Twenty years ago, I sat in my brother-in-law’s den watching five year
old Philip soundly trounce his grandmother at his favorite game – Pac
Man. After his third successive win, Phil gave his grandmother a
puzzled look and asked, “Geeze, Grammy, didn’t you play Pac Man when
you were a kid?”
I know that I didn’t play Pac Man as a kid. I’m from the Pong
generation. I did get my chance to brush up on my ghost-eating skills
for a quarter a game in the Student Union in my freshman year at
college. By the time little Phil was cheating his grandmother (sly
little runt had set her on Advanced while he played Easy – and forgot
to mention to her that you had to EAT the power pills in order to eat
the ghosts), the world of gaming was on a roll that simply gathers more
momentum with each passing month. Companies like Nintendo and Sony
started off by translating the arcade games to console – but soon took
off in their own directions. In just ten years, the gaming industry has
become one of the fastest growing and most profitable sectors of the
technology industry. Interconnectivity took gaming to new heights –
connecting to the Internet expands your base of competition from your
neighborhood arcade to the entire world.
But connectivity didn’t necessarily mean the World Wide Web. One of the
problems with playing console games written for the Playstation, the
GameCube or the Xbox is that you have to OWN a console in order to
play. Enter Macromedia Flash and Sun Java, the two most popular
plug-ins for web browsers. Java was created to be a cross-platform
programming language designed to run in your browser no matter what
operating system you’re using. Macromedia’s Flash animation program is
possibly the most universally supported and installed browser plug-in
in the world. In just a few short years, both platforms have come a
long long long way from flat bouncy ball type graphics to absolutely
stunning 3-D graphics.
Not surprisingly, the first wave of web browser games powered by Flash
and Java have been rewrites of some of the old favorites – from
standards to retro – and some engaging if silly games like Swat the
Clown. They include those that captivated many of us during those
golden years of the late 70s and early 80s, and feed the current
appetite for all things retro, but they’re not the only games to play
online.
In fact, you’ll find everything from classic board games like Stratego
to casino games to puzzles and shoot’em-ups. Some are multiplayer –
many more are designed for one player against the computer – just like
PC games and console games. What are the most played games online these
days?
Casino Games top the ranks, with online interactive poker being one of
the most popular activities on the web. It’s hard to resist the chance
to gamble, and online casinos are cashing in – in spades. Still, there
are plenty of places to test your skills in poker, blackjack and other
casino games without spending a cent.
Retro Arcade Games are a close second. Following the trend for all
things retro, a whole new generation is discovering the fun of trying
to maneuver falling blocks into place before they stack to the top of
the screen, and shooting up Asteroids as they get close to your space
ship. If that doesn’t float your boat, there’s still Prince of Persia,
Frogger, Donkey Kong and dozens of other games that once graced arcades
and barrooms everywhere.
Puzzle Games overlap the classic arcade games, with such classics as
Tetris, Connect 4 and Stratego straddling the line between classic
board games and the best of the arcade games. They run from the fun of
lining up marbles in a row to flipping over coins to wipe out an entire
board of your opponent’s coins with one move in Reversi.
Sports Games never stop being fun. While fantasy football and baseball
leagues keep the tycoons busy, some of us can still spend hours playing
Mini Putt Golf and Pong. You can step into a batter’s cage and hit a
few out of the ballpark with one of the baseball games, or go for the
gold in racing, skateboarding or tennis. If you’re in a silly mood, you
can play drafts with penguins as sliders, or whack-a-mole with your
mouse.
No matter what your taste or pleasure, chances are that you’ll find a
game to suit it online. Just fire up your browser and point it to
http://www.excessively.net , and enjoy a trip back – and forth, and
sideways and round and round the mazes.
