Gerard Cummings
Computer Science 312
Professor Wolf
March 7, 2004
Video Game Bullies
Ever
since Sega Genesis decided to include a 56k modem as part of the Dreamcast
hardware, the gaming industry has been buzzing with the potential for online
console gaming. It sounds really great until you start looking at the
technology and reality behind online gaming. In reality, there are major
problems with online gaming.
The first dilemma with online gaming is lag. Basically, online games are run from a server. Lag comes in when your computer/console does not get information from the game server fast enough. What does this do to a game? Well, enemies can hit you before you even have a chance to see them and sometimes you can move to a new location when suddenly the game just pops you back where you were a few seconds ago. The worst part about lag is that it can come from a variety of locations. In Diablo 2 for example, most people play the game on servers that are maintained by the game’s company, Blizzard. Unfortunately, the game is so popular that they are often running above capacity so lag occurs. An ISP (Internet Service Provider) can have similar problems with overload during peak hours of the day, or malfunctions at any time. PlayStation 2 computer entertainment reports that the "SOCOM II: U.S. Navy Seals players spend an average of 4.2 hours a day playing the game online between the hours of 5p.m. and 11p.m. ." 1 Even if both ends of the connection are working properly, the data has to be bounced across the country through several other computers to get where it's going, and anything can go wrong along the way. There are two other things that cause lag. One is the amount of time it takes to get the signal from your PC to the server and back again, which is called ping, and the other is the amount of data your connection can give or take in a second bandwidth.
The final problem with online gaming is on the design side. It involves the costs of developing and marketing an online game. To develop an online game, take the normal costs associated with development and start adding to it. The additional testing alone could be costly. Most online game designers can expect to fail in the market. With this in mind, most companies will want to charge a monthly fee for the online portion of their games as a cushion for failure. Eventually, we'll probably see services that will host multiple games for a single fee, but the bottom line is that this will be a major deterrent to all casual gamers.
There are many things that can only be done in online games, and they could result in the best gaming experiences we've ever had, but online gaming does not seem ready for prime time just yet.
Reference:
Hsu, Dan. "Electronic Gaming Monthly." Money Trail March 2004: 50
[1] Hsu, Dan