A Brief History of Online Games

Electronic gaming has evolved dramatically in recent years. As data bandwidth, processing power and screen resolutions steadily increase; developers are keeping pace to provide more realistic and immersive Internet entertainment experiences. It is hard to imagine a world without the wealth of online games that today's web surfers have come to expect, but the history of online gaming goes back well before the mainstream adoption of the Internet.

The first games to be played over computer networks were developed in the early 1970s. These were built on multi-user timeshare terminals at universities. The latter part of that decade saw the arrival of multi-user dungeons (MUD,) which later evolved into multi-access dungeons (MAD) and massive multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG.)

In 1985, the game Islands of Kesmai was released for users of the commercial CompuServe computer network. With graphics made up of ASCII text characters, this multi-player RPG bore little resemblance to the games of today; but in many ways, it was a precursor to the modern MMORPG. The fantasy role playing battles of this game were among the earliest ancestors of today's online fighting games.

Later in the 1980s, the first games were developed which used the Internet Protocol (IP) to communicate. In 1991, the game Neverwinter Nights was released for AOL subscribers. This is widely hailed as the first 3D graphical MMORPG. As the Internet grew in popularity among the general public, the 1990s saw an explosion of role playing, shooter, strategy and online fighting games with multiplayer capabilities. Some of the most notable are Doom, Warcraft and Quake.

By the year 2000, most commercial game software packages featured the ability to play online against other players. Although many of the most popular online games were designed for multiplayer action, developers were quick to take advantage of Internet technologies such as Flash and JavaScript to create single-player games as well.

The year 2002 saw the launch of gaming networks such as XBox Live and Steam. As social networks grew in popularity throughout the decade, companies such as Zynga jumped on the bandwagon to create casual games that users could play against their friends. Today, the options for online gaming range from commercial software packages, to social network gaming, to browser based games and even mobile apps.

Gamers no longer need to subscribe to expensive online services or purchase commercial software packages to play online. For those who want a convenient and fun gaming experience, there are plenty of sites that offer online fighting games and a variety of other challenges that can be played right now, right in your web browser.