The Evolution of Online Games

Online games, they’re as old as the Internet. Ever since the early Usenet, people have been looking for ways to kill, checkmate or frag others from across the globe.



One of the first online games I remember was chess. Too bad, I didn’t know how to play it. Luckily, games like Doom and Red Alert later came with an online play function, giving us countless hours of team matches in the college dorm room.



As I grew older, the evil game developers decided to come up with new games to fuel my game addiction. MMORPGS like Everquest and Star Wars Galaxies were born. I remember my Galaxies account as the first time I ever needed a credit card. Apparently, so did millions of other nerds, who never left their basements as a result (fortunately, I played in the attic. Ha! Take that fellow geeks!)



Then Flash came along, which allowed the development of simpler, less visceral games. Sites like Facebook brought online gaming to the casual player, through addictive games like Farmville and Restaurant City. These were games our moms and (non-existent) girlfriends could actually get hooked to.



By now I’ve tried almost all online games, from fragtastic matches on Quake to the irritating invites of Mafia Wars (yes, I finally gave in). Is there anything left?



I confess I’ve always been addicted to mobile games. As a true gamer, if I can’t get my fix on the PC, there’s always the phone. I can’t remember how many hours I’ve wasted on Nokia’s pixilated Snake while in the subway, or how much aliens I’ve blasted in Space Impact during math class. Not content with making me miss my station or failing Algebra, these evil developers are now bringing online games to smartphones.



In fact, a lot of the games on my iPhone now come with a Wi-Fi matching system. These new games (ok, I admit I’m cheap – demo games) combine the iPhone’s nifty features (touchscreen and functionality) with social interaction. Bored in the subway? Fire up a foosball game. Instead of playing with the AI, I can beat other other players online using Wi-Fi (for some reason, most online players are always Asian). Other games even allow cross-functionality with games on social media. From time to time, the wife even snatches away my phone to check her Farmville on my screen. To think I even bought her a 24-inch monitor.



By far the coolest games have to be the online shooters, and I’m not just talking about a phone version of Counterstrike. They require players to actually hunt the "target" in the real world, and "snipe" them using the phone. I think this only works with the iPhone though, since it requires GPS to track players’ movements.



With such developments, online games are no longer strictly for the PC. Whether you own an iPhone or Blackberry, or even a PSP, no one is safe from these evil game developers. What would be next after that? Will we have online gaming between different devices? Curse you evil game empire! In the meantime, it’s time to hunt my workmate Rick with my iPhone rifle.