Online
games refer to games that are played over some
form of computer network. At the present, this
almost always means the Internet or equivalent
technology; but games have always used whatever
technology was current: modems before the internet,
and hard wired terminals before modems. The expansion
of online gaming has reflected the overall expansion
of computer networks from small local networks
to the Internet and the growth of Internet access
itself. Online games can range from simple text
based games to games incorporating complex graphics
and virtual worlds populated by many players simultaneously.
Many online games have associated online communities,
making online games a form of social activity
beyond single player games.
The
rising popularity of Flash and Java led to an
Internet revolution where websites could utilize
streaming video, audio, and a whole new set of
user interactivity. When Microsoft began packaging
Flash as a pre-installed component of IE, the
Internet began to shift from a data/information
spectrum to also offer on-demand entertainment.
This revolution paved the way for sites to offer
games to web surfers. Most online games like World
Of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI and Lineage II charge
a monthly fee to subscribe to their services,
while games such as Guild Wars offer an alternative
no monthly fee scheme. Many other sites relied
on advertising revenues from on-site sponsors,
while others, like RuneScape, let people play
for free while leaving the players the option
of paying, unlocking new content for the members.
After
the dot-com bubble burst in 2001, many sites solely
relying on advertising revenue dollars faced extreme
adversity. Despite the decreasing profitability
of online gaming websites, some sites have survived
the fluctuating ad market by offsetting the advertising
revenue loss by using the content as a cross-promotion
tool for driving web visitors to other websites
that the company owns. (Credit:
Wikipedia).
