hear about it when it’s released.
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There have been hundreds of sports video games throughout the years. In less than forty years we’ve gone from Pong to MLB 2K6 for the Xbox 360. But the evolution of games hasn’t always meant better games. Just because a game has flashier interfaces and better graphics, it doesn’t necessarily make for good gameplay. That’s the reason that many PS2 and Xbox games are doomed to linger in discount bins at your local game store, while classics like NHL ’94 and Tecmo Super Bowl con…
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sports video games, little league baseball, nhl 94, tecmo super bowl
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There have been hundreds of sports video games throughout the years. In less than forty years we’ve gone from Pong to MLB 2K6 for the Xbox 360. But the evolution of games hasn’t always meant better games. Just because a game has flashier interfaces and better graphics, it doesn’t necessarily make for good gameplay. That’s the reason that many PS2 and Xbox games are doomed to linger in discount bins at your local game store, while classics like NHL ’94 and Tecmo Super Bowl continued to be obsessed over by sports fans. Here’s my Top 10 of all time:
10. Jordan vs. Bird (NES) – Was the one-on-one gameplay that great? No, not really. But the game was innovative with the three point competition and slam dunk contest long before it showed up anywhere else. For that alone it deserves a spot in the Top 10.
9. Madden 2005 (PS2, Xbox, GC) – The jump from ‘04 to ‘05 was HUGE. ‘05 introduced the hit-stick control and defensive playmaker to bring the defensive control on par with the offense. Franchise mode is pretty much the same as ‘04, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. My favorite thing to do is build a team from scratch. I love taking the worst team in the league and building them into a powerhouse. You can move them to a new city and build a new stadium, then draft real college players from NCAA ‘05. Overall, I liked this game more than any other Madden. 2006 just didn’t improve upon this game enough for me.
8. Punch-Out (NES) – what kid born in the late 70’s or early 80’s DIDN’T spend hours on end trying to beat Tyson with Little Mac?
7. Madden ‘94 (Genesis, SNES) – Based on memory this game was awesome. I remember being able to play with all the NFL teams and a bunch of classic teams. It was one of my favorite sports games growing up. That said, I played it recently and it sucks. It can’t even come close to holding it’s own against Tecmo Super Bowl. The passing is unrealistic, and the running consists of repeatedly hitting the spin button while tacklers bounce off your runner. It’s this high just because of how much I remember enjoying it as a kid.
6. NBA Live ‘95 (Genesis, SNES) – This game might not have been realistic at all, but it was insanely fun to run up and down the court firing up threes and throwing up alley-oops. The fact that it was the first NBA game by EA with every team and every arena also scores it points. Not to mention, this was the first game with the 3/4 angle camera.
5. NFL Blitz (Arcade) – The football version of NBA Jam. Fast scoring, late hits, and crazy rules like being able to throw multiple forward passes behind the line of scrimmage make this game great. The arcade version was waaaay better than the PS or N64 versions.
4. NBA Jam (Arcade) – Between the arcade version and the console versions, I’ve played a ton of NBA Jam. It is one of the most unique games ever. Who didn’t enjoy beating the crap out of people in mid-air or hitting three after three when they were on fire? This game totally rocked. The best part was getting all of the codes and playing with mascots and Bill Clinton.
3. Little League Baseball (NES) – I don’t know why this game doesn’t get more attention as one of the best NES sports games. The gameplay is the best of any NES baseball game – pitching, hitting, and fielding all are simple and feel relatively realistic. Plus there’s just something fun and unique about playing with little leaguers. As far as I know this is the only little league game ever, although I could be wrong. Adding to the excitement, certain teams are significantly better than others. Want a challenge? Try winning a tournament with Italy, the worst team in the game. The replay value of LLB is unbelievable; I still play it to this day.
2. NHL ‘94 (Genesis, SNES) – I love modern NHL games as much as the next guy, but this game is the best ever. I still play it ALL THE TIME. The quality of play is amazing. Take away the easy wrap-around goals and the gameplay is amazingly real, especially considering how old this game is. Oh, and for the record, they are playing NHL ‘93 in Swingers but talking about the removal of fighting in NHL ‘94. Weird huh?
1. Tecmo Super Bowl (NES) – This game was far ahead of it’s time – editable playbooks and season long stat tracking were so cool back then. The gameplay is far from realistic but amazingly equal. For that reason, the game is still popular and there are tons of people who still play in online leagues. The advent of emulators has allowed for the editing of rosters – I’ve played versions of the game with rosters from as recent as 2004. There are also versions with college rosters and USFL rosters. The weird little gameplay quirks like Bo Jackson being impossible to stop, fumbles bouncing all over the place, choosing defensive plays by guessing the offensive play, 100 yard passes, etc make the game MORE fun. This game will never, ever get old.
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In the old days, choosing a video game system for children wasn’t all that hard. After all, parents didn’t have to worry about games carried by systems like Atari (there was nothing threatening about Pac-Man or Space Invaders). Today, however, with the proliferation of games with mature content available on games supported by the major system manufacturers, parents want to know which system carries the most kid-friendly games, ones that the young ones will enjoy and one that parents will not regret spending money on.
Let’s start with the Sony PlayStation 2, the best-selling game console on the market today. There are literally thousands of titles available for this system, which cater to every age range. There are approximately 600 games for the PS2 that have the “E” rating, meaning that it is suitable for players ages six and above. However, many of these games are too complicated for young children to play. Games that children ten years old and above can enjoy are rated E10+, while those that are rated EC (Early Childhood) are of course, suitable for the very young. The PS2 carries about a dozen E10+ games, including movie-based titles like Shrek Super Slam for PlayStation 2 and Chicken Little. EC titles that little ones can enjoy include Dora the Explorer: Journey to the Purple Planet, Eggo Mania and At the Races Presents Gallop Racer.
Nintendo’s GameCube console continues to be popular because it carries titles that are popular with children. The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) lists 263 video game titles rated E for the GameCube, and these include some of the most popular and beloved among the children of today and years past, such as Sega’s Sonic GEMS Collection, Nintendo’s own Mario Party 6 and Mario Tennis. The Legend of Zelda series and several Pokemon titles are available exclusively on the GameCube as well.
Microsoft’s Xbox and Xbox 360 video game consoles likewise have many, many titles that are rated E; the Xbox with approximately 270 games and the Xbox 360 with so far about a dozen — but count on the number of Xbox 360 titles to increase since it’s a new release. Some games published by Microsoft exclusively for the Xbox and the Xbox 360 and which have the E rating are Astropop and Feeding Frenzy. However, remember that most game publishers release crossover titles, or games that are available on multiple platforms. For instance, Eidos Interactive’s LEGO Star Wars (rated E) is available for the GameCube, PS2 and Xbox; Activision’s Madagascar (rated E10+) is available on the same platforms, while Global Star Software’s Dora the Explorer (rated EC) is available on the PS2 and Xbox, but not on the GameCube.
What about parental control options? Among the four systems, the Xbox and the Xbox 360 have the most efficient parental lock functions. Parents are able to set limits on the games and films to be played on the systems. If you set the system to play only E-rated games, kids won’t be able to play DVD’s or games that have Teen, Mature, or Adults Only ratings. The GameCube also has a parental lock feature, albeit a less effective one. Users note that all it does is tone down certain effects that might be troubling for children (for example, the amount of blood seen in games) but do not block the playing of games at all. It doesn’t even screen or bleep offensive language. The parental control function of the PlayStation 2 is even worse — it doesn’t allow parents or anyone to restrict access to video games at all. The most parents can do is to set the PS2 to prevent their kids from watching DVD movies with inappropriate content.
When it comes to price, the GameCube comes out tops. Available for only $99, it’s significantly cheaper than the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, whose prices range from $150 to $199 (or more if bundled with game titles). The Xbox 360, being the newest of the bunch, is the highest-priced. For $299, you get the system and a wired controller. For $399, you get a wireless controller, a headset that players can use to talk to other people online, a 20 GB hard drive that is loaded with game-related videos and music, and a remote.
Parents should go out and try each system personally as well as look at the different titles available for them before deciding which one to buy. Factors such as number and age of users at home, game title availability, and budget should also be considered. Each system has its own pros and cons, and families will differ in their preferences: some will be content with the limited but popular games of the GameCube; some might prefer the wider offering of the PlayStation 2 or the Xbox; others might opt for the high-tech features of the Xbox 360. But all things considered, making the right choice will provide hours of wholesome, fun, and worry-free entertainment for the little ones and for their parents as well.
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