Growing up in my generation has been somewhat of a privlage for me. Not because of the many unique shows that were spawned during the 90’s. Not because of the new wave of music sweeping the nation and causing somewhat of a panic amongst parents and politicians alike. The main reason why I was privileged to grow up in the 90’s, is because of all the advances in technology that were taking place. I can’t begin to name all of the advances in technology that sprouted up during the 90’s, but one that I can tell you about, one of my personal favorites, is video games.
I remember watching my aunts and uncles play the Atari as a kid. Q-Bert and Pong were familiar games to me, games I knew and games I had grown to love. Even going to the arcade and watching the crowds of people huddled around a person who was trying to beat the high score in Donkey Kong was somewhat of a thrill. But as time past on, and I grew older, I began to find myself playing new games…Games of my own generation. Games like Super Mario, Battle-toads, and Duck Hunt were household names in my younger years. But during those younger years, games were all about the single player aspect. One person trying to beat a game, or as I said earlier, trying to beat a high score that they or someone else had set. People felt a sense of accomplishment during these things, but as time dragged on, the single player aspects of games was, for the most part, boring. Just beating games was no longer fun. We wanted games that we could sit down with friends and play for hours even if we have beaten the game already. I remember the one game I could say I loved playing with friends was Golden-eye for the Nintendo 64. That was the first game for me that really brought me into the multiplayer world.
I remember the first system that really tried to expand the multiplayer gaming was Sega Dreamcast. The Dreamcast was one of the first consoles to implement online gaming. No other system out on the market at that time could do that. Regardless of the Dreamcasts unique ability, it quickly faded away. The one console in my mind that really took over the online gaming area is the Xbox.
The Xbox’s installment of the Xbox Live has been a huge success since day one. Games like Halo, Call of Duty, And EA Sports titles have brought multiplayer to the fore-front of gaming. Gamers no longer just buy games because of the single player story, but because of the multiplayer portion and the replay value multiplayer offers. Gamers sometimes even buy games just for the multiplayer itself. I have friends who own copies of Halo 3, and are still yet to even really play the solo portion of the game, because they feel the online aspect is so much more entertaining.
With multiplayer, friends and family could sit down and have a few laughs with each-other while playing a game, or if they are more competitive, they could have tournaments for bragging rights to see who is the best of the best. With the capability of going online and playing people from around the world, gaming has soared to new heights, and profited from thousands of gamers logging on everday and playing. Video games today are no longer about the solo missions of a game…It’s about becoming the best at that game, and beating the hell out of whoever challenges you for the top spot
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