Quake II. © Activision.

Online gaming is a huge and rapidly growing business, employing thousands of animators and entertaining, and sometimes educating, millions the world over. Gaming fans range from the true addict with zombie-white skin to the white collar worker who sneaks an occasional game to relax.

Proponents state that multiplayer games can challenge and develop the imagination, teach history and culture, and develop teaming and leadership skills. Opponents claim games can be too violent and lead to hermit-like unsociability. One thing that cannot be disputed is that online gaming is growing like wildfire. Total gaming industry sales are estimated by Infotech to be over $15 billion in 1997, and a large part of that involves games that can be played online, a market segment that Infotech calculates is growing at 70% per year. In fact, at the recent E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) show in Atlanta, there were few solo (non-multiplayer) games visible, and a panel of venture capital executives stated flatly that they "would not even look at" games that were not playable online.

Some Definitions
To understand the genre, we should review a few basics. An online game is one that allows a gamer to be connected with others playing the same game, either via a LAN (local area network many game stations such as the Sony PlayStations permit this), by modems connected directly over a phone line, or by a WAN (wide area network, such as the Internet). Game speeds vary from turn-based games (such as chess, where one player makes a move and waits for the response) to real-time games (such as Quake 2, which can have non-stop action).

Games may be Internet-only (playable only via the Internet), Internet-compatible (playable with or without online connection) or hybrid (involving mostly local storage and content with some interaction over the net). Hybrid games have the advantage that they already contain most of the game data stored on a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, and it therefore does not have to be downloaded; since some games contain gigabytes of terrain, rules and character data, this can be a huge advantage. Hybrid games tend to be richer in detail and action, and put less processing strain on the server and the network.

In a game, a player may be represented by an animated, human or non-human figure called an "avatar," a computer term derived for the Hindu word for a god that appears on earth in human or animal form ("ava," down, "tarati," he travels). Game figures such as orks, soldiers, dinosaurs and so on, that are not driven directly by a player are called "bots." They may be driven by AI or, "artificial intelligence," software that makes them respond unpredictably, "learning" or adapting as the game progresses. A "wizard" is a term for software that helps guide a player through a game. [Although many games feature wizards of the Merlin type, as well as knights, orcs, and magical spells, since they are based on the original D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) game.] A primary problem in online game play is keeping new players or "newbies" from being squashed by experienced, predatory "rogue" players.

Jedi Knight. © LucasArts.

Some of the types of games are strategic (such as Panzer General or Warcraft, chess-type games usually played from a bird's-eye view in 2-D or "2 1/2 -D," the latter allowing some level of perspective viewing), simulation or "sim," (such as WarBirds or Armored Fist 2, action games primarily focused on racing a high-resolution vehicle such as a plane, tank or car), RPG (Role Playing Game such as Oddworld or Mechwarrior, where the player takes on a personality with strengths and weaknesses and must confront a content-rich world demanding problem solving and possible combat), action (such as Doom, Quake or Duke Nukem, primarily fast combat games involving an avatar or simulated vehicle taking on all comers sometimes referred to as a "twitch" game), adventure (such as 7th Guest or Under the Killing Moon, which involve extensive story lines and problem solving), edutainment (such as SimCity, which has a strong educational component), as well as sports and adult games.