A History of Console RPGs

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Apparently someone within IGN's management team took notice of the shamefully short-sighted "A History of RPGs" piece that they originally published, and has since forced the author to double the size of the article and rename it "A History of Console RPGs". It even has a different publish date, so I guess I'll quote from some of the new content:

Inspired by the archaic, text-based multi-user dungeons of yore, the massively multiplayer genre started out modestly by mixing together chat services with grainy graphics.

Genre originators include Club Caribe and the first Neverwinter Nights. Sierra Online kept the ball rolling with The Realm Online, which started to build on the possibility of massively-multiplayer games with role-playing focuses. And then came Richard Garriot's Ultima Online, the first title to seriously captivate a sizable chunk of the gaming population. Using the existing Ultima universe as an MMO world, Ultima Online's mix of 3D isometric graphics and solid fundamental gameplay made the online world a viable new home for dedicated gamers.

The market penetration for MMOs began skyrocketing two years later after the release of EverQuest, the fantasy-influenced online MMORPG that created as many clans as it seemingly destroyed marriages. It wasn't called "Evercrack" for nothing.

The addictive mix of tried-and-true RPG elements with an interactive, fantasy world captivated millions of subscribers and rocketed the MMO into the public consciousness.

Why Neverwinter Nights, Ultima Online, and EverQuest are mentioned within "A History of Console RPGs" article, though, is beyond me.

A History of Console RPGs

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