You may have heard about people playing online with video games, but not really knew what the deal was....well here's a look from a current online gamer......me!
You are able to play with people around the world on a number of platforms.........PC's, Mac's, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Wii....and a number of others. There are literally a plethora of choices to make. If you want to play cribbage with someone from Zambia....you can. It's nice when you're up for a crackling game of Monopoly...and you're home alone.
The largest game out there is World of Warcraft, an MMORG (Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game) There have been millions of players live out there fantasies on WOW. Think of it as a huge Dungeons and Dragons game. You can go it alone, or with a clan on adventures against computer enemies.....or fight a human opponent as well. There are many MMORG's.......one for Star Wars, a coming Star Trek, Firefly, you name it.
A more traditional style is simply going head to head online. The consoles have a huge winner with the Madden Football games. It's so popular, there is a show on ESPN with the best of the best playing computer football for $500,000!
Currently.....I play three games online, on my trusty Xbox 360. World Series of Poker, Rockband 2, and Gears of War 2.
Rockband 2, I usually play along, challenging another player to see who can play a song the best. Oddly enough I find it much fun, and the competition usually makes me play better.
In World Series of Poker, you play against a table of other poker players....all real people, and you fight out until there is one left (hopefully you!) The carrot at the end of the stick here is your rating goes up the more you win....same with Rock Band 2.
But for me........the big kahuna is Gears of War 2. On Xbox Live, where all the games happen, you have a list of friends. The bulk of my list comes from people I played with on the original Gears. This is the first week with Gears 2, and I've played with all of these guys for the first time in over a year.
I have two friends who go to West Virginia University. One, who is the best player by far, lives in Detroit. The others are from dots all around North America. We like each other because we love the game, and more importantly, we don't suck. In the past 7 days since the game came out, there hasn't been a night where the lot of us hasn't been playing late into the night fighting the good fight.
Online gaming is a blast...and a good way to improve your game.
