Top 20 Most Influential Things to Happen to the Video Game Industry
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Originating as an application of the US Government, the Internet (opened the floodgates) of information. What happened to the Video Game Industry as a result? Gaming websites such as ScrewAttack and Kotaku share industry information with the world. Gamers share strategies and ideas with each other. People (modded) games and shared their creations with the world. We no longer needed to read a gaming magazine or hear it from the game shop owner who had (inside information). These days, we just need a computer and an internet connection to find out about awesome games that are coming out or what effective tactics to use in a game. But that's not the best part.
Back in 1996, we were introduced to Quakeworld and QuakeSpy. Quakeworld is a multiplayer-only client for Quake with improves playability over the internet with features like (Player Prediction). Using an application called QuakeSpy (later evolved into GameSpy), players could easily locate servers to play on that supported up to 32 players. That's right. 32-player deathmatches! Some modern console games don't even support that many players! And even with the games like Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64 that supports up to 4 players, all 4 players must be present at the console and TV to play, not to mention all players can see where each other is by looking at another player's portion of the screen. When you start QuakeSpy, you're guaranteed to find a server with people to play with because while players from North America are sleeping, Europe is gaming. The communication medium known as the Internet not only made multiplayer gaming more accessible, it was profitable for the companies.
Quake was free to play online. Before that, there were games that could only be played on a network. These games could be played online through network emulation using subscription-based applications such as TEN and Dwango. These cost money to play. However, it was not Quake that undermined this business model. Blizzard Entertainment released Diablo in 1997 stating that offering online multiplayer capabilities for free will boost game sales. PC game publishers started following this. Multiplayer games could be played for free online, and subscription-based online gaming because a thing of the past. only to be revived by Microsoft and its XBox Live service. Seriously, how did this happen?
As more online capable games were being released for the PC, console developers realized that the ability to play games over the internet was a solid investment to make. Starting with Dreamcast, console gamers got their first taste of online gameplay. By the time the 7th generation consoles were made, it was expected for consoles to be able to connect to the internet with a vast library of games having the ability to be played online.
There was also the introduction of Ultima Online, which popularized MMORPGs back in 1997. Although it uses a subscription-based business model, the reason behind it is to be able to maintain the game servers. Unlike games like Quake, Ultima Online has its own proprietary servers that the companies maintain to create the effect that there is only one world to play in, and everyone who plays will be in it. There are also admins hired to patrol the game and resolve disputes amongst players and enforce the rules and terms of service. This offered a completely different experience than that of first-person shooters where the worlds reset when a map changes or when you move to a different server.
