Of all the types of games in the world today, it is video games that have risen most rapidly to become the premiere choice for gamers across the globe. The ease of the computer or video game console environment has made these games extremely accessible to everyone and this is a large part of their success today. They have been able to bridge the gap between those who want to play a game and do not have other players in their area and the types of games they would like to play. Thanks to the invention of the micro processor, gamers can now try their hand at a huge range of different games, many of them featuring popular licensed entertainment properties and offering exquisite experiences that would simply not be able to be replicated outside of a virtual environment. These games can be single player, multiplayer and even what are now known as MMO or ‘massively multiplayer online’ games.
One of the first games that saw significant popularity was Pong for the Atari, the first home game to receive a lot of media attention. Prior to this, games had to be played at stand up console systems in arcades where players would insert a coin or coins in order to play. The home systems revolutionized video games because they gave players far more frequent access to the games they had come to love. This made a huge difference for the video game industry and allowed it to compete with many other forms of popular entertainment, most notably home movies and recorded music. By giving gamers this constant access and continually expanding the range of ways they could play to include console systems hooked up to TV sets, computer gaming solutions and even handheld games, the game industry rapidly achieved a dominance that has made it an even bigger industry than Hollywood. This is notable because no other industry has gone from an experimental phase to outright global domination quite so quickly as digital games have.
Players are now able to use keyboards, mouse, joysticks, microphones, touch sensitive pads, directionally sensitive remotes and even digital cameras to interact with their games. Advanced systems such as the Nintendo Wii continue to expand the possibilities for this medium and bring greater interactivity to gamers. Huge network systems such as the Microsoft Live network allow gamers to get together from any point in the world via a broadband internet connection to be able to experience a whole new side of their games, the multiplayer experience. This alone has begun to drive a professional gamer opportunity that previously would have been simply unheard of. As games develop further, they are expected to blur the lines between realistic physical experiences and digital entertainment to even more advanced degrees.
