Online Gaming Soon to be the Only Gaming?

Most of us are old enough to remember when the Commodore 64 first came out followed by the Atari system. The initial reaction to these systems was sheer amazement as we played with our pixels for hours upon hours. Soon we learned how to beat the Artificial Intelligence and the games replay value suffered greatly.

So why do video games become boring or outdated? Obviously a huge factor is technology and graphics, but a stronger component is competition and the ability to adapt. Single player games do not offer the ability to adapt; the artificial intelligence today doesn’t allow for complex strategies or maneuvers to be utilized, but we know who can – Humans! Yes, there is nothing like outthinking, outmaneuvering, besting, owning, fragging, or whatever you want to do, to another living, breathing, frustrated human being.

When you get that kill shot on a computer you know they don’t get emotional, but when you take out a live opponent, you know he/she is slamming their keyboard and possibly ripping out their cable modem (Stracraft comes to mind for this). It is not the mere act of succeeding but rather how hard the success was to obtain. Even killing “newbs” (new players) after a while gets old as you need more of a challenge; you need someone that is adept at thinking on the spot and maneuvering in such ways that the computer or a newb could never achieve. You have now reached a new level of your gaming ability and the only way to grow further as a player is to play the best.  Read more...