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Revision as of 12:47, 8 February 2006
 | It has been suggested that this article be merged into Multiplayer online game. (Discuss) |
Online games refer to any online video games that are played over the Internet. The expansion of online gaming has reflected the overall expansion of the internet.
Online games can range from simple text based games to games incorporating complex graphics and virtual worlds populated by many players simultaneously. A proliferation of diferent gaming options has occured, each tapping different gaming focusses, levels of technology and multiplayer dynamics.
Many Online games have associated online communities, making online games a form of social activity beyond single player games.
Early Online Games & text based games
Online games started in the 1980s with MUDs. These text based games were often played via BBS via a modem. These games were frequently based on fantasy settings, using rules similar to those in the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons. Other styles of games were also available via BBS, such as chess, Scrabble clones, and many others.
During the early take up of email text based play-by-email games became popular.
Browser internet games (Java games, Flash games)
With the development of web based graphics technologies such as Flash and Java, browser games also known by their related technology as 'Flash games' or 'Java games' became increasingly popular. Many retro games such as Pacman & Frogger were converted to browser games which could be played over the internet. Most browser games have limited multiplayer involvement, often being just single player games, at most sharing a high score list.
Current popular Browser based games include:
The site freeonlinegames.com includes many examples of basic browser based internet games.
Advanced Browser Games
Recent developments in browser graphical technologies including both Java & Flash have lead to a new breed of advanced Browser based games which now include multiplayer gameplay.
Current popular Advanced Browser based games include:
First-person shooter Games
During the 1990s, online games started to move from a wide variety of LAN protocols (such as IPX) and onto the Internet using the TCP/IP protocol.
Doom popularized the concept of deathmatch where multiple players battle each other head-to-head as a new form of online game. Since Doom, most first-person shooter games contain online component to allow deathmatch/arena style play.
Current popular first-person shooter games include:
Massively multiplayer online games
With the growth of broadband Internet access in many developed countries, the types of online games playable over the Internet exploded. Massively multiplayer online games were made possible with expanding Internet access, using the Internet to allow hundreds of thousands of players to play the same game together. Today, almost any style of game has been created for play over the Internet.
Current popular titles include:
Category: