Compared to any other facet of the internet, no one can dispute the insanely rapid development of the online gaming industry as the fastest growing segment ever. Just last year, dinky games on Facebook like Scramble and Word Twist were the norm. The onset of Farmville and Mob Wars became the standard, but even those were pretty basic in design. But now have certain role-playing games out there that come close to matching the content and fluiditity of a Warcraft or Final Fantasy! And the crazy part about all of that is this: they’re all free.
Certainly, the recent developments of higher-quality gaming on the three major consoles–Wii, Playstation 3, and the XBox 360–up the ante as far as gaming is concerned. But finances and pricing pretty much determine the availability of owning these home entertainment systems.
The balance is there with free online games. And that’s why they’re still becoming popular. You can hop online to your very own MySpace or Facebook and play your Petville, Frontierville, Warstorm, Bejeweled Blitz…anything! The number of games on these online sites is actually staggering. And with free online media players like xvid that uses the xvid codec, you can find free players to view games also. With that familiar availability comes the sense that we’re heading toward a multi-user world complete with online gameplay with others around the world–thank you, “Doom,” and most recently, thank you, “Halo.”
It ranges all over as far as age is concerned, too. Even gender! Go on barbie.com, and you’ll find online games. Disney has games. Cartoon Network has their own games. Nickelodeon is chock full of games. You don’t even have to necessarily be a brand name, as there are web sites out there that, for lack of a better term, can be called ‘generic’–such as playpink.com and even MUDs.
There really is no telling just how big that part of the industry will get. One thing’s for sure, as long as you have an internet connection and a desire to pass the time, these games will continue to be played!