bratz game to play at Game Store

10 Top Bratz Games Site Online Flash Games and Dress up Games

2007-10-15T01:56:00.000-07:00

Bratz game is the best community game for girl and people like dress games ,this post I have a time and review 10 site that very cool for you
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Bratz.com - The official Bratz™ site!

This site is official site features each doll ,the Mall, slumber party, fashion games, Video and music for Bratz user ,news and hot ,horoscope, desktops, and Forum for Fan club.
http://www.bratz.com/

Bratz Games Bratz Doll Games Bratz Dress Up Games

The best site for dress up Gamer , this site have thousand of dress up games and 6 of the best bratz game and online flash games you don't miss
Bratz Game List
#Baby Bratz Fish Sale
#Bratz Babies Shopping Mall
#Bratz Girl Ice Champions
#Bratz Girls Getting Ready
#Bratz Girls Beauty Salon
#Bratz Girls Star Races
http://www.dressupgames77.com/bratz_games.htm

Bratz The Movie

Developed by Blitz Games Limited.
..

Bratz Babyz (video game) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Free Encyclopedia .Bratz Babyz is a video game based on the Bratz Babyz line. It was released for PC and the Game Boy Advance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bratz_Babyz_(video_game)

Fashion Games - Fashion Games to Play

Fashion Games - Online Fashion Games for Girls - Make-up and dress-up games - all girls and teens!
Fashion Games Makeovers, Fashion Dressup Games to play; an A-Z
Guide to Fashion Games, Barbie, Polly Pocket, MyScene, Skybreeze, Disney Princess Bratz
http://www.girlgamezone.com/fashion-games.html

Bratz: Rock Angelz for PC - Bratz: Rock Angelz PC Game - Bratz ...

Bratz: Rock Angelz for PC - GameSpot offers reviews, previews, cheats, and more.
www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/bratzrockangelz/index.html

Dress up Games

Select a Bratz, click on the different hairstyle to try on the latest look, try on makeup and creat a hot Bratz doll.
http://www.fashion-game.com/fashion-game/fashion-games/bratz-games/

Bratz Games - Find Bratz Games items for sale on eBay!

Ebay.com is largest market place this link you can buy a bratz games have a good choice
http://popular.ebay.com/ns/Toys+and+Hobbies/Bratz+Games.html

Bratz Com Games - Compare Prices, Reviews and Buy at NexTag - Price - Review

Bratz Com Games - 2 results like the Bratz: The Movie Buy Bratz games in nextag.co.uk
http://www.nextag.co.uk/bratz-com-games/zzukzB1z0--search-html

Bratz Games » Propeller

Bratz dolls are the new standby that is replacing the classic Barbie doll as the toy of choice for young girls. Barbie has held a lock on the market for many years, but Bratz dolls are seeking to change that.
http://videogames.propeller.com/story/2007/10/04/bratz-games/

Bratz Rock Angelz for Game Boy Advance

The four BRATZ girls are back in THQ’s simulation game BRATZ: ROCK ANGELZ for the GAME BOY ADVANCE. Fans of the doll series will enjoy interacting with their favorite characters as they explore the BRATZ world. The goal of the game is to help the BRATZ girls create their own fashion magazine. To accomplish this goal,..
http://www.shopping.com/xPO-Bratz-Rock-Angelz

Bratz game passion for fashion : Read reviews and compare prices at Ciao.co.uk

Its a Bratz night out, you know they have to look good. They check their closet......but oh no the top isn't there! The Bratz have been borrowing clothes and they have to get their own clothes back. -----------------Packaging---------------- The game is in a box which is mainly pinks .
http://www.ciao.co.uk/Bratz_game_passion_for_fashion__6482115

PLAYSTATION PS2 GAME BRATZ: ROCK ANGELZ BRAND NEW

Bratz Rock Angelz will empower fans of the wildly popular line of fashion dolls to explore their own "passion for fashion" in a unique interactive adventure game. Fans will be immersed in the Bratz World as they embark on a series of voyages in search of intriguing stories to inspire and create their very own fashion magazine. Bratz Rock Angelz lets you slip into the shes of any of the four Bratz Girls. You can customize all of the Bratz girls hair, make-up, and outfits as you shop for the latest fashions and travel to exotic International locations to investigate the hottest stories to create your own fashion magazine. Bratz Rock Angelz literally brings the toy franchise to life by letting players chat face-to-face with the Bratz characters in their own world.
http://cgi.ebay.com/PLAYSTATION-PS2-GAME-BRATZ-ROCK-ANGELZ-BRAND-NEW

Nintendo DS Bratz: Forever Diamondz Video Game Play NEW

If you like your basketball arcade-style, take note: it just doesn't get any more arcade-style than HANG TIME. The two-on-two action is extreme, as you choose two players from your favorite team and send them into high-flying, in-your-face basketball action. With better animation than any game of its kind, NBA HANG TIME features hysterical, running play-by-play commentary to keep things comical. The players and stats have all been updated to reflect current lineups and trends, and each NBA team is represented. If the regular NBA guys are boring you, you can actually create your own player! Choose from a variety of body types and heads (they include animal faces and the likenesses of the game's designers), then give your player any attributes you think will give you an edge. The more games you win with your player, the more points you get, and the better you can make your player. HANG TIME offers some great options, such as AI assistance, very effective power-ups, oversized heads, and lots of humorous codes to change the gameplay around. It might not look anything like real basketball, but Shaq just can't do a quadruple flip in real life .
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nintendo-DS-Bratz-Forever-Diamondz-Video-Game-Play-NEW

Bratz Movie Stars GAME BOY ADVANCE GBA SP FREE CASE

game is English version work on GBA / MIcro / GBA SP / DS
game used in MINT condition not include original box and booklet.
game tested and works flawlessly before shipped
http://cgi.ebay.com/Bratz-Movie-Stars-GAME-BOY-ADVANCE-GBA-SP-FREE-CASE

Game รวม เกมส์ เกมส์ทำอาหาร เกมส์แต่งตัว เกมแต่งตัว เกมออนไลน์ เกมส์ออนไลน์ เกม ที่นี่มีเพียบ

2007-09-22T06:38:00.000-07:00

Online Demo Game

เล่นเกมส์ ดูหนังตัวอย่างเกมส์ใหม่ ๆ

http://inloveasia.com/news/online+demo+game

eve online game

อีฟ เกมส์

http://inloveasia.com/news/eve+online+game

nba all star game

เกมส์บาส NBA

http://inloveasia.com/news/nba+all+star+game

online game rental

บริการ ร้านเช่าเกม เช่าเครื่องเกม เช่า แผ่นเกมส์

http://inloveasia.com/news/online+game+rental

พิพิธภัณฑ์เกมคอมพิวเตอร์ไทย

ความจริงวงการพัฒนาเกมของคนไทยนั้นมีพัฒนาการมานานหลายปีแล้ว แต่จะรู้กันเพียงกลุ่มเล็ก ๆ เท่านั้น

โครงการ "พิพิธภัณฑ์เกมคอมพิวเตอร์ไทย (Thai Computer Game Museum)"
จึงถูกริเริ่มขึ้นจากสมาชิกกลุ่มหนึ่งของชุมชน ThaiGameDevX รวบรวมข้อมูลเกม,
บริษัทและกลุ่มนักพัฒนาอิสระ, และผู้มีส่วนเกี่ยวข้องในการพัฒนาเกมในประเทศไทย
เพื่อจัดเก็บให้อยู่ในที่เดียวกันอย่างเป็นระบบและสามารถใช้อ้างอิงได้

หากท่านเป็นผู้มีส่วนเกี่ยวข้องในการพัฒนาเกมไทย หรือมีเพื่อนฝูงคนรู้จักที่มีส่วนในการพัฒนาเกมไทย
ก็สามารถช่วยกันบอกต่อ และเพิ่มเติมข้อมูลเข้าสู่ฐานข้อมูลของพิพิธภัณฑ์ได้เลยครับ

เว็บไซต์ของโครงการ

* http://museum.thaigamedevx.com/

เกมออนไลน์ที่น่าผิดหวัง
เห็นว่าน่าสนใจดี เลยคัดลอกมาลงที่นี่ด้วย
จากกระทู้ http://www.gamedevx.com/moodle/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=280

เห็นเกมส์ที่ออกมาแล้วผิดหวัง

อยากทำเกมส์เองบ้าง เห็นเกมส์ออนไลน์ที่ออกมาแล้วไม่ค่อยโดนใจเท่าไรนัก อ้างว่าระบบใหม่ มีไรแปลกตา ดูแล้วก็เดิมๆ ที่เห็นๆทั่วไปก็มีคล้ายๆกันไปหมด เก็บ level ทำเควส สัตว์เลี้ยง item ต่างๆ ซึ่งก็แล้วแต่วิการที่ได้มา จากที่เล่นเกมส์มา เกือบ 20 ปีได้แล้วกระมัง ดูแล้วจะเป็นไปตามกระแสเกมส์มากกว่า เกมส์ใหม่เข้ามาแทนเกมส์เก่า เอาจุดแปลกใหม่นิดหน่อยเข้ามาแล้วก็บอกว่า น่าสนใจ ดี แต่สุดท้ายก็ระบบเดิมๆนี่ละ โดยความจริงแล้วเกมส์ตอนนี้มีข้อด้อยหลายข้อทำให้คนเล่นเบื่อง่ายมาก อย่างเช่น

1.เก็บ level กันหืดขึ้นคอ บางเกมส์เก็บยากมาก กว่าจะขึ้นได้ใครเล่นอยู่น่าจะรู้มีหลายเกมส์ด้วย อย่าง yulgang รึจะเป็น ECO แม้กระทั่งเกมส์ใหม่บางเกมส์ที่เพิ่งเข้ามา ซื่งเกมส์ที่น่าจะได้เปรียบตอนนี้ก็เห็นจะเป็น DOTA ซึ่งใช้เวลาไม่นานและผสานกับระบบต่อสู้ซึ่งเป็นการท้าทายความสามารถ ซึ่งถ้าพูดถึงเกมส์หลายเกมส์มันก็คือ ระบบ PVP นั่นละ

2.ระบบสัตว์เลี้ยง เลี้ยงกันได้เลี้ยงกันดี แต่ก็ต้องมีตายให้อาหาร ความเชื่องบ้างละ วุ่นวายดีจริง มัวแต่พะวงไม่ต้องทำไรเลยพอดี บางเกมส์เห็นเกมส์อื่นเขามีก็มีบ้างแต่ไม่ช่วยทำไร มีแค่เท่ห์เท่านั้น ไม่บอกคงรู้กันดีอย่าง Ragnarok เก่ามาก รึจะเป็น Audition แค่บางเกมส์นะยังมีอีกเยอะ

3.ระบบอาชีพ ไม่รู้จะมีไปทำไมให้มันยุ่งยาก ต้องมาเสียเวลาเอาไอ้นุ่น มาผสมไอ้นี่ ถึงจะเป็นของมาใช้ ใช้ได้ไม่ทันไรก็เสียต้องเอาไปซ่อม ไม่ก็ทิ้งไปเลยไม่รู้จะมีไปทำไร เก็บก็ยากแถมตั้งหลายอย่าง กว่าจะได้มาก ก็พอดีไม่ต้องเล่นกัน มัวแต่ฝึกทำอาชีพไม่ต้องเล่นกันพอดี แถมบางเกมส์ต้องมีระดับอาชีพอีกถ้าไม่ถึงระดับไม่ต้องได้ของแถมจะฝึกไปดีดีไม่ได้ต้องทำให้มันยุ่งยาก ต้องมีข้อกำหนดอีก จะเล่นไปทำมัยเนี่ยฝึกทำอาชีพก็เสียเวลามากพอแล้วทำอย่างอื่นไม่ได้เลย มีเกมส์เข้าข่ายนี้เยอะอย่างเกมส์ fairy land ที่ปิดตัวไปแล้ว ล่าสุดก็ DOMO น่าเบื่อมากมีอีกหลายเกมส์ จะให้ดีใส่แล้วใส่เลยอย่าให้มันแตกจะดีกว่านี้นะไม่ได้พูดถึง DOMO อย่างเดียวแต่มีอีกหลายเกมส์อย่าง TS นี่ก็ด้วยเสียดายของแล้วกำลังใจในการเล่นมันหมด

4.ระบบเควสเนี่ยเอาแบบพอประมาณก็พอนี่ไร เอะอะไรก็ทำเควส บ้าอ๊ะเปล่าเนี่ย เควสมันควรจะมีตอนสำคัญๆ แบบพิเศษๆแล้วทำ ไม่ใช่อะไรๆก้ทำเควสๆ แล้วจะได้เล่นไรอะ พะวงอยู่อย่างเดียวทำเควส ไม่ทำก็ไม่ได้เดี๋ยวไม่ผ่านเล่นต่อไม่ได้ ไม่ได้ของดี ประสบการณ์ขึ้นช้า อื่นๆอีกจิปาถะแล้วแต่จะตั้งกันมา อย่างที่เห็นๆก็เกมส์ใหม่อย่าง CABAL ตามกระแสดีจิงไรก็เควสๆๆๆๆ อย่างเดียว ไม่ต้องทำไรพอดี

5.ระบบอัพเกรดอาวุธ มีกันได้ทุกเกมส์ที่ต้องมีอาวุธติดละน่า อัพแล้วทำไมก็แค่พลังโจมตี-ป้องกันเพิ่ม มีไรแปลกใหม่มั๊ย ไม่มี เอ้าบางเกมส์เสริมออฟชั่นอีก ก็ต้องตีกันเข้าไปอีกต้องหาของตีให้วุ่นวาย บางเกมส์ก็ทำดีทีเดียวจบ ไม่ต้องใช้ของไร มาก อัพเองได้เลย แต่ถ้าจะให้ดีอัพเกรดแล้วน่าจะมีไรพิเศษ อย่าง มีสกิลเพิ่มขึ้น รึไม่ก็รูปร่างเปลี่ยนไป แบบว่าเป็นวิวัฒนาการไปเลย เป็นต้น

6.ระบบการ์ด เห็นมีอยู่ด้วยกันหลายเกมส์เหมือนกันแต่บางเกมส์ไม่รู้จะมีไปทำไรมีไปก็งั้นๆเอาไปทำไรไม่ได้นอกจากเอาไปเล่นมินิเกมส์ ที่ถูกใจก็มี Ragnarok นี่ละก็ได้ใช้ประโยชน์หน่อย อย่าง Maple กะ Trickster นี่สิเข้าข่ายเลยทีเดียว ไม่ช่วยไรเปลืองช่องเก็บของเปล่าๆ

7.ระบบบิน บินกันได้บินกันดี มันก็ดีอยู่หลอกสะดวกในการเดินทาง แต่บางทีก็มั่วบินไปบินมาหลงไปที่ไหนก็ไม่รู้ บางเกมส์ก็เอาอย่างแถมบังคับจุดลงอีกต่างหาก เดินไกลตาย ไม่พอยังทำระบบระดับการบินอีก

ต้องระดับเท่านี้บินได้เท่านี้ เร็วเท่านี้ ของอย่างนี้บินได้ดีกว่าของแบบนี้ ระดับนี้ ทำไปทำไม ไงก็บินได้เหมือนกันข้ามสิ่งกีดขวางเหมือนกัน ก็ทำมันระดับเดียวกันแต่มีความแปลกใหม่ในภาหนะก็ได้ ใช้แล้วมีเสริมออฟชั่นช่วยในการต่อสู้ หรือ สถานะพิเศษ รึไรก็ได้แล้วแต่จะออกแบบ ทำได้เยอะแต่ไม่ทำ ก็อปกันมาดีดีนี่เอง

8.ระบบแผนที่ บางเกมส์ดูแล้วงงมากไปไม่ถูกถ้าไม่มีคู่มือรึอะไรที่เป็นตัวบอกให้แน่ชัดเลย แต่เกมส์ใหม่ที่ออกมาแก้ไขในจุดนั้นไป ก็ดีขึ้นแต่บางเกมส์ไม่ต้องพูดถึง งมให้ตายกว่าจะออกจากที่เดิมรึทำเควสสำเร็จได้ ลืมไปเลยว่าอยู่ที่ไหน

9.ระบบ PVP นี่ตัวนี้สิต้องมีเลยทุกเกมส์แต่บางเกมส์ก็มีไปงั้นๆไม่รู้เมื่อไหร่จะได้ลอง เอาไว้ความสามารถของผู้เล่นแต่ละคน แต่ไหงบางที ก็ต้องเปิดเซิฟต่างหากไม่งั้นตีไม่ได้ ต้องมีบ้าน มีเมืองละ ถึงแวลาถึงจะตีกันได้ ยอมรับบางเกมส์สามารถทำได้เลยแต่พอชนะแล้วติดตัวแดงครับพี่ท่านโดนแบนอีกต่างหาก ถูกฆ่าตายแล้วของหล่น บ้างละ ใช้ของไม่ได้บ้างละ ประสบการณ์ไม่ขึ้นบ้างละ กังวลแย่ทำไรไม่ได้เลยเดี๋ยวเสียของอุตสาห์เก็บมาตั้งนาน แต่ก็ช่วยไม่ได้ก็ดันมีแต่ทั้งผู้เล่นนิสัยดีกับไม่ดีนี่นา

คร่าวๆก็แล้วกันไม่อยากพูดมากมีอีกหลายจุดที่น่าจะปรับปรุงสำหรับเกมส์ ออนไลน์ที่มีอยู่ในปัจจุบัน ถ้าให้นั่งวิจารณ์ทีละเกมส์ละก็ยาว ยอมรับ ทุกเกมส์มีจุดดีและจุดด้อยในตัวเอง ผสมผสานออกมาแล้วมันก็ทำให้น่าเล่นได้ แต่อย่างไรก็ตามเมื่อจุดด้อยนั้นมีมากว่าจุดดีเมื่อไหร่ ความน่าสนใจ น่าเล่น น่าหลงไหล ก็ลดตามไปด้วย อยากเห็นเกมส์ที่มีคุณภาพจริงๆ ไม่ใช่ว่าดีแต่โฆษณาเอาของที่นุ่นมาที่นี่มาสุดท้ายก็เป็นการยำรวมมิตรดีดีนี่เอง จะดีก็ไม่ดีเสียทีเดียว อยากทำเองบ้างแต่ไม่ค่อยมีความรู้ด้านกร๊าฟฟิค รึจิปาถะไรหลายอย่าง แต่มีจินตนาการที่อยากจะทำ ที่คิดไว้ แต่ยังไม่มีช่องทาง คงได้แต่ทดลองเล่นไป เรื่อยๆจนกว่าจะมีกเกมสืที่ถูกใจออกมา สักวันคงได้ลงมือทำเกมส์ที่ตัวเองอยากจะให้เป็นขึ้นมาบ้าง คิดว่ามันต้องยิ่งใหญ๋ แน่นอน มีอีกมากๆที่ไม่ได้เขียนแต่คงไม่ค่อยมีใครสนใจเท่าไรนัก เพราะมันเป็นเพียงแค่การพูดของใครไม่รู้จักคนนึงเท่านั้นเอง

อยากให้วิจารณ์เกมส์ออนไลน์ไรบอก ถ้าเล่นแล้วละก็ได้แน่นอน

ที่มา http://paepae.exteen.com

เกมส์แต่งห้องน้ำ เกมส์แต่งหน้า เกมส์สร้างบ้าน เกมส์ตัดผม เกมส์จัดห้อง เกมส์ทำขนม เกมส์แต่ง เกมส์แต่งหน้าเค้ก เกมส์แต่งหน้า เกมส์แต่งตัวเจ้าสาว เกมส์แต่งตัวบาร์บี้ เกมส์แต่งห้อง เกมส์ตัดผม เกมส์แต่งหน้าเค้ก เกมส์แต่งห้อง เกมส์แต่งตัว เกมแต่งห้องน้ำ เกมส์แต่งห้องครัว เกมส์แต่งหน้า เกมส์แต่งตัวเจ้าสาว เกมส์แต่งตัวบาร์บี้ เกมส์แต่งห้อง เกมส์ตัดผม เกมส์แต่งหน้าเค้ก เกมส์ทำขนม เกมส์แต่งหน้า เกมส์ตัดผม เกมส์ทำขนมเค้ก เกมส์ทำน้ำผลไม้ เกมส์ขายอาหาร เกมส์แต่งห้อง เกมส์อาหาร เกมแต่งตัวตุ๊กตา เกมแต่งตัวเจ้าสาว เกมแต่งตัวผู้ชาย เกมทำอาหาร เกมแต่งหน้า เกมทำผม เกมแฟลช เกมแต่งหน้าเค้ก เกมทำอาหาร เกมแต่งหน้าเค้ก เกมแต่งหน้าแต่งตัว เกมแต่งตัวเจ้าสาว เกมแต่งงาน เกมส์ออนไลน์ใหม่ โหลดเกมส์ออนไลน์ เกมส์ออนไลน์มาใหม่ เกมส์ออดิชั่น เกมส์เต้นออนไลน์

อยากเล่นเกม Tail Tale

เกมนี้มีรูปเก็บอยู่ 5 รูป (ตามเว็บข้างล่าง) เจอ link ไฟล์ภาพเกม ขนาด 45.89MB อยากโหลดมาก แต่โหลดไม่ได้ เพราะไม่มีคน seed แล้ว แถม link ก็ตั้งแต่ปี 2004 (ชื่อไฟล์ [hongfire.com]Tail.Tale.(HCG)[f381a7fd].zip ใครมี emule ลอง search ดูสิ หรือคลิกที่ link นี้เลย [hongfire.com]Tail Tale (HCG)[f381a7fd].zip) เฮ้อ เท่าที่หาเจอ ก็เว็บภาพเว็บนี้เท่านั้น

http://pantransit.reptiles.org/images/sorted/anime/salutations/

ใครมีรูปเกมนี้แบ่งให้ผมบ้างนะ T-T

เว็บหลักของเกม : http://circus.nandemo.gr.jp/sakuhin/yaminabe/kemono.html

Ryzme เกมเต้น Online มันส์ๆ

เนื่องจากมีคน Search หาข้อมูลเกมเต้นแล้วมาเจอ Entry นี้กันมาก แล้วก็มีคนเมลมาถามข้อมูลเกี่ยวกับเกมนี้กันเยอะมาก จนผมตอบไม่ไหว จึงนำ Link ของเว็บมาลงไว้ที่นี่เลย

เว็บไซต์ : www.audition.in.th (เกมเต้นเซิฟเวอร์ไทย)

โหลดเพลงของเกมนี้มาลองฟัง : http://zezos.exteen.com/20060523/audition-dance-battle-music

Ryzme หรืออีกชื่อ Audition เป็นเกมเต้น Online ของ JP

การเล่นง่ายมากๆแค่ใช้ ลูกศร กับ Space Bar

ดูรายละเอียดเกมที่ : www.ryzme.com

** Ryzme ได้ปิดตัวลงไปแล้วนะครับ ไม่สามารถเล่นได้แล้ว

เกมที่ไม่ใช่แค่เกม

เดี๋ยวนี้รัฐบาลสหรัฐและก็พวกองค์กรต่างๆ มองเห็นความสำคัญของเกมมากขึ้นนะครับ
เช่น กระทรวงกลาโหมก็ออก America's Army เป็นเกมฟรี (แล้วก็ไม่ใช่กิ๊กก๊อกด้วย)
ออกมาเพื่อให้เยาวชนได้ทราบถึงการฝึกทหารของประเทศ , มีเว็บไซต์เกมที่สะท้อนข่าว (ที่ อ.มะนาว เคยเอามาเล่าให้ฟัง) แล้วยังมีข่าวนี้อีก UN ปิ๊ง ไอเดีย ... อ่านเลย

UN ปิ๊งไอเดียเก๋สร้างเกมสะท้อนความอดอยาก

องค์การสหประชาชาติแจ้งเร็วๆนี้จะมีเกมออกมาใหม่เพื่อสอนให้เด็กๆรับรู้เกี่ยวกับโลกของความหิวโหยในประเทศที่เต็มไปด้วยสงครามและความแห้งแล้งกับชื่อเกมว่า “ฟูด ฟอร์ซ” (Food Force) กำหนดออกมาให้เด็กเล่นกันฟรีๆภายในปีนี้

สำหรับเกม“ฟูด ฟอร์ซ”นั้นเป็นความคิดริเริ่มของโครงการอาหารโลกขององค์การสหประชาชาติ (WFP) ซึ่งเมื่อปีที่ผ่านมา WFP ได้ยื่นมือให้ความช่วยเหลือประชาชนไปกว่า 10 ล้านคน จากนั้นทาง UN ได้พยายามหาทุนให้บริษัทเกมสร้างวีดีโอเกมขึ้นมาเพื่อช่วยสอนให้เด็กๆเรียนรู้เกี่ยวกับปัญหาความอดอยากในประเทศยากจน และรับทราบถึงการทำงานของ “องค์การช่วยเหลือพัฒนาต่างประเทศ” หรือ AID

“ฟูด ฟอร์ซ” พัฒนาโดยทีมที่ชื่อว่า “Deepend” มีสตูดิโออยู่ที่กรุงโรม ประเทศอิตาลี และทีม “Playerthree” ในลอนดอน ฉากแรกของเกมจะเริ่มด้วยภาพยนตร์สั้นๆในการอธิบายถึงภาวะวิกฤตของประเทศที่ต้องประสบกับปัญหาความแห้งแล้ง และสงครามกลางเมือง ซึ่งเป็น 2 ปัจจัยหลักที่ทำให้เกิดปัญหาความอดอยาก

ไมค์ แฮร์ริสัน ผู้ออกแบบเกมอธิบายให้ฟังว่า เกมนี้มันจะมีบางฉากคล้ายๆกับ “ทูม ไรเดอร์” และมีการบรรยายจาก WFP ผู้เล่นจะต้องทำภารกิจที่มอบหมายให้เสร็จสิ้น โดยใช้ตัวละครที่เป็นทีมงานจาก WFP บางภารกิจจะมีการส่งลังบรรจุอาหารให้ประชาชนทางอากาศ และตอนจบในแต่ละภารกิจจะมีภาพวีดีโอสั้นๆเกี่ยวกับการปฏิบัติการของ AID ในพื้นที่ต่างๆกันมาฉายให้ดูด้วย ทั้งนี้ ผู้เล่นสามารถนำคะแนนมาเปรียบเทียบกับผู้เล่นคนอื่นทั่วโลกผ่านทางเว็บไซต์เกมได้

“เราได้นำเกมนี้ไปทดสอบที่กรุงโรมกับกลุ่มเด็กอายุแตกต่างกัน ซึ่งผลตอบรับก็ดีเอามากๆด้วย มีเด็กๆสามารถจดจำเกี่ยวกับงานที่ WFP ทำได้ถึง 75 %” แฮร์ริสันกล่าว

ทั้งนี้ เกมนี้จะออกมาให้เราเล่นกันภายในปีนี้บนเครื่องพีซีและแมคอินทอช โดยจะแจกซีดีมาให้เล่นเฉพาะคนในสหรัฐอเมริกาก่อนในช่วงแรก และเปิดให้ดาวน์โหลดฟรีผ่านทางอินเทอร์เน็ต และทางผู้ผลิตตั้งเป้าที่จะเจาะกลุ่มเด็กอายุ 8-13 ปี ให้เข้ามาร่วมเล่นเกม

ที่มา ผู้จัดการออนไลน์

เกมคลาสสิกในอดีต

ไม่ต้องเอากราฟิกสามมิติ เทคโนโลยีใหม่ล่าสุด ระบบเสียงทรงพลัง โพลีกอนสามล้านชิ้น ระบบคำนวณแสงแบบเรียลไทม์ มาให้ผมหรอก ถ้ามันไม่ทำให้เกมของคุณสนุกขึ้น ถึงจะแต่งเติมเข้าไปยังไง มันก็เป็นแค่สิ่งลวงตา ทำให้ตื่นเต้นอยู่พักหนึ่ง อาจจะสองหรือสามชั่วโมง หลังจากนั้น ผมอาจจะไม่แตะเกมนั้นอีกเลย

ไม่แปลก ที่เกมอย่าง มาริโอ้ เตตริส หรือแม้แต่เก่าสุดๆ อย่าง สเปซ อินเวเดอร์ (บางคนอาจไม่รู้จักแล้ว) ไม่แปลกเลย.. ที่เกมพวกนี้จะสนุกกว่าเกมปัจจุบัน เกมพวกนั้น ใหม่ในแนวคิด ใหม่ในกติกา ใหม่ในวิธีการเล่น แต่เกมปัจจุบัน น้อยเกมนักที่จะทำสิ่งที่ว่ามาได้

เกมยิงแหลกทั้งหลายเป็นตัวอย่างที่ดี อย่างมากพวกผู้พัฒนา ก็ทำแค่ อัพเกรดระบบกราฟิก เปลี่ยนฉาก และเพิ่มออปชั่นเล็กๆน้อยๆ เข้าไปเท่านั้นไม่ใช่เหรอ? แน่นอน มันทำให้ขายได้นะ ถ้าแพคเกจของคุณตื่นตาตื่นใจ เมื่อแรกมอง แต่ว่ามันจะไม่คงอยู่เป็นเกมคลาสิก เหมือนเกมดังๆ ในยุคต้นๆ หรอก

หรือว่ากติกามันตัน มันเต็ม คนไม่ยอมรับกติกาใหม่ๆ?

ไม่จริงหรอก ลองดู The Sims สิ เป็นเกมที่ผมยอมรับมากๆ ในแนวคิด เพราะเกมใช้ชีวิตแบบนี้ ใครก็คิดได้ว่ามันจะเป็นยังไง แต่รายละเอียดหละ เล่นยังไง มีเงื่อนไขอย่างไร และที่สำคัญ ทำให้สนุกได้อย่างไร

ด้วยเหตุผลที่กล่าวมาทั้งหมดด้านบน ผมขอเสนอบทความชุด Classic game in depth ซึ่งเป็นบทความเกี่ยวกับเรื่อง เกมเก่าๆ มีที่มาที่ไปอย่างไร กติกา และ วิธีคิด ความฮิต และประวัติ และจะโพสในหมวด in-depth จากนี้เป็นต้นไปครับ ไว้ติดตามกันนะ

ตามกระแส เกมเต้น Audition มาไทยแล้วจ้า

ตามติดกระแสเกมออนไลน์กันหน่อย เพราะว่าตอนนี้ เกมเต้น ออนไลน์ (Audtition) มาไทยแล้วคร๊าบบบ
โดยเปิด Close Beta วันแรกคือ วันที่ 6 ก.ค. 49 ที่ผ่านมา ใครที่อยากเล่นต้องมี Invite Code ก่อนนะ สามารถหาได้จาก นิตยสาร Compgamer ฉบับที่ 123 , Weekly Online ฉบับที่ 169 และ ร้านค้าต่างๆ สามารถดูรายละเอียดได้ตาม Link นี้ http://www.audition.in.th/audition_news/notice_20060706.html

ส่วนคนที่ถามถึง Ryzme ผมขอประกาศไว้เลยว่า **ตอนนี้ทาง Ryzme ได้ปิดการให้บริการไปแล้วครับ**

เรื่องระบบการเล่น แต่ Mode ต่างๆ ผมจะแนะนำในครั้งต่อไปนะครับ รอติดตามได้เลย ^^"

เกมส์ เกม เกมส์ออนไลน์ เกมออนไลน์ มากมาย

เกมส์ เกม เกมส์ออนไลน์ เกมออนไลน์. ... เกมภาษาที่เล่นเพลินดี เล่นไม่ยาก นิจจามีสี่สาย ให้เลือกเล่น เล่นเกม, เกมส์จีบสาว เกมจีบสาวที่ต้อง รู้ภาษาอังกฤษ ...

Game: Adventure Game - เกมส์ ผจญภัย, Action Game - เกมส์ ต่อสู้ ...

เกมผู้จัดการทีมฟุตบอล มันส์มากๆๆๆๆๆๆๆ ปั้นเยาวชนให้เป็นนักเตะเทพ · ลดน้ำหนักด้วยชีวะสมุนไพร 5-40 กก/เดือน ผ่าน อย ... เกมส์นี้ต้องใช้ความสามารถจังหว่ะดี ...

เกมส์ เกม เกมส์ออนไลน์ และ รวมเกมออนไลน์มากมาย

เกมแข่งโบลิ่ง Bowling · เกมมาตีกอร์ฟกันเถอะ Everybody s golf · เกม มอเตอร์ไซด์วิบาก Dirt bike · เกมโต๊ะพูล crazy pool · เกม ปูบอลชายหาด Crab Ball ...

เกมส์ เกม เกมส์ออนไลน์ เกมออนไลน์ เกมส์ทำอาหาร เกมส์แต่งตัวตุ๊กตา ...

เกมส์ เกม เกมส์ออนไลน์ เกมออนไลน์ เกมส์ทำอาหาร เกมส์แต่งตัวตุ๊กตา เกมส์แต่งหน้า เกมส์ยิง เกมส์กีฬา เกมส์วางแผน เกมส์ต่อสู้ เกมส์เด็ก เกมส์ความคิด ...

Link ต่างๆที่เกี่ยวข้อง กับเกม นี้
Audition Thai : http://www.audition.in.th/
Download : http://www.audition.in.th/download/client.html
BBS : http://www.playpark.com/bbs/forum.asp?planet=8&C=1
Game Guide แนะนำเกม : http://www.audition.in.th/gameguide/beginning/what_is_the_audition.html

เกมออนไลน์ในประเทศญี่ปุ่น

http://www.geragera.co.jp/game/online_game.html

เผยโฉมเกม Death Note

พบกับอัพเดทข่าวคราวเกี่ยวกับ Death Note กันอีกเช่นเคยค่ะ คราวนี้มีข้อมูลเพิ่มเติมเกี่ยวกับเกม Death Note มาเล่าสู่กันฟังค่ะ ^_^

DEATH NEWS #08: GAME

เกม Death Note ที่กำลังอยู่ระหว่างการสร้างอย่างเป็นความลับสุดยอดซึ่งเพียงแต่ร่ำลือกันว่ามีตัวตนอยู่มาจนถึงบัดนี้นั้น เราได้เร่งรี่คว้ารูปหน้าจอในเกมมาไว้ในมือเรียบร้อยแล้ว ในที่สุดก็มีการเปิดเผยข้อมูลในหน้านิตยสารเป็นครั้งแรกในฉบับนี้!!

ลุค: ข่าวด่วนพิเศษสำหรับผู้ที่ถือจั๊มป์ฉบับนี้อยู่ล่ะ!

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กำหนดวางจำหน่าย: ประมาณเดือนกุมภาพันธ์ ปี 2007
ราคา: ยังไม่กำหนด
ผู้ผลิต: Konami
เครื่อง: Nintendo-DS
ประเภท: เกมสืบสวนด้วยการติดต่อสื่อสาร

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เกมน่าสนใจ ส.ค. 50

เดือนนี้เกมเยอะ แต่พวกรุ่นใหม่อย่าง PS3 , Wii , Xbox 360 แทบไม่มีอะไรเลยนอกจากภาคภาษาอังกฤษของเกมที่ออกมานานแล้ว

PS2 - ส่วนใหญ่จะเป็นเกมหากินกับของเก่า แต่ก็ยังดีกว่าไม่มี

วันที่ 2

J-League Winning Eleven 2007 Club Championship สุดยอดเกมฟุตบอลจาก Konami ภาคหากิน J-League ส่วนภาคหลักที่เป็นทีมชาติไม่รู้ว่าทำไมยังไม่ออกภาค 11 ซักที เห็นปกติออกภาคใหม่ทุกปี

วันที่ 9

Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System แผนหากินง่ายๆกับเกมดังของ Square Enix เหมือนเดิม แค่เติมคำว่า International แล้วเพิ่มระบบใหม่นิดหน่อยก็ขายใหม่ได้แล้ว

xxxHolic : Watanuki no Izayoi Sounashi เกมจากการ์ตูนชื่อดังของ Clamp

วันที่ 23

Sengoku Musou 2 Mushouden หรือ Samurai Warriors 2 : Xtreme Legends นี่ก็แผนหากินง่ายๆของ Koei เพิ่มตัวใหม่นิดนึงแล้วก็เอาขายใหม่ เห็นออกภาค 2 Empires มารอบนึงแล้ว ไม่คิดว่าจะยังมี 2 Mushouden ออกมาอีก

Gintama Gin-San to Issho! Boku no Kabuki Machi Nikki เกมจากการ์ตูนสุดฮา

PS3 - มีเกมนึง

Dynasty Warriors : Gundam ภาคภาษาอังกฤษของ Gundam Musou ที่ออกไปตั้งแต่ต้นปี

PSP - มีเกมนึง

Wild ARMs : Crossfire เกมซีรีย์ดังจาก SCEI ตั้งแต่ PS1 ภาคนี้เป็น Simulation RPG สามารถเอาไปต่อกับ Wild Arms the Vth Vangard ของ PS2 ทาง USB ได้ด้วย

DS - เครื่องที่เหมือนจะรุ่งที่สุดในปัจจุบัน สมแล้วที่ทำให้ Nintendo ประกาศเลิกทำตลาด Gameboy แล้วหันมาทุ่มให้ DS อย่างเดียว (จริงๆมันควรจะเลิกไปได้ตั้งนานแล้ว เหอะๆ)

Donkey Kong : Jungle Climber ดองกี้คองปีนเขาจาก Nintendo

SD Gundam G Generation : Cross Drive เลื่อนมาจากเดือนก่อน คราวนี้คงไม่เลื่อนแล้วมั้ง

Yu-Gi-Oh Duel Monsters GX Card Almanac ยูกิดวลการ์ด .....ภาคที่เท่าไหรแล้วก็ไม่รู้

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles : Ring of Fates เดือนเดียวมี FF 2 เกมลงใน 2 เครื่อง ภาคนี้เป็น Action RPG แถมมีชุดพิเศษที่ขายพร้อมเครื่อง DS ลาย FFCC ด้วย

One Piece : Gear Spirit เกมจากการ์ตูนชื่อดังที่พึ่งฉลองครบรอบ 10 ปี เร็วเหมือนกันนะเนี่ย เหมือนพึ่งอ่านตอนแรกไปไม่นาน (พอดีอ่านตั้งแต่เด็กน่ะครับ ผมยังไม่แก่นะ เหอๆ)

Summon Night Twin Edge : Seireitachi no Kyoumei เกมซีรีย์ดังอีกซีรีย์ของ Banpresto ภาคนี้เป็น RPG ดูจากภาพแล้วน่าจะบังคับด้วยวิธีจิ้มลากเหมือน FFXII Revenant Wings

Xbox 360 - มี 2 เกม

Blue Dragon เกม RPG ที่ออกแบบตัวละครโดยโทริยามะ อากิระ ผู้เขียนเรื่อง Dragon Ball แถมยังมีเป็นการ์ตูนลงหนังสือ Jump (แต่โดนตัดจบไปแล้ว) กะจะดันยอดขายเครื่อง Xbox 360 ในญี่ปุ่น .....แต่สุดท้ายก็ไม่รุ่งอยู่ดี อันนี้เป็นภาคภาษาอังกฤษ ญี่ปุ่นออกไปตั้งแต่ปีที่แล้ว

Dynasty Warriors : Gundam เหมือนของ PS3

PS3 , Wii , Xbox 360 แทบไม่มีอะไรให้เล่น แต่ PS2 ยังมีเกมออกมาเรื่อยๆ แถมยังมีเกมใหม่ประกาศออกมาเรื่อยๆด้วยเหมือนกัน เช่น A.C.E.3 หรือ Super Robot Taisen Original Generation Gaiden ที่ยังไม่ย้ายไปลงเครื่องใหม่แต่เลือกที่จะลง PS2 ต่อ (สงสัย Banpresto ไม่แน่ใจว่าเครื่องไหนจะขายดีที่สุด เลยกะเก็บเงินคนที่มีเครื่อง PS2 ต่อไปก่อน เพราะได้เยอะที่สุดในตอนนี้ชัวร์ เหอะๆ)

แบบนี้ PS2 ก็คงอยู่ต่อไปได้อีกระยะนึงแบบสบายๆ

Monopoly Board Game

2007-08-22T02:33:00.000-07:00

Monopoly (game)

Players make their way around the Monopoly board, such as this German one.

Monopoly is the best-selling commercial board game in the world. Players compete to acquire wealth through stylized economic activity involving the buying, rental and trading of properties using play money, as players take turns moving around the board according to the roll of the dice. The game is named after the economic concept of monopoly, the domination of a market by a single provider.

It is published by Parker Brothers, an imprint of Hasbro. According to Hasbro, since Charles Darrow patented the game in 1935, approximately 750 million people have played the game, making it "the most played [commercial] board game in the world."^[1] The 1999 Guinness Book of Records cited Hasbro's previous statistic of 500 million people having played Monopoly.^[2] Games Magazine has inducted Monopoly into its Hall of Fame.^[3]

History

Main article: History of the board game Monopoly

The history of Monopoly can be traced back to the early 1900s. In 1904, an inventor named Elizabeth Magie patented a game through which she hoped to be able to explain some of the economic ideas of Henry George. The original intention of the game was to demonstrate the unfairness of monopolies. Her game, The Landlord's Game, was commercially published a few years later. Magie and other interested game players redeveloped the game and some made their own sets. Magie herself patented a revised edition of the game in 1924, and similar games were published commercially. By the early 1930s a board game named Monopoly was created much like the version of Monopoly sold by Parker Brothers and its parent companies through the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st. Several different people, mostly in the U.S. Midwest and near the U.S. East Coast, contributed to the game's design and evolution.

By the 1970s, the game's early history had been lost (and at least one historian has argued that it was purposely suppressed - see below), and the idea that it had been created solely by Charles Darrow had become popular folklore. This was stated in the 1974 book The Monopoly Book: Strategy and Tactics of the World's Most Popular Game, by Maxine Brady, and even in the instructions of the game itself. As Professor Ralph Anspach fought Parker Brothers and their then parent company, General Mills, over the trademarks of the Monopoly board game, much of the early history of the game was "rediscovered."

Because of the lengthy court process, and appeals, the legal status of Parker Brothers' trademarks on the game was not settled until the mid-1980s. The game's name remains a registered trademark of Parker Brothers, as do its specific design elements. Parker Brothers' current corporate parent, Hasbro, again only acknowledges the role of Charles Darrow in the creation of the game. Anspach published a book about his researches, called The Billion Dollar Monopoly Swindle (and republished as Monopolygate), in which he makes his case about the purposeful suppression of the game's early history and development.

Rich Uncle Pennybags

Main article: Rich Uncle Pennybags

The game's official mascot is Rich Uncle Pennybags, who first appeared on the game's Chance and Community Chest cards in 1936. Since 1985, he appears on the second "O" in the word Monopoly as part of their logo. Hasbro officially rechristened the character Mr. Monopoly in 1998.

Board

Atlantic City version

This is the original version produced by Charles Darrow, and later by Parker Brothers. The board consists of 40 spaces containing 28 properties, 3 "Chance" spaces, 3 "Community Chest" spaces, a "Luxury Tax" space, an "Income Tax" space, "GO," "Jail," "Free Parking," and "Go To Jail." In the U.S. version shown below, the properties are named after locations in (or near) Atlantic City, New Jersey.

**Standard (American Edition) Monopoly game board layout** **[ v • d • e ]**
Free Parking	Kentucky Avenue ($220)	Chance	Indiana Avenue ($220)	Illinois Avenue ($240)	B&O Railroad ($200)	Atlantic Avenue ($260)	Ventnor Avenue ($260)	Water Works ($150)	Marvin Gardens ($280)	Go To Jail
Free Parking		Chance			B&O Railroad ($200)			Water Works ($150)		Go To Jail
New York Avenue ($200)	Monopoly										Pacific Avenue ($300)
Tennessee Avenue ($180)											North Carolina Avenue ($300)
Community Chest										Community Chest
St. James Place ($180)											Pennsylvania Avenue ($320)
Pennsylvania Railroad ($200)										Short Line ($200)
Virginia Avenue ($160)										Chance
States Avenue ($140)											Park Place ($350)
Electric Company ($150)										Luxury Tax (Pay $75)
St. Charles Place ($140)											Boardwalk ($400)
Jail			Chance		Reading Railroad ($200)	Income Tax (Pay 10% or $200)		Community Chest		⇐ GO
Jail	Connecticut Avenue ($120)	Vermont Avenue ($100)	Chance	Oriental Avenue ($100)	Reading Railroad ($200)	Income Tax (Pay 10% or $200)	Baltic Avenue ($60)	Community Chest	Mediterranean Avenue ($60)	⇐ GO

A player who reaches the "Jail" space by a direct roll of the dice is said to be "just visiting," and continues normal play on the next turn.

Note that Marvin Gardens, a Yellow property on the above board, is actually a misspelling of the original location name, Marven Gardens. Marven Gardens is not a street, but a housing area outside Atlantic City. The housing area is said to be derived from MARgate City and VENtnor City in New Jersey (emphasis added). The misspelling was originally introduced by Charles Todd, whose home-made Monopoly board was copied by Charles Darrow and subsequently used as the basis of the design by Parker Brothers. It was not until 1995 that Parker Brothers acknowledged this mistake and formally apologized to the residents of Marven Gardens for the misspelling.^[4] Another change made by Todd and duplicated by Darrow, and later Parker Brothers, was the use of South Carolina Avenue. North Carolina Avenue was substituted for this street on the board.

Atlantic City's Illinois Avenue was renamed Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. in the 1980s. Saint Charles Place no longer exists, as the Showboat Casino Hotel was developed where it once ran.^[5]

Short Line is believed to refer to the Shore Fast Line, a streetcar line that served Atlantic City.^[6] The B&O Railroad did not serve Atlantic City. A booklet included with the reprinted 1935 edition states that the four railroads that served Atlantic City in the mid-1930s were the Jersey Central, the Seashore Lines, the Reading Railroad, and the Pennsylvania Railroad. Atlantic City does not have a "Water Works" — its water is piped in from the New Jersey "mainland" through two pipes.

The other versions of the game have different property names, and the prices may be denominated in another currency, but the game mechanics are almost identical. The income tax choice from the U.S. version is replaced by a flat rate in the UK version, and the $75 Luxury Tax space is replaced with the £100 Super Tax space. The same is true of current German boards, with a €200 for the Income Tax space on the board, and a €100 Zusatzsteuer (Add-on tax) in place of the Luxury Tax. An Austrian version, released by Parker Brothers/Hasbro in 2001, does allow for the 10% or $200 for Income Tax and has a $100 Luxury Tax. Free passes may be issued if owner of property is using free passes as a transaction.

London version

In the 1930s, John Waddington Ltd. (Waddingtons) was a firm of printers from Leeds that had begun to branch out into packaging and the production of playing cards. Waddingtons had sent the card game Lexicon to Parker Brothers hoping to interest them in publishing the game in the United States. In a similar fashion Parker Brothers sent over a copy of Monopoly to Waddingtons early in 1935 before the game had been put into production in the United States.

The managing director of Waddingtons, Victor Watson, gave the game to his son Norman (who was head of the card games division) to test over the weekend. Norman was impressed by the game and persuaded his father to call Parker Brothers on Monday morning - transatlantic calls then being almost unheard of. This call resulted in Waddingtons obtaining a license to produce and market the game outside of the United States. Watson felt that in order for the game to be a success in the United Kingdom the American locations would have to be replaced, so Victor and his secretary, Marjory Phillips, went to London to scout out locations. The Angel, Islington is not a street in London but an area of North London named after a coaching inn that stood on the Great North Road. By the 1930s the inn had become a Lyons Corner House (it is now a Co-operative Bank). Some accounts say that Marjory and Victor met at the Angel to discuss the selection and celebrated the fact by including it on the Monopoly board. In 2003, a plaque commemorating the naming was unveiled at the site by Victor Watson's grandson who is also named Victor.u เกมส์ bleach เกม เย็นตาโฟ เกม winning 11 เกมส์ชินจัง เกมส์ บ้าน เกมส์ บาร์บี้ online เกมส์แต่งตัวออนไล เกมนิจา เกมก้านกล้าย เกมส์ยิงปีน เกมส์ เปลี่ยน 240 x 320 เกมส์เย็บผ้า เกมค็อกเทล เกมส์แข่งฟุตบอล เกมเครื่องบิน 747 เกมส์ขายไอศครีม

The standard British board, produced by Waddingtons, was for many years the version most familiar to people in countries in the Commonwealth (except Canada, where the U.S. edition with Atlantic City-area names was reprinted), although local variants of the board are now also found in several of these countries such as New Zealand (see Localized versions of the Monopoly game).

In the cases where the game was produced under license by a national company, the £ (pound) was replaced by a $ (dollar) sign, but the place names were unchanged.

**Standard (British Edition) Monopoly game board layout** **[ v • d • e ]**
Free Parking	Strand (£220)	Chance	Fleet Street (£220)	Trafalgar Square (£240)	Fenchurch Street station (£200)	Leicester Square (£260)	Coventry Street (£260)	Water Works (£150)	Piccadilly (£280)	Go To Jail
Free Parking		Chance			Fenchurch Street station (£200)			Water Works (£150)		Go To Jail
Vine Street (£200)											Regent Street (£300)
Marlborough Street (£180)											Oxford Street (£300)
Community Chest										Community Chest
Bow Street (£180)											Bond Street (£320)
Marylebone station (£200)										Liverpool Street station (£200)
Northumberland Avenue (£160)										Chance
Whitehall (£140)											Park Lane (£350)
Electric Company (£150)										Super Tax (Pay £100)
Pall Mall (£140)											Mayfair (£400)
Jail			Chance		King's Cross station (£200)	Income Tax (Pay £200)		Community Chest		⇐ GO
Jail	Pentonville Road (£120)	Euston Road (£100)	Chance	The Angel Islington (£100)	King's Cross station (£200)	Income Tax (Pay £200)	Whitechapel Road (£60)	Community Chest	Old Kent Road (£60)	⇐ GO

For a list of some of the localized versions, including the UK "Here & Now" edition, and the names of their properties, see localized versions of the Monopoly game.

Here and Now Editions

United States: The U.S. version of the "Here and Now Edition" replaces Atlantic City landmarks with legendary U.S. streets, neighborhoods and national monuments. Fans were able to vote on the U.S. Monopoly website for their favorite landmarks from 22 cities – including New York's Times Square, Chicago's Wrigley Field, Honolulu's Waikiki Beach, Bloomington's Mall of America, Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive, Nashville's Grand Ole Opry, Phoenix's Camelback Mountain, Boston's Fenway Park and San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. Additionally, the votes determined where each landmark appears on the game board; the city with the most votes landing on the coveted Boardwalk spot. The railroads were replaced by airports, namely, New York's JFK, Chicago's O'Hare, Los Angeles' LAX and Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson. Property values have been increased, money is in higher denominations, and the Community Chest and Chance cards reflect more modern scenarios. Tokens in the new game include a box of McDonald's french fries, a cup of Starbucks coffee, a Toyota Prius, a New Balance tennis shoe, a Motorola RAZR cellular phone, an airplane, a labradoodle and a laptop.^[7] A version for Microsoft Windows based on the same board was also released on CD-ROM, produced by Encore, Inc. There is also an Atari downloadable version for cell phones.

Germany: A German edition called Monopoly Heute (Monopoly Today) was released in 2005, with updated properties in Berlin.

France: The French edition called Monopoly - Nouveau plateau was released in 2005, with updated properties in Paris.

Australia: The Australian edition followed a nomination process similar to the American edition, though with Premiers making the nominations to Hasbro. Votes were cast to decide not only which landmarks from each state would qualify for the board but to decide the order that the states would be placed. The order from most expensive propities, to least expensive properties is: SA, WA, Vic, Tas, NSW, NT, ACT, QLD ^[8]^[9] The set was released in June 2007, voting was between January 8 - February 10 online.^[10]

Canada: A Here and Now Limited Edition has been released in Canada around the same time as that of the US version. It includes landmarks such as Niagara Falls, Percé Rock and Yorkville.^[11]

Norway: The Norwegian "Here and Now Edition" replaced bank notes with ATM cards, and updated prices. Fans were invited to vote for which Oslo streets were to be included in the game. The edition was released in spring 2006.

New Zealand: A New Zealand "Here and Now Edition" was voted on at a special website early in 2007. Voting finished on 10 February 2007, with a release date to be set in June 2007. The inital release was a success and sales are stable..^[12]

A voting poster for County Louth, Ireland

Ireland: An all-Ireland "Here and Now Edition" is currently being voted on at a special website.^[13] The results will be made public online in early October.

United Kingdom: In 2005, Hasbro launched the UK version of the "Here and Now Limited Edition," updating the properties and prices to reflect present-day London properties. The playing pieces were also changed to be: Mobile phone, Roller blade, Hamburger, Jumbo Jet, Racing Car, Skateboard and London Bus. This version was launched in recognition of the game's 70th anniversary in conjunction with an online version.

In 2007 it was announced that Hasbro would publish a second "Here and Now Edition", featuring UK cities, following a selection process similar to the U.S. edition, listed below.^[14]

Currently the top ten on the leaderboard are as follows -

1 - Cambridge

2 - St Albans

3 - Sheffield

4 - Exeter

5 - Dundee

6 - Stoke-On-Trent

7 - Keele

8 - Oxford

9 - Nottingham

10 - Norwich

Many well known locations are much further down the board - for example, Cardiff takes 13th place, London 14th, Edinburgh makes 27th place, and Northern Ireland's capital Belfast reaches 56th, meaning that none of the capitals of the UK's four constituent countries reach the top ten.

As well as the option to vote for major cities, there is the choice of voting for smaller towns or villages, known as wild card locations. On the board below, wild card locations are asterisked. The top 5 wild card locations are as follows -bomberman เกมส์แต่งตัวปาร์ตี้คริสต์มาส เกมส์ แต่งภาพ เกมที่มันที่สุด เกมร็อคแมน เกมส์อัฉริยะ เกมส์มือถือ n70 เกมส์นักแม่นปืน เกมแต่งตัว ออนไลน์ เกมเศษรฐี เกมสนุกเกอ เกมส์แต่งตัวอื่นๆ เกมตกผู้หญิง เกมวิ่งเเข่ง เกม เเต่งตัว เกมส์ดารก้อนบอล เกมส์ cash flow เกมแก่ผ้า เกม dot-a เกม ปาแมน เกมส์แต่งตัวสุ

1 - Keele (place number 7)

2 - Middlesbrough (place number 11)

3 - Burgess Hill (place number 12)

4 - Colchester (place number 13)

5 - Ashton Gate (place number 25 - not on gameboard)

[1] (all information accurate at 18:56 GMT 18th May 2007)

Keele, while being a small village of population less than 4000, managed to get high up on the leaderboard and at one point, the top position, thanks to the local university named after it. One student at the university, with help from others, rallied the student and staff population together to get Keele on the new board. The cause was called "Keele on the Monopoly Map", and e-mails quickly were being sent around the campus email system. Keele University has a combined student and staff population of just over 13,000.

Debit Card versions: A "Here and Now Electronic Banking Edition" was released in the United Kingdom in 2006, which includes an ATM and Visa debit cards in place of paper money.^[15] Australia and Taiwan also distribute the UK Debit Card version.^[16] A similar edition is available in Germany, France and Sweden where they are known as "Monopoly Banking," "Monopoly Electronique" and "Monopol Här & Nu-utgåvan" respectively. At the Toy Fair 2007 convention, Hasbro announced that the "Electronic Banking Edition" will appear in the United States later in 2007, along with a special DVD version.^[17] As of August 2007, the Electronic Banking Edition is available in stores.เกมส์อาบะเรนเจอร์ กำเนิดเกมส์ เกมยิงเป้า เกมเล่นง่ายๆ เกมส์rpg เกมส์สลาพ เกมส์นรสิงห์ เกมส์เดอะซิมส์ 2 เกมสนุกเกอร์ 3d เกมแต่งภาพ โกงเกมส์ sf เกมส์ออก เกมส์ยอดนิยม เกมส์คณิตศาตร์ เกมผีสิง เกมส์มิกกี้เมาส์ เกมร้าน เกมส์ยิงลูกโป่ง เกมอันตราย เกม console เกมส์ ปลูกต้นไม้ เกมส์รถแข่ง 1000เกมส์

Equipment

Each player is represented by a small metal token that is moved around the edge of the board according to the roll of two dice. The twelve playing pieces currently used are pictured at left (from left to right): a wheelbarrow (1937b edition), a battleship, a sack of money (1999 editions onwards), a horse and rider, a car, a train (Deluxe Edition only), a thimble, a cannon (1937b edition), an old style shoe (sometimes known as "the boot"), a Scottie dog, an iron, and a top hat.

Many of the tokens came from companies such as Dowst Miniature Toy Company, which made metal charms and tokens designed to be used on charm bracelets. The battleship and cannon were also used briefly in the Parker Brothers war game Conflict (released in 1940), but after the game failed on the market, the premade pieces were recycled into Monopoly usage.^[18] Hasbro recently adopted the battleship and cannon for Diplomacy.

Early localized editions of the standard edition (including some Canadian editions, which used the U.S. board layout) did not include pewter tokens but instead had generic wooden head-shaped tokens identical to those in Sorry!.^[19] Parker Brothers also acquired Sorry! in the 1930s. Plastic versions of these tokens can be seen in the German Monopoly set pictured at the beginning of this article.

Other items included in the standard edition are:

The dice in the UK were replaced with a spinner because of a lack of materials during World War II

A pair of six-sided dice.
A Title Deed for each property. A Title Deed is given to a player to signify ownership, and specifies purchase price, mortgage value, the cost of building houses and hotels on that property, and the various rent prices depending on how developed the property is. Properties include:
- 22 streets, divided into 8 color groups of two or three streets. A player must own all of a color group (have a monopoly) in order to build houses or hotels. A player can also be considered to have a monopoly by having both utilities and/or all four railroads (or stations) during gameplay. However, the utilities and railroads cannot be improved or have houses and/or hotels built on them. If a player wants to mortgage one property of a color-group, not only must any houses or hotels be removed from that property, but from the others in the color-group as well.
- 4 railways/stations. Players collect higher rent if they own more than one railway. Hotels and houses cannot be built on railways. These are usually replaced by railway stations in non-U.S. editions of Monopoly.
- 2 utilities. Players collect higher rent if they own both utilities. Hotels and houses cannot be built on utilities.
A supply of paper money. The supply of money is theoretically unlimited; if the bank runs out of money the players must make do with other markers, or calculate on paper. Additional paper money can be bought at certain locations, notably game and hobby stores. In U.S. standard editions, the supply generally starts with $15,140. (The winner of the quadrennial Monopoly World Championship receives the same amount in United States dollars.)
32 wooden or plastic houses and 12 wooden or plastic hotels. (The original and the current "Deluxe Edition" have wooden houses and hotels; the current "base set" uses plastic buildings.) Unlike money, houses and hotels have a finite supply. If no more are available, no substitute is allowed.
A deck of 16 Chance cards and a deck of 16 Community Chest cards. Players draw these cards when they land on the corresponding squares of the track, and follow the instructions printed on them.

Hasbro also sells a Deluxe Edition, which is mostly identical to the classic edition but has wooden houses and hotels and gold-toned tokens, including one token in addition to the standard eleven, a railroad locomotive. Other additions to the Deluxe Edition include a card carousel, which holds the title deed cards, and money printed with two colors of ink.

In 1978, retailer Neiman Marcus manufactured and sold an all-Chocolate edition of Monopoly through their "Christmas Wish Book" for that year. The entire set was edible, including the money, dice, hotels, properties, tokens and playing board. The set retailed for US$600.^[21]

In 2000, the F.A.O. Schwarz store in New York City sold a custom version called "One-Of-A-Kind Monopoly" for US$100,000.^[22] This special edition comes in a locking attaché case made with Napolino leather and lined in suede, and features include:

18-carat (75%) gold tokens, houses and hotels
Rosewood board
street names written in gold leaf
emeralds around the Chance icon
sapphires around the Community Chest
rubies in the brake lights of the car on the Free Parking Space
the money is real, negotiable United States currency

The Guinness Book of World Records states that a set worth US$2,000,000 and made of 23-carat gold, with rubies and sapphires atop the chimneys of the houses and hotels, is the most expensive Monopoly set ever produced.^[23]

Rules

Each player begins the game with his/her token on the Go square, and $1500 (£1500, €1500, etc.) in cash divided as follows, per the U.S. standard rules:

2 each of:
- $500 bills
- $100 bills
- $50 bills

6 $20 bills

5 each of:
- $10 bills
- $5 bills
- $1 bills

The British version has an initial cash distribution of:

2 x £500

4 x £100

1 x £50

1 x £20

2 x £10

1 x £5

5 x £1

Classic German editions (i.e., those pre-Euro) started with 30,000 "Spielmark" in eight denominations (abbreviated "M."), and later used seven denominations of the "Deutsche Mark" ("DM."). In the classic Italian game, each player receives £350,000 ($3500) in a two-player game, but £50,000 ($500) less for each player more than two. Only in a six-player game does a player receive the equivalent of $1500. The classic Italian games were played with only four denominations of currency. At least one Spanish edition (the Barcelona edition) started the game with 150,000 in play money, with a breakdown identical to that of the American version.

All property deeds, houses, and hotels are held by the bank until bought by the players. Free passes may be issued if owner of property is using free passes as a transaction.

Official rules

Wikibooks has more about this subject:

Monopoly/Official Rules

Players take turns in order, with the initial player determined by chance before the game. The players all roll dice and whoever is the highest roller typically takes the first turn. After the first person is determined the players take turns by moving in a normal counterclockwise fashion. A typical turn begins with the rolling of two dice and advancing clockwise around the board the corresponding number of squares. Landing on Chance or Community Chest, a player draws the top card from the respective pile. If the player lands on an unowned property, whether street, railroad or utility, he can buy the property for its listed purchase price. If he declines this purchase, the property is auctioned off by the bank to the highest bidder. If the property landed on is already owned and unmortgaged, he must pay the owner a given rent, the price dependent on whether the property is part of a monopoly or its level of development. If a player rolls doubles, he rolls again after completing his turn. Three sets of doubles in a row, however, land the player in jail. During a turn, players may also choose to develop or mortgage properties. Development involves the construction, for given amounts of money paid to the bank, of houses or hotels. Development must be uniform across a monopoly, e.g., a second house cannot be built on one property in a monopoly until the others have one house. All developments must be sold before a property can be mortgaged. The player receives money from the bank for each mortgaged property, which must be repaid with interest to unmortgage.

House rules

Wikibooks has more about this subject:

Monopoly/House Rules

Parker Brothers' official instructions have long encouraged the use of house rules, specific additions to or subtractions from the official rule sets. Many casual Monopoly players are surprised and disappointed to discover that some of the rules that they are used to are not part of the official rules. Many of these house rules tend to make the game longer by giving players more money. Some common house rules are listed below and many more can be found via links at the end of this article)

Free Parking jackpot, which usually consists of an initial stake (typically $500) plus collections of fines and taxes otherwise paid to the bank. A player who lands on Free Parking wins the jackpot, which may then be reset with the initial stake (if any). The jackpot is usually put in the center of the board. Since the jackpot forms an additional "income" for players in this set of house rules, games can take a much longer time than under normal rules.^[24]

Players in jail cannot collect rent, build houses or conduct trades. This can be combined with increasing the price to get out of jail considerably (normally to $500). Together, these rules make jail a far more significant burden than that listed in the normal rules.^[24]

A bonus for landing directly on GO by dice roll (commonly an additional $200). This may or may not include cards that send the player to GO.^[24]

Delayed Start: Players must pass GO (or circle the board at least once) before they can buy property.^[24]

A bonus for rolling snake eyes (a pair of ones), often $100 or $500.^[25]^[26]

All properties are handed out evenly to all players before the game begins, or one or two are dealt to each player. (This variation is in the official US and UK rules as a short game option.)

In trades, players may offer "free rides" from their own properties (someone does not have to pay rent for landing on that property) as part of a deal.^[24]

House rules, while unofficial, are not wholly unrecognized by Parker Brothers. George S. Parker himself created two variants, to shorten the length of game play. Video game and computer game versions of Monopoly have options where popular house rules can be used. House rules that have the effect of introducing more money into the game have a side-effect of increasing the time it takes for players to become bankrupt, lengthening the game considerably.

Strategy

Wikibooks has more about this subject:

Monopoly/Strategy

Monopoly involves a substantial portion of luck, with the roll of the dice determining whether a player gets to own key properties or lands on squares with high rents. Even the initial misfortune of going last is a significant disadvantage because one is more likely to land on property which has already been bought and therefore be forced to pay rent instead of having an opportunity to buy unowned property. There are, however, many strategic decisions which allow skilled players to win more often than the unskilled.

Property square probabilities

The layout of the "special" squares on the board (that is, the non-property squares), as well as the dice-roll probabilities, mean that not all squares have an equal probability of being landed upon.เกมส์อาบะเรนเจอร์ กำเนิดเกมส์ เกมยิงเป้า เกมเล่นง่ายๆ เกมส์rpg เกมส์สลาพ เกมส์นรสิงห์ เกมส์เดอะซิมส์ 2 เกมสนุกเกอร์ 3d เกมแต่งภาพ โกงเกมส์ sf เกมส์ออก เกมส์ยอดนิยม เกมส์คณิตศาตร์ เกมผีสิง เกมส์มิกกี้เมาส์ เกมร้าน เกมส์ยิงลูกโป่ง เกมอันตราย เกม console เกมส์ ปลูกต้นไม้ เกมส์รถแข่ง 1000เกมส์ การติดเ

According to the laws of probability, seven is the most probable roll of two dice, occurring 6 out of 36 times whereas 2 and 12 are the least probable rolls, each occurring once every 36 rolls. For this reason, Park Place/Park Lane is one of the least landed-on squares as the square seven places behind it is "Go to Jail".

Also when you are in jail, you are likely to get out by rolling a double only one in every six rolls. A "Get Out of Jail Free" card can be sold to any other player.

In consequence, some properties are landed upon more than others and the owners of those properties get more income from rent. The board layout factors include the following:

Jail: Since players are frequently directed to "Go To Jail," they will move through the purple, orange and red property groups immediately after leaving Jail. The two properties with the highest probability of being landed upon after leaving jail are the two cheaper orange properties (St James Place and Tennessee Avenue in North America, Bow Street and Marlborough Street outside North America). This makes the orange property set highly lucrative.

Go to…: One square — Go To Jail — plus a number of Chance and Community Chest cards will cause the player to advance a distance around the board. Thus, the squares immediately following Go To Jail and the take-a-card squares have a reduced probability of being landed upon. The least-landed upon property in this situation is the cheaper dark blue property (Park Place or Park Lane) because it sits in the lee of both Go to Jail and Community Chest (the Chance directly before it would not affect its odds because it is impossible to roll a one).

Go to (property): Several properties are blessed with Chance cards which draw players to them. St Charles Place (Pall Mall), Illinois Avenue (Trafalgar Square), Boardwalk (Mayfair), all of the railroads except Short Line (Liverpool Street Station), and both of the utilities benefit from this feature. Reading Railroad (King's Cross Station) has the fortune of having both a "go to" dedicated card plus the card advancing to the nearest railroad.

Advance to Go: A player may be directed to the Go square by a Chance or a Community Chest card, thus lowering the probability of being landed-upon of every square in-between. The properties most affected by this are the yellow, green, and dark blue sets. It also marginally raises the probability for each square in the wake of Go, including the purple and orange sets which will be reached two or three rolls after being on Go.

Go Back Three Spaces: This directive comes from a Chance card. A quick look at the board shows that there are three Chance squares and hence three other squares which are 3 spaces behind (one being a Community Chest space, another being Income Tax, and the third being the leading orange property). The leading orange property (New York Avenue or Vine Street) gains the most benefit from this card since the Chance square nestled amongst the red properties is itself the most landed-upon Chance square.

In all, during game play, Illinois Avenue (Trafalgar Square), New York Avenue (Vine Street), B&O Railroad (Fenchurch Street Station), and Reading Railroad (King's Cross Station) are the most frequently landed-upon properties. Mediterranean Avenue (Old Kent Road) and Baltic Avenue (Whitechapel ) are the least-landed-upon properties.^{เกมปัญญาอ่อน เกมส์ออนไลยมากมาย เกมจอมพลังสีม่วง เกมแอคชั่น เกมส์เสริฟอาหารจานด่วน เกมปรุงอาหาร เกมส๊ เกมส์ไพ่ออนไลน์ เกมมอไซ เกม บาบี้ เกมส์จ}

Dealing and bargaining

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Much of the skill comes from knowing how to make the best use of a player's resources and above all knowing how to strike a good bargain. Monopoly is a social game where players often interact and must "deal" with each other in ways not unlike "real world" real estate bargaining. Note that the best deal is not always for the most expensive property; it is often situational, dependent on money resources available to each player and even where players happen to be situated on the board. When looking to deal, a player should attempt to bargain with another player who not only possess properties he or she needs but also properties the other player needs. In fact, offering relatively fair deals to other players can end up helping the player making the offer by giving him or her a reputation as an honest trader, which can make players less wary of dealings in the future. What is more, most people play Monopoly with the same group repeatedly. For this reason, such a reputation can have effects far beyond the game being played.

The end game

One common criticism of Monopoly is that it has carefully defined yet almost unreachable termination conditions. Edward P. Parker, a former president of Parker Brothers, is quoted as saying, "We always felt that forty-five minutes was about the right length for a game, but Monopoly could go on for hours. Also, a game was supposed to have a definite end somewhere. In Monopoly you kept going around and around."^[28] However, the problem of time can be resolved by playing with a time limit and counting each player's net worth when the time is up. In fact, tournament play calls for a 90-minute time limit.^[29] Two hour time limits are used for international play.^[30] The Lord of the Rings edition gives players the option of creating a random time limit using the included One Ring token and specialized dice.

Played strictly to the rules, many games will be effectively decided when one player succeeds in bankrupting another because the bankrupt player gives all his property to the one to whom he could not pay his debt. A player who thus gains a fistful of properties will virtually control the game from that point onwards since other players will be constantly at risk. On the other hand, if a player is bankrupted by being unable to meet his debt to the bank (e.g., a fine or tax or other debt that is not rent), then his property is auctioned off; this can open up new possibilities in a game which was evenly set or in which a lot of property sets were divided among the players.

The Monopoly Mega Edition is geared towards faster play by incorporating more squares and enabling players to build without the full color-group.

Another path to a faster ending is by a key property bargain, whether it be a very shrewd trade which sets one player up with a well-positioned set or a very rash trade where an inexperienced player gives his experienced opponent an underpriced gem. Either way, a deal which pays off for one player is most often the turning point of the game.

A third way to finish the game is to wait for all of the property to be bought. Once this has occurred, the player with the most money is victorious.

Another way is to remove the £200 bonus gained by passing "Go". This ensures that players run out of money quickly.

Some players, in an attempt to lessen the huge advantage gained by the first player to bankrupt another player, have the bankrupted player pay what he can to the player he is indebted to (including the money from mortgages), and then forfeit the properties, so that they are back on the market and open to purchase by other players.

Hasbro states that the longest game of Monopoly ever played lasted 1,680 hours (70 days).^[31]

Add-ons

Numerous official and unofficial add-ons have been made for Monopoly, both before its commercialization and after. Two such "official" add-ons are discussed below.

Stock Exchange

The best-known expansion to the game is the Stock Exchange Add-On, originally published by Parker Brothers in 1936 (wikibook). In the Stock Exchange add-on, the Free Parking square is replaced (covered over) with the Stock Exchange space. The add-on included three each of Chance and Community Chest cards directing the player to "Advance to Stock Exchange."

The add-on also included thirty stock certificates, five for each of the six different stocks, differing only in the purchase price (or Par Value), ranging from $100 to $150. Shares, like properties, can be considered to be tradeable material, and could also be mortgaged for half their purchase price. Shareholders could increase the value of their shares by buying up more of the same company's shares.

When a player moves onto Free Parking/Stock Exchange, stock dividends are paid out to all players with any unmortgaged shares. The amount to be paid out to each player is determined based on the number and kind of shares owned. Specifically, a player receives dividends from each stock based on the following mathematical formula:

(purchase price of share / 10) × (number of shares owned)²

EXAMPLE: Owning one share of MOTION PICTURES (purchased at $100) pays dividends of $10. Owning two shares pays $40 ($10 x 2 x 2). Three shares pays $90 ($10 x 3 x 3). Four pays $160 ($10 x 4 x 4). All five pays $250 ($10 x 5 x 5).

The player who lands on Free Parking/Stock Exchange can also choose to buy a share if any remain – should the player decline, the Bank auctions a share off to the highest bidder. The 1936 rules are ambiguous with regards to the stock that is put up for auction, and convention has it that the winner of the auction chooses the stock to be received.

The Stock Exchange add-on serves to inject more money into the game, in a similar manner to railroad properties, as well as changing the relative values of properties. In particular, the Light Purple and Orange properties are more valuable due to the increased chance of landing on Free Parking, at the expense of the Red and Yellow groups.

The Stock Exchange add-on was later redesigned and rereleased in 1992 under license by Chessex, this time including a larger number of new Chance and Community Chest cards.^[32] This version included ten new Chance cards (five ADVANCE TO STOCK EXCHANGE and five other related cards) and eleven new Community Chest cards (five ADVANCE TO STOCK EXCHANGE and six other related cards; the regular Community Chest card "From sale of stock you get $45" is removed from play when using these cards). Many of the original rules applied to this new version (in fact, one optional play choice allows for playing in the original form by only adding the ADVANCE TO STOCK EXCHANGE cards to each deck).

A Monopoly Stock Exchange Edition was released in 2001 (although not in the US), this time adding an electronic calculator-like device to keep track of the complex stock figures. This was a full edition, not just an add-on, that came with its own board, money and playing pieces. Properties on the board were replaced by companies on which shares could be floated, and offices and home offices (instead of houses and hotels) could be built.^[33]

Playmaster

"Playmaster," another official add-on, kept track of all player movement and dice rolls as well as what properties are still available. It then uses this information to call random auctions and mortgages that will be advantageous for some players and a punishment for others, making it easier to free up cards of a color group. It also plays eight short tunes when key game functions occur, for example when a player lands on a railroad it will play I've Been Working on the Railroad.^[34]

Spinoffs

Film

On June 19, 2007, Ridley Scott announced that he was directing a comedy-thriller based on the game, featuring a variety of young actors in order to generate interest in the game. Scarlett Johannson and Kirsten Dunst have been considered so far. [2]

Computer Games

Besides the many variants of the actual game released in either video game or computer game formats, two "spin-off" computer games have been created.

Monopoly Tycoon is a PC game in the Tycoon series that makes strategy and speed into determining factors for winning the game, eliminating completely the element of luck inherent in the dice rolls of the original. The game uses the U.S. standard Atlantic City properties as its basis, but the game play is unique to this version. The game also allows for solo and multiplayer online games.

Monopoly Casino is also a PC game, simulating a casino full of Monopoly-based adaptations of various casino games (most notably, slot machines). This program was released in both standard and "Vegas" editions, each featuring unique games.

Monopoly Junior was a 1999 PC game based on the Monopoly Junior board game. It was originally available in specially-marked General Mills cereal boxes as part of a promotion with Parker Brothers, as part of the promotion, Parker Brothers released PC games based on their original games within specially-marked General Mills cereal boxes, Monopoly Junior being the most featured PC game. After its promotional phase, the game was re-released in PC-carrying game-stores.

Other Board/Dice/Card Games

Parker Brothers and its licensees have also sold several games which are spinoffs of Monopoly. These are not add-ons, as they do not function as an addition to the Monopoly game, but are simply additional games in the flavor of Monopoly.

Monopoly Junior board game: A simplified version of the original game for young children.

Advance to Boardwalk board game: Focusing mainly on building the most "hotels" along the Boardwalk.

Express Monopoly card game: Released by Hasbro/Parker Brothers and Waddingtons in the UK in the 1990s, now out of print. Basically a rummy-style card game based on scoring points by completing "color group" sections of the game board.

Monopoly: The Card Game: an updated card game released by Winning Moves Games under license from Hasbro. Similar, but decidedly more complex, gameplay to the Express Monopoly card game.

Free Parking card game: A more complex card game released by Parker Brothers, with several similarities to the card game Mille Bornes. Uses cards to either add "time" to "parking meters", or spend the "time" doing activities to earn points. Includes a deck of "Second Chance" cards that further alter gameplay. (Two editions were made; minor differences in card art and Second Chance cards in each edition.)

Don't Go To Jail: Dice Game originally released by Parker Brothers; roll combinations of dice to create "color groups" for points before rolling the words "GO" "TO" and "JAIL" (which forfeits all earned points for the turn).

Monopoly Express: A deluxe, travel-able edition UK re-release of Don't Go To Jail, replacing the word dice with "Officer" dice and adding a self-contained game container/dice roller & keeper.

Monopoly Express Casino: A gambling-themed version of the above game, that adds wagering to the gameplay.

Game Show

Main article: Monopoly (game show)

A short-lived Monopoly game show aired on Saturday evenings during the summer of 1990 on ABC. The show was produced by Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! creator Merv Griffin. The show was hosted by former Jeopardy! contestant Mike Reilly. Three contestants competed by answering crossword puzzle-style clues to acquire the properties on the board and money equivalent to the values of said properties (with bonuses added for getting monopolies). After the properties were acquired and players used the earned money to improve them with Houses and Hotels, a timed Monopoly Game Round was played, allowing players to earn even more money by landing on their properties and answering more word clues. When time was up, the player with the most money won the game, and then went on to play the Bonus Game. In the Bonus Game, the contestant had to choose 4 properties on the board to convert to "Go To Jail" spaces. Along with the actual "Go To Jail" space, the contestant rolled the dice up to five times (with extra rolls added for each double rolled) and had to pass GO without landing on a "Go To Jail" space. If the contestant passed GO before running out of rolls or landing on a "Go To Jail" space, they won US$25,000; however if the contestant landed EXACTLY on GO, they would win US$50,000. The show was paired on ABC with a summer long Super Jeopardy! tournament.

Gambling Games

In North America, a variety of slot machines have been produced with a Monopoly theme. In Europe, there were also Monopoly "fruit machines," some of which remain popular through emulation. The British quiz machine brand itbox also supports a Monopoly trivia and chance game, which, like most other itbox games, costs 50p (GB£0.50) to play and has a GB£20 jackpot, although this is very rarely won.

Pinball

Stern Pinball, Inc. produced a Monopoly themed and branded pinball table in 2001.

Other Games

There was also a live, online version of monopoly. Six painted taxis drive around London picking up passengers. When the taxis reach their final destination, the region of London that they are in is displayed on the online board. This version takes far longer to play than board-game monopoly, with one game lasting 24 hours. Results and position are sent to players via e-mail at the conclusion of the game.^[35]

Variants

Because Monopoly evolved in the public domain before its commercialization, Monopoly has seen many variant games. Most of these are exact copies of the Monopoly games with the street names replaced with locales from a particular town, university, or fictional place. National boards have been released as well. Many of these are listed at "Localized versions of the Monopoly game". Details, including box cover art, can be seen in the "List of licensed Monopoly game boards". Over the years, many speciality Monopoly editions, licensed by Parker Brothers/Hasbro, and produced by them, or their licensees (including USAopoly and Winning Moves Games) have been sold to local and national markets worldwide. Two well known "families" of -opoly like games, without licenses from Parker Brothers/Hasbro, have also been produced.

Late for the Sky

Late for the Sky Production Company produces a huge range of Monopoly based games with similar rules and board layout as Monopoly but with a large selection of special themes. They also offer Monopoly based games based on your own theme. Major product lines of theirs include nearly sixty titles based on US college and university campuses and the City in a Box line.^[36] Late for the Sky has also licensed many of their -Opoly products to Outset Media in Canada for sales there. Outset Media has also produced further games exclusively for the Canadian market that build upon the Late for the Sky product lines.

Help On Board

Help On Board is a company that specializes in creating fundraising board games for various charities. Many of these have been made in an "-opoly" style using locales within a variety of communities in the United States and Canada. Proceeds from sales of the games go to various local causes. A gallery of images of some of these fundraising board games can be seen on their website.^[37]

Related games

Several published games are similar to Monopoly. These include:

Anti-Monopoly, written by Ralph Anspach in 1974.

Chômageopoly, "Unemployment Monopoly", a board game created by the Lip factory in the 1970s

Dinosauropoly, a version using prehistoric motifs and rules.

Dogopoly: The Game of High Steaks and Bones, created by Spahits Games in 1977 with a 25th anniversary edition released in 2002. Not to be confused with the Dog-opoly published by Late for the Sky.^[38]

Easy Money, published by Milton Bradley, also in the 1930s.

The Farming Game is a board game in which the goal is to run a financially successful farm, and like Monopoly the heart of the game is economics. The game's website draws comparisons to Monopoly.

Fast Food Franchise is a board game by TimJim games which shares Monopoly's core mechanic, but through careful design guarantees that it will actually end.

The Fascinating Game of Finance, later shortened to Finance, first marketed in 1932 by Knapp Electric, and later by Parker Brothers.

Go For Broke, the exact opposite of Monopoly, has the players trying to spend all their money before anyone else. Bad bets at the casino, real estate, stock market, race track, and giving to the poor house lowers your account balance. This was a Milton Bradley game originally published in the mid-1960s.

Ghettopoly, released in 2003, caused considerable offense upon its release. The game, intended to be a humorous rendering of ghetto life, was decried as racist for its unflinching use of racial stereotypes, so much that Hasbro sought and received a court ordered injunction against Ghettopoly's designer.^[39]^[40] The game and its sequel are no longer available directly from the designer's website.

Goonopoly, Monopoly type game created at Central Queensland University, involving players to "buy" properties around Rockhampton (including the local nightclubs) by taking shots of "Goon" (cask wine) depending on the square landed on. Developed by Chris "Pieman" Janson and Brendon "Goonlover" Brooker.

Itadaki Street, a series of board games for video game consoles from Enix.

The Mad Magazine Game, a Mad Magazine themed board game in which the object of the game is for player to lose all their money, play is counter-clockwise, and the dice must be rolled with the left hand. Released by Parker Brothers in 1979.

Make Your Own-opoly is a game set sold by TDC Games of Itasca, Illinois. Using a Microsoft Windows-based PC, a person can print out his or her own property cards, labels to place on the board and the box, and game currency.^[41]

Solarquest, a popular space-age adaptation, was released by Golden in 1986.

Popular culture

This section contains a list of trivia items.

The section could be improved by integrating relevant items into the main text and removing inappropriate items.

This section has been tagged since June 2007.

Since Parker Brothers first published and marketed the board game Monopoly in 1935, it has influenced popular culture in many ways. It has been referenced in cartoons, comic strips, novels, and comedy.

In The Simpsons episode "Brawl in the Family", the family was playing Monopoly and Bart informs Homer that he must come up with the "rest of the money" to settle a debt. Homer states that he is "good for the rest", but Bart points out that Homer has "been in jail two times". Lisa accuses Marge of favoring Bart because he "bought" her "that house on St. James Place", while Bart states that no one else could help her, especially not Homer. This sends Homer into a rage, initiating a fight between all the family members. When the police are called, the event is referred to as "another case of Monopoly related violence..."

Tom Lehrer paraphrased a rule about going to Jail in his song "We Will All Go Together When We Go":

You will all go directly to your respective Valhallas;

Go directly, do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars...

In an issue of Cracked magazine, spoofing Adolf Hitler, a variant of the game is called "Blitzkrieg," after Hitler's "lightning war" against France in World War II. As with the regular German game, the "Go" square is called "Los," and in "Blitzkrieg" you collect 200 deutschmarks, "provided all your identification papers are in order." Instead of mortgage, a title-deed card is displayed upside down "if property is surrendered to the Allies." Instead of "Jail" it uses a "POW camp"; on the board "Just Visiting" is "verboten--mach schnell!"

In a story in the Archie comics, Archie, Betty, Veronica, and Jughead are playing. Archie lands on a property Betty owns; the lovesick Betty refuses to charge Archie rent. As the game continues, Archie and Betty are bankrupted out of the game, leaving Veronica playing Jughead, much to her dismay. In another story, Mr. Lodge plays Monopoly with business associates. Archie sees this, and Veronica shocks Archie by telling them her Daddy and the others are playing--for real property!

In the movie One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, the inmates play Monopoly. One wants to put a house on a railroad space, insisting it's the station house; and also on Electric Company, saying "that's the power plant!"

In the June 28, 2007 episode of the soap opera As the World Turns, Holden Snyder accuses Craig Montgomery of using a "Get Out of Jail Free" card.

In an episode of The Sopranos entitled "Sopranos Home Movies", a game of Monopoly between Tony Soprano, his wife, Carmella Soprano, his sister Janice Soprano, and Bobby Baccala, a capo in the New Jersey mob, turns into a brawl after Bobby attacks Tony for insulting Janice during the game. Earlier, Bobby complains about the house rule giving whoever lands on Free Parking money collected in taxes and fees as unfair.

In the movie Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Jim Carrey's character, Ace, tells a main that he "must be the Monopoly guy", because of his uncanny resemblance (bald, white hair, moustache) to the man at the center of the Monopoly board. He then proceeds to beat him up and move the man's jaw manually while saying, "Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars".

In the movie ""Unaccompanied Minors"", a poster featuring the famous Monopoly phrase "Do not pass Go, Do not collect 200$" can be seen behind Charlie Goldfinch as the door to his "private room" is closed in his face. The private room being what appears to be a sort of interrogation room at the airport.

The game's Get Out of Jail Free card has become a popular metaphor for something that will get one out of an undesired situation.^{[citation needed]}

Notes

^ In the instruction booklet that comes with the 70th Anniversary (US) Edition of Monopoly, Hasbro cites a statistic that over 750 million people have played Monopoly. Presumably even higher numbers have played traditional games, such as chess and go.

^ Guinness World Records page for Monopoly's (disputed) world record of Most Played Game

^ GAMES Magazine Hall of Fame web page

^ Hasbro's Monopoly History page

^ Kennedy, page 35

^ Kennedy, page 23.

^ Web page at Hasbro.com with graphics for the eight new tokens.

^ "Premier Calls On Queenslanders To ‘Monopolise’ Smart State" Article on nominations for the Australian "Here and Now" edition of Monopoly from Queensland, Australia.

^ Courier Mail story on nominated landmarks for the Australian "Here and Now" edition of Monopoly.

^ Australia Monopoly home page

^ Sales page for Canadian Monopoly Here & Now Limited Edition

^ New Zealand Monopoly home page

^ http://www.monopoly.ie/index.aspx Ireland Monopoly

^ Official UK Monopoly website, with UK-wide "Here and Now Edition" voting.

^ News article from Sky News. Accessed 24 July 2006.

^ Online sales page for UK Monopoly Here and Now Banking Edition at Online Toys Australia.

^ Hasbro.com press release

^ Passing Go: Early Monopoly 1933-1937 by "Clarence B. Darwin" (pseudonym for David Sadowski). First edition, revised, pages 207-208. Folkopoly Press, River Forest, IL.

^ Ibid. Page 206

^ Details of the 2004 Monopoly World Championship, held in Tokyo.

^ Orbanes, Philip (1988). The Monopoly Companion, First edition, Bob Adams, Inc., Page 20. ISBN 1-55850-950-X.

^ Archived article from Business Wire, stored at Findarticles.com. Accessed 1 January 2006.

^ Most Expensive Monopoly Set world record.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Orbanes, Philip (1999). The Monopoly Companion: The Players Guide, Second edition, Adams Media Corporation, Page 140-142. ISBN 1-58062-175-9.

^ Rayment, W.J. (2006). "Monopoly - Variations and House Rules" (English). How to Win at Monopoly. Retrieved on 2006-10-03.

^ Romer, Megan (2006). "Monopoly House Rules and Variations" (English). Retrieved on 2006-10-03.

^ Collins, Truman (1997). Monopoly Square Probabilities. Retrieved on 2006-05-28.; the page includes detailed analyses of expected income from each property and discussion of the strategic implications.

^ Brandreth, Gyles (1985). The Monopoly Omnibus, First hardcover edition, Willow Books, Page 19. ISBN 0-00-218166-5.

^ US Tournament Guide, PDF file.

^ Tournament rules for Canada, from 2003. PDF file.

^ "Fun Facts" page at Monopoly.com.

^ BoardGameGeek.com page for the original Monopoly Stock Exchange add-on. Accessed 1 January 2006.

^ BoardGameGeek.com page for the Monopoly Stock Exchange edition that came with a specialized calculator. Accessed 1 January 2006.

^ BoardGameGeek.com page for the Monopoly Playmaster electronic accessory. Accessed 1 January 2006.

^ Monopoly Live. Retrieved on 2006-05-25.

^ Late for the Sky Official Website

^ Help On Board gallery of custom created -opoly style games for communities in the United States and Canada.

^ Dogopoly Official Website

^ Story on the October 2003 lawsuit filing, from USA Today

^ Decision from the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island, dated 18 May 2006. PDF file.

^ TDC Games' homepage for Make Your Own-opoly

References

Monopoly as a Markov Process, by R. Ash and R. Bishop, Mathematics Magazine, vol. 45 (1972) p. 26-29.

Anspach, Ralph. The Billion Dollar MONOPOLY ® Swindle, Second Edition, Xlibris Corporation. ISBN 0-7388-3139-5.

Brady, Maxine (1974). The Monopoly Book: Strategy and Tactics of the World's Most Popular Game, First hardcover edition, D. McKay Co.. ISBN 0-679-20292-7.

Darzinskis, Kaz (1987). Winning Monopoly: A Complete Guide to Property Accumulation, Cash-Flow Strategy, and Negotiating Techniques When Playing the Best-Selling Board Game, First Edition, Harper & Row, New York. ISBN 0-06-096127-9.

Moore, Tim (2004). Do Not Pass Go. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-09-943386-9.

Orbanes, Philip E. (1999). The Monopoly Companion: The Player's Guide, Second Edition, Adams Media Corporation. ISBN 1-58062-175-9.

Orbanes, Philip E. (2004). The Game Makers: The Story of Parker Brothers, First Edition, Harvard Business School Press. ISBN 1-59139-269-1.

Board game "Weiqi,Xiangqi,Shogi,Oware,ScrabbleLa Città, Party Co, and Monopoly"

2007-08-22T02:23:00.000-07:00

Board game

A board game is a game played with counters or pieces that are placed on, removed from, or moved across a "board" (a premarked surface, usually specific to that game). Simple board games often make ideal "family entertainment" since they are often appropriate for all ages. Some board games, such as chess, go/weiqi, xiangqi, shogi, or oware, have intense strategic value and have been classics for centuries.

There are many different types of board games. Many games simulate aspects of real life. Popular games of this type include:

Monopoly

Monopoly, which simulates the real estate market
Cluedo/Clue, which simulates a murder mystery
Risk, which simulates warfare

Other games only loosely, or do not at all, attempt to imitate reality. These games include:

abstract strategy games like chess, checkers or go
word games, like Scrabble
trivia games, like Trivial Pursuit.
combination games, like Brain Chain, which mix abstract strategy with trivia.

A shelf of board games. The left stack contains Carcassonne, La Città, Party & Co, and Monopoly. The right stack contains Risk, Drakon, and non-English editions of Trivial Pursuit, The Seafarers of Catan, and Cities and Knights of Catan.

History

Senet is believed to be the oldest board game

Board games have been played in most cultures and societies throughout history; some even pre-date literacy skill development in the earliest civilizations. A number of important historical sites, artifacts and documents exist which shed light on early board games. Some of these include:

Senet has been found in Predynastic and First Dynasty burials of Egypt, c. 3500 BC and 3100 BC respectively.^[1] Senet is the oldest board game known to have existed, having been pictured in a fresco found in Merknera's tomb (3300-2700 BC).^[2]
Mehen is another ancient board game from Predynastic Egypt.
Go is an ancient strategic board game originating in China
Patolli is a board game originating in mesoamerica and played by the ancient mayans.
The Royal Tombs of Ur contained, among others, the Royal Game of Ur. They were excavated by Leonard Woolley, but his books document little on the games found. Most of the games he excavated are now housed in the British Museum in London.
Buddha games list is the earliest known list of games.

Timeline

c. 5870 BC -- board game resembling mancala found at Ain Gazal Jordan. (Rollefson)
c. 3500 BC - Senet found in Predynastic Egyptian burials;^[1] also depicted in the tomb of Merknera.
c. 3000 BC - Mehen, board game from Predynastic Egypt, played with lion-shaped game pieces and marbles.
c. 3000 BC - Ancient backgammon set, found in the Burnt City in Iran^[3]
c. 2560 BC - Board of the Royal Game of Ur (found at Ur Tombs)
c. 2500 BC - Paintings of senet and han being played made in the tomb of Rashepes
c. 2000 BC - Drawing in a tomb at Benihassan depicting two unknown board games being played (depicted in Falkner). It has been suggested that the second of these is tau.
c. 1500 BC - Liubo carved on slab of blue stone. Also painting of board game of Knossos.^[4]
c. 1400 BC - Game boards including alquerque, three men's morris, nine men's morris, and a possible mancala board etched on the roof of the Kurna temple. (Source: Fiske, and Bell)
548 BC The earliest written references to Go/Weiqi come from the Zuo Zhuan, which describes a man who likes the game.เกมส์ตะกร้อ เกมทำขนมเค็ก เกม fm2008 เกมแต่งตัว สุดฮิต เกมตกปลาทะเล เกมผลไม้รวม เกมส์ปลูกพืช เกมส์แข่งรถ2 เกมส์เดินหมาก เกมธาตุ เกมส์แต่งตัว ผ่อนคลายสายตา เกมส เล่น เกมกวนๆ เกมรัก...กลกามเทพ เกมคณิต ช่วงชั้นที่ 1 เกมฟุดบอล เกมส์ chainz เกม google เกมปาเป้า เกมส์ เกมส์เเต่งตัว เกมแค้น เดิมพันรัก ost mp
c. 500 BC - The Buddha games list mentions board games played on 8 or 10 rows.
c. 500 BC - The earliest reference to Chaturaji or Pachisi written in the Mahabharata.
c. 200 BC - A Chinese Go/Weiqi board pre-dating 200 BC was found in 1954 in Wangdu County. This board is now in Beijing Historical Museum.^[5].
116-27 BC - Marcus Terentius Varro's Lingua Latina X (II, par. 20) contains earliest known reference to latrunculi^[6] (often confused with ludus duodecim scriptorum, Ovid's game mentioned below).
79-8 BC - Liu Xiang's (劉向) Shuo yuan, contains earliest known reference to Xiangqi.
1 BC-8 AD - Ovid's Ars Amatoria contains earliest known reference to ludus duodecim scriptorum and the smaller merels.
220-265 - Nard enters China under the name t'shu-p'u (Source: Hun Tsun Sii).
c. 400 onwards - Tafl games played in Northern Europe.
c. 600 The earliest references to Chaturanga written in Subandhu's Vasavadatta and Banabhatta's Harsha Charitha
c. 600 - The earliest reference to Chatrang written in Karnamak-i-Artakhshatr-i-Papakan.

See also: Timeline of chess

Board games first became widely popular among the general population early in the 20th century when the rise of the middle class with disposable income and leisure time made them a receptive audience to such games. This popularity expanded after the Second World War, a period from which many classic board games date.

Many board games are now available as computer games, including the option to have the computer act as an opponent; and many acclaimed computer games such as Civilization are based upon board games. The rise of computers has also led to a relative decline in the most complicated board games, as computers require less space, and the games don't have to be set up and cleared away. With the Internet, many board games can now be played online against a computer or other players. Some web sites allow play in real time and immediately show the opponent's moves, while most use e-mail to notify the players after each move (see the links at the end of this article).

Some board games make use of additional components, aside from the board and playing pieces. Some games use CDs, video cassettes and more recently DVDs to provide an accompaniment to the game. A genre of DVD games makes use of the interactive features of DVDs, often to provide a "quizmaster" for trivia games.

The modern board game industry is rife with corporate mergers and acquisitions, with large companies such as Hasbro owning many subsidiaries and selling products under a variety of brand names. It is difficult to successfully market a new board game to the mass market. Retailers tend to be conservative about stocking games of untested popularity, and most large board game companies have established criteria that a game must meet in order to be produced. If, for instance, Monopoly were introduced as a new game today, it might not meet the criteria for production.^{[citation needed]}

Psychology

While there has been fair amount of scientific research on the psychology of traditional board games (e.g., chess, Go, mancala games), much less has been done on more recent board games such as Monopoly, Scrabble, or Risk.^[7]. Most of the research has been carried out on chess, in part because chessplayers are ranked in national and international rating lists, which makes it possible to compare their level of expertise precisely. The classical works of Adriaan de Groot, William Chase and Herbert Simon have established that knowledge plays an essential role in chessplaying, more than the ability to anticipate moves. This seems to be the case in other traditional games such as Go and oware (a type of mancala game), but data are lacking with more recent board games.

Luck, strategy and diplomacy

One way to categorize board games is to distinguish those based primarily upon luck from those that involve significant strategy. Some games, such as chess, are entirely deterministic, relying only on the strategy element for their interest. Children's games, on the other hand, tend to be very luck-based, with games such as Sorry!, Candy Land and chutes and ladders having virtually no decisions to be made. Most board games involve both luck and strategy. A player may be hampered by a few poor rolls of the dice in Risk or Monopoly, but over many games a player with a superior strategy will win more often. While some purists consider luck to not be a desirable component of a game, others counter that elements of luck can make for far more diverse and multi-faceted strategies as concepts such as expected value and risk management must be considered. Still, adult game players prefer to make decisions during play and find purely luck based games such as snakes and ladders quite boring.

The third important factor in a game is diplomacy, or players making deals with each other. A game of solitaire, for obvious reasons, has no player interaction. Two player games usually do not have diplomacy, with Lord of the Rings being a notable exception where players compete against an automatic opponent (see cooperative games). Thus, this generally applies only to games played with three or more people. An important facet of Settlers of Catan, for example, is convincing people to trade with you rather than with other players. In Risk, one example of diplomacy's effectiveness is when two or more players team up against others. Easy diplomacy consists of convincing other players that someone else is winning and should therefore be teamed up against. Difficult diplomacy (such as in the aptly named game Diplomacy) consists of making elaborate plans together, with possibility of betrayal.

Luck is introduced to a game by a number of methods. The most popular is using dice, generally six-sided. These can determine everything from how many steps a player moves their token, as in Monopoly, to how their forces fare in battle, such as in Risk, or which resources a player gains, such as in Settlers of Catan. Other games such as Sorry! use a deck of special cards that, when shuffled, create randomness. Scrabble does something similar with randomly picked letters. Other games use spinners, timers of random length, or other sources of randomness. Trivia games have a great deal of randomness based on the questions a person gets. German-style board games are notable for often having rather less of a luck factor than many North American board games.

Common terms

Carcassonne tokens, or meeples

Although many board games have a jargon all their own, there is a generalized terminology to describe concepts applicable to basic game mechanics and attributes common to nearly all board games.

Game board (or board) — the (usually quadrilateral) surface on which one plays a board game; the namesake of the board game, gameboards are a necessary and sufficient condition of the genre
Game piece (or token or bit) — a player's representative on the game board. Each player may control one or more game pieces. In some games that involve commanding multiple game pieces, such as chess, certain pieces have unique designations and capabilities within the parameters of the game; in others, such as Go, all pieces controlled by a player have the same essential capabilities. In some games, pieces may not represent or belong to a particular player.
Jump — to bypass one or more game pieces and/or spaces. Depending on the context, jumping may also involve capturing or conquering an opponent's game piece. (See also: Game mechanic: capture)
Space (or square) — a physical unit of progress on a gameboard delimited by a distinct border (See also: Game mechanic: Movement)
Hex In hexagon-based board games, this is the common term for a standard space on the board. This is most often used in war games.

References

^ ^a ^b http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Piccione/index.html
^ Okno do svita deskovych her
^ "Iran's Burnt City Throws up World’s Oldest Backgammon." Persian Journal. December 4, 2004. Retrieved on November 15, 2006.
^ http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Brumbaugh/index.html
^ John Fairbairn's Go in Ancient China
^ http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/varro.ll10.html
^ Gobet, Fernand, de Voogt, Alex, & Retschitzki, Jean (2004). Moves in mind: The psychology of board games. Psychology Press. ISBN 1841693367.

Personal computer game

A personal computer game (also known as a computer game or simply PC game) is a video game played on a personal computer, rather than on a video game console or arcade machine. Computer games have evolved from the simple graphics and gameplay of early titles like Spacewar!, to a wide range of more visually advanced titles, although the computer game market has been declining in the United States since 1999.

PC games are created by one or more game developers, often in conjunction with other specialists (such as game artists) and either published independently or through a third party publisher. They may then be distributed on physical media such as DVDs and CDs, as Internet-downloadable shareware, or through online delivery services such as Direct2Drive and Steam. PC games often require specialised hardware in the user's computer in order to play, such as a specific generation of graphics processing unit or an Internet connection for online play, although these system requirements vary from game to game.

Computer games and game addiction are often the subject of criticism, focusing largely on the influence of objectionable content and prolonged gameplay on minors. The Entertainment Software Association and other groups maintain that parents are responsible for moderating their children's behaviour, although the controversy has prompted attempts to control the sale of certain games in the United States.

Early growth

Spacewar!, developed for the PDP-1 in 1961, is often credited as being the first ever computer game. The game consisted of two player-controlled spaceships maneuvering around a central star, each attempting to destroy the other.

Although personal computers only became popular with the development of the microprocessor, mainframe and minicomputers have been used for computer gaming since at least the 1960s. One of the first computer games was developed in 1961, when MIT students Martin Graetz and Alan Kotok, with MIT employee Stephen Russell, developed Spacewar! on a PDP-1 computer used for statistical calculations.^[3]

The first generation of PC games were often text adventures or interactive fiction, in which the player communicated with the computer by entering commands through a keyboard. The first text-adventure, Adventure, was developed for the PDP-11 in 1972.^[4] By the 1980s, personal computers had become powerful enough to run games like Adventure, but by this time, graphics were beginning to become an important factor in games. Later games combined textual commands with basic graphics, as seen in the SSI Gold Box games such as Pool of Radiance, or Bard's Tale.

By the mid-1970s, games were developed and distributed through hobbyist groups and gaming magazines, such as Creative Computing and later Computer Gaming World. These publications provided game code that could be typed into a computer and played, encouraging readers to submit their own software to competitions.^[5]

Industry crash

Main article: Video game crash of 1983

As the video game market became flooded with poor-quality games created by numerous companies attempting to enter the market, and over-production of high profile releases such as the Atari 2600 adaptation of E.T. and Pacman grossly underperformed, the popularity of personal computers for education rose dramatically. In 1983, consumer interest in video games dwindled to historical lows, as interest in computer games rose.

The effects of the crash were largely limited to the console market, as established companies such as Atari posted record losses over subsequent years. Conversely, the home computer market boomed, as sales of low-cost colour computers such as the Commodore 64 rose to record highs and developers such as Electronic Arts benefited from increasing interest in the platform.^[6]

The console market experienced a resurgence in the United States with the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System. In Europe, computer gaming continued to boom for many years after.^[6]

New genres

Increasing adoption of the computer mouse, driven partially by the success of games such as the highly successful King's Quest series, and high resolution bitmap displays allowed the industry to include increasingly high-quality graphical interfaces in new releases. Meanwhile, the Commodore Amiga computer achieved great success in the market from its release in 1985, contributing to the rapid adoption of these new interface technologies.^[7]

Wolfenstein 3D, released as shareware by id Software in 1992, is widely regarded as having popularised the first person shooter genre of computer games.

Further improvements to game artwork were made possible with the introduction of the first sound cards, such as AdLib's Music Synthesizer Card, in 1987. These cards allowed IBM PC compatible computers to produce complex sounds using FM synthesis, where they had previously been limited to simple tones and beeps. However, the rise of the Creative Labs Sound Blaster card, which featured much higher sound quality due to the inclusion of a PCM channel and digital signal processor, led AdLib to file for bankruptcy in 1992.

The year before, id Software had produced one the first first-person shooter games, Hovertank 3D, which was the company's first in their line of highly influencial games in the genre. The same team went on to develop Wolfenstein 3D in 1992, which helped to popularize the genre, kick-starting a genre that would become one of the highest-selling in modern times.^[8] The game was originally distributed through the shareware distribution model, allowing players to try a limited part of the game for free but requiring payment to play the rest, and represented one of the first uses of texture mapping graphics in a popular game, along with Ultima Underworld.^[9]

While leading Sega and Nintendo console systems kept their CPU speed at 3-7 MHz, the 486 PC processor ran much faster, allowing it to perform many more calculations per second. The 1993 release of Doom on the PC was a breakthrough in 3D graphics, and was soon ported to various game consoles in a general shift toward greater realism.^[10]

Many early PC games included extras such as the peril-sensitive sunglasses that shipped with The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. These extras gradually became less common, but many games were still sold in the traditional over-sized boxes that used to hold the extra "feelies". Today, such extras are usually found only in Special Edition versions of games, such as Battlechests from Blizzard .^[11]

Contemporary gaming

The high quality graphics of F.E.A.R. demonstrate the complex visual effects common in modern PC games.

By 1995, the rise of Microsoft Windows and success of 3D console titles such as Super Mario 64 sparked great interest in hardware accelerated 3D graphics on the PC, and soon resulted in attempts to produce affordable solutions with the ATI Rage, Matrox Mystique and Silicon Graphics ViRGE. Tomb Raider, which was released in 1996, was one of the first third person shooter games and was praised for its revolutionary graphics. As 3D graphics libraries such as DirectX and OpenGL matured and knocked proprietary interfaces out of the market, these platforms gained greater acceptance in the market, particularly with their demonstrated benefits in games such as Unreal.^[12] However, major changes to the Microsoft Windows operating system, by then the market leader, made many older MS-DOS-based games unplayable on Windows NT, and later, Windows XP.^[13]

The faster graphics accelerators and improving CPU technology resulted in increasing levels of realism in computer games. During this time, the improvements introduced with products such as ATI's Radeon R300 and NVidia's GeForce 6 Series have allowed developers to increase the complexity of modern game engines. PC gaming currently tends strongly toward improvements in 3D graphics.เกมส์ทำขนมเค็ก เกมส์มาสไร%e เกม ซุโดกุ เกมdarkstory เกมส์18 เกมส์กาตูน เกมส์เป่ายิ้งฉุบแก้ผ้า เกมส์ อาหาร เกม เล่น เกมส์เเข่ง

Unlike the generally accepted push for improved graphical performance, the use of physics engines in computer games has become a matter of debate since announcement and 2005 release of the AGEIA PhysX PPU, ostensibly competing with middleware such as the Havok physics engine. Issues such as difficulty in ensuring consistent experiences for all players,^[15] and the uncertain benefit of first generation PhsyX cards in games such as Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and City of Villains, prompted arguments over the value of such technology.^[16]^[17]

Similarly, many game publishers began to experiment with new forms of marketing. Chief among these alternative strategies is episodic gaming, an adaptation of the older concept of expansion packs, in which game content is provided in smaller quantities but for a proportionally lower price. Titles such as Half-Life 2: Episode One took advantage of the idea, with mixed results rising from concerns for the amount of content provided for the price.^[18]

PC game development

Main article: Game development

Game development, as with console games, is generally undertaken by one or more game developers using either standardised or proprietary tools. While games could previously be developed by very small groups of people, as in the early example of Wolfenstein 3D, many popular computer games today require large development teams and budgets running into the millions of dollars.^[19]

PC games are usually built around a central piece of software, known as a game engine,^[20] that simplifies the development process and enables developers to easily port their projects between platforms. Unlike most consoles, which generally only run major engines such as Unreal Engine 3 and RenderWare due to restrictions on homebrew software, personal computers may run games developed using a larger range of software. As such, a number of alternatives to expensive engines have become available, including open source solutions such as Crystal Space, OGRE and DarkPlaces.

User-created modifications

Counter-Strike, a total-conversion mod for Valve Software's Half-Life, achieved great popularity online and was subsequently purchased by Valve.เกมอัฉริยะข้ามคืน เกมคุมทีม เกมส์ออดิชั่น ท่าเต้น เกมส์เค้ก เกมส์ pokemon เกมส์ wii เกมส์วันพีช เกมส์ทำอาหาร และ เกมส์ แต่งตัว เกมสืแข่งรถ เกมโยว

The multi-purpose nature of personal computers often allows users to modify the content of installed games with relative ease. Since console games are generally difficult to modify without a proprietary software development kit, and are often protected by legal and physical barriers against tampering and homebrew software,^[21]^[22] it is generally easier to modify the personal computer version of games using common, easy-to-obtain software. Users can then distribute their customised version of the game (commonly known as a mod) by any means they choose.

The inclusion of map editors such as UnrealEd with the retail versions of many games, and others that have been made available online such as GtkRadiant, allow users to create modifications for games easily, using tools that are maintained by the games' original developers. In addition, companies such as id Software have released the source code to older game engines, enabling the creation of entirely new games and major changes to existing ones.^[23]

Modding had allowed much of the community to produce game elements that would not normally be provided by the developer of the game, expanding or modifying normal gameplay to varying degrees. One notable example is the Hot Coffee mod for the PC port of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which enables access to an abandoned sex minigame by simply modifying a bit of the game's data file.

Distribution

Physical distribution

Computer games are typically sold on standard storage media, such as compact discs, DVD, and floppy disks.^[24] These were originally passed on to customers through mail order services,^[25] although retail distribution has replaced it as the main distribution channel for video games due to higher sales.^[26] Different formats of floppy disks were initially the staple storage media of the 1980s and early 1990s, but have fallen out of practical use as the increasing sophistication of computer games raised the overall size of the game's data and program files.

The introduction of complex graphics engines in recent times has resulted in additional storage requirements for modern games, and thus an increasing interest in CDs and DVDs as the next compact storage media for personal computer games. The rising popularity of DVD drives in modern PCs, and the larger capacity of the new media (a single-layer DVD can hold up to 4.7 gigabytes of data, more than five times as much as a single CD), have resulted in their adoption as a format for computer game distribution. To date, CD versions are still offered for most games, while some games offer both the CD and the DVD versions.

Shareware

Main articles: Shareware and Game demo

Shareware marketing, whereby a limited or demonstration version of the full game is released to prospective buyers without charge, has been used as a method of distributing computer games since the early years of the gaming industry. Shareware games generally offer only a small part of the gameplay offered in the retail product, and may be distributed with gaming magazines, in retail stores or on developers' websites free of charge.

In the early 1990s, shareware distribution was common among fledging game companies such as Apogee Software, Epic Megagames and id Software, and remains a popular distribution method among smaller game developers. However, shareware has largely fallen out of favor among established game companies in favour of traditional retail marketing, with notable exceptions such as Big Fish Games and PopCap Games continuing to use the model today.^[27]

The Steam content delivery system allows users to preload games prior to their release.

Online delivery

With the increased popularity of the Internet, online distribution of game content has become more common.^[28] Retail services such as Direct2Drive and Download.com allow users to purchase and download large games that would otherwise only be distributed on physical media, such as DVDs, as well as providing cheap distribution of shareware and demonstration games. Other services, allow a subscription-based distribution model in which users pay a monthly to download and play as many games as they wish.

The Steam system, developed by Valve Corporation, provides an alternative to traditional online services. Instead of allowing the player to download a game and play it immediately, games are made available for "pre-load" in an encrypted form days or weeks before their actual release date. On the official release date, a relatively small component is made available to unlock the game. Steam also ensures that once bought, a game remains accessible to a customer for many years, while the traditional mediums of floppy disk and CD-ROM are susceptible to unrecoverable damage and misplacement.

Computer game genres

See also: Computer and video game genres

The real time strategy genre, which accounts for more than a quarter of all PC games sold,^[1] has found very little success on video game consoles, with releases such as Starcraft 64 failing in the marketplace. Strategy games tend to suffer from the design of console controllers, which do not allow fast, accurate movement.^[29]

Conversely, action games have found considerable popularity on video game consoles, making up nearly a third of all video games sold in 2004, compared to just four percent on the computer. Sports games have also found greater support on game consoles compared to personal computers.^[1]

Computer gaming technology

An exploded view of a modern personal computer:

Display
Motherboard
CPU (Microprocessor)
Primary storage (RAM)
Expansion cards (graphics cards, etc)
Power supply
Optical disc drive
Secondary storage (Hard disk)
Keyboard
Mouse

Hardware

Modern computer games place great demand on the computer's hardware, often requiring a fast central processing unit (CPU) to function properly. CPU manufacturers historically relied mainly on increasing clock rates to improve the performance of their processors, but had begun to move steadily towards multi-core CPUs by 2005. These processors allow the computer to simultaneously process multiple tasks, called threads, allowing the use of more complex graphics, artificial intelligence and in-game physics.^[30]^[14]

Similarly, 3D games often rely on a powerful graphics processing unit (GPU), which accelerates the process of drawing complex scenes in realtime. GPUs may be an integrated part of the computer's motherboard, the most common solution in laptops,^[31] or come packaged with a discrete graphics card with a supply of dedicated Video RAM, connected to the motherboard through either an AGP or PCI-Express port. It is also possible to use multiple GPUs in a single computer, using technologies such as NVidia's Scalable Link Interface and ATI's CrossFire.

Sound cards are also available to provide improved audio in computer games. These cards provide improved 3D audio and provide audio enhancement that is generally not available with integrated alternatives, at the cost of marginally lower overall performance.^[32] The Creative Labs SoundBlaster line was for many years the de facto standard for sound cards, although its popularity dwindled as PC audio became a commodity on modern motherboards.

Physics processing units (PPUs), such as the AGEIA PhysX card, are also available to accelerate physics simulations in modern computer games. PPUs allow the computer to process more complex interactions among objects than is achievable using only the CPU, potentially allowing players a much greater degree of control over the world in games designed to use the card.^[33]

Virtually all personal computers use a keyboard and mouse for user input. Other common gaming peripherals are a headset for faster communication in online games, joysticks for flight simulators, steering wheels for driving games and gamepads for console-style games.

Multiplayer

Local Area Network gaming

Multiplayer gaming was largely limited to Local Area Networks (LANs) before cost-effective broadband internet connections became available, due to their typically higher bandwidth and lower latency than the dial-up services of the time. These advantages allowed more players to join any given computer game, but have persisted today because of the higher latency of most Internet connections and the costs associated with broadband internet.

Typically, LAN Gaming requires two or more personal computers, a router and sufficient networking cables to connect every computer on the network. Additionally, each computer must have a Network Interface Card installed or integrated onto its motherboard in order to communicate with other computers on the network. Optionally, any LAN may include an external connection to the Internet.

header 1	header 2	header 3
row 1, cell 1	row 1, cell 2	row 1, cell 3
row 2, cell 1	row 2, cell 2	row 2, cell 3

Online multiplayer

Main article: Online game

Online multiplayer games have achieved popularity largely as a result of increasing broadband adoption among consumers. Affordable high-bandwidth Internet connections allow large numbers of players to play together, and thus have found particular use in massively multiplayer online RPGs and persistent online games such as World War II Online.

Although it is possible to participate in online computer games using dial-up modems, broadband internet connections are generally considered necessary in order to reduce the latency between players (commonly known as "lag"). Such connections require a broadband-compatible modem connected to the personal computer through a network interface card (generally integrated onto the computer's motherboard), optionally separated by a router.

Emulation

Main article: Emulator

Emulation software, used to run software without the original hardware, are popular for their ability to play legacy video games without the consoles or operating system for which they were designed. Console emulators such as NESticle and MAME are relatively commonplace, although the complexity of modern consoles such as the Xbox or Playstation makes them far more difficult to emulate, even for the original manufacturers.^[34]

Most emulation software mimics a particular hardware architecture, often to an extremely high degree of accuracy. This is particularly the case with classic home computers such as the Commodore 64, whose software often depends on highly sophisticated low-level programming tricks invented by game programmers and the demoscene.

Controversy

Popular MMORPGs such as Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft are a major subject of criticism, amid concern that they encourage game addiction.

Main article: Video game controversy

Computer games have long been a source of controversy, particularly related to the violence that has become commonly associated with video gaming in general. The debate surrounds the influence of objectionable content on the social development of minors, with organisations such as the American Psychological Association concluding that video game violence increases children's aggression,^[35] a concern that prompted a further investigation by the Center for Disease Control in September 2006.^[36] Industry groups have responded by noting the responsibility of parents in governing their children's activities, while attempts in the United States to control the sale of objectionable games have generally been found unconstitutional.^[2]

Video game addiction is another cultural aspect of gaming to draw criticism, as it can have a negative influence on health and on social relations and in the most extreme cases has led to death as a result of prolonged gameplay.^[37] The problem of addiction and its health risks seems to have grown with the rise of Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs).^[38]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Entertainment Software Association (January 26, 2005). Computer and Video Game Software Sales Reach Record $7.3 Billion in 2004. Press release. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
^ ^a ^b Judge rules against Louisiana video game law (August 2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
^ Levy, Steven (1984). Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. Anchor Press/Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-19195-2.
^ Chronology of the History of Video Games. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ "Computer Gaming World's RobotWar Tournament" (PDF), Computer Gaming World, October, 1982, p. 17. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
เกมแนวsimulation เกมส์ระบายอารมณ์ เกมส์แดนซ์ เกมส์เทพ เกมทำอาหารไทย เกมส์การ์ด เกมทำอาร เกม sim city 4 เกมส์แต่งตัวสวย เกม tumble bugs เกมส์ยิงตุ๊ด เกมส์ถ่ายรูป เกมส์นารุโต๊ะ เกมส์เนกิ เกมส์น่ากลัว เกมล์ต่อสู้ เกมพัฒนาสมอง เกมรถแขง เกมส์ action เกมส์ทำไอติม เกมมาดู เกมส์สไปเดอร์แมน เกมส์นางฟ้า เกมส์ไอ้แมงมุม เกม รถวิบาก เกมส์ยิงซูชิ เกมส์eco เกมรถแข่ เกมส์' เกมส์โหลด เกมส์ฝึกพิมพ์ดีด การลบเกมส์ n95 เกมส์h เกมps2 2550 เกม รถแข่ง เกมส์แนว รบ เกมส์ the farmer เกมส์โปรเกม่อน เกม รถแข่ง3 เกมส์มันมาก เกมส์จอดรถ เกมส์ชกมวย เกมทั่วไป เกมส์ตด เกมส์ the sims2 เกมส์เตอร์ติส เกมดารา เกม 10000 เกมส์คอปเตอร์ เกมเค้ก
^ ^a ^b ^c Player 3 Stage 6: The Great Videogame Crash (1999-04-07). Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ Commodore Amiga 1000 Computer. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ Cifaldi, Frank (2006-02-21). Analysts: FPS 'Most Attractive' Genre for Publishers. Retrieved on 2006-08-17.
^ James, Wagner. Masters of "Doom". Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ Console history. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ Varney, Allen. Feelies. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
เกมส์(boy) เกมจับคู่โปเกมอนส์ d4s เกมส์ลงมือถือฟรี เกมพื้นบ้าน เกมส์กุ๊ก เกมปลูกต้นไม้ เกมส์ วิทยาศาสตร์ เกมส์ม้าแข่ง เกม สันทนาการ เกม ออนไล เกมโทรศัพท์ เกมไอศครีม เกมจับผิด เนื้อหา เกมส์ ออนลาย เกมส์หมอ เกมส์ต่อจิ๊กซอ เกมส์จับคู่ไพ่นกกระจอก เกมแต่งตุ๊กตา เกมมหาสนุก เกม กระต่าย เกมต้มยำกุง
^ Shamma, Tahsin. Review of Unreal, Gamespot.com, June 10, 1998.
^ Durham, Jr., Joel (2006-05-14). Getting Older Games to Run on Windows XP. Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
^ ^a ^b Necasek, Michal (2006-10-30). Brief Glimpse into the Future of 3D Game Graphics. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
^ Reimer, Jeremy (2006-05-14). Tim Sweeney ponders the future of physics cards. Retrieved on 2006-08-22.
^ Shrout, Ryan (2006-05-02). AGEIA PhysX PPU Videos - Ghost Recon and Cell Factor. Retrieved on 2006-08-22.
^ Smith, Ryan (2006-09-07). PhysX Performance Update: City of Villains. Retrieved on 2006-09-13.
^ Half Life 2: Episode One for PC Review (June 2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-02.
^ Wardell, Brad (2006-04-05). [http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060405/wardell_01.shtml Postmortem: Stardock's Galactic Civilizations II: Dread Lords]. Retrieved on 2006-09-13.
^ Simpson, Jake. Game Engine Anatomy 101, Part I. Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
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^ "Quake 3 Source Code Released", August, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ The Next Billion Dollar Videogame Opportunity. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
^ Lombardy, Dana. "Inside the Industry" (PDF), Computer Gaming World, October, 1984, p. 6. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
เกมดราก้อนบอล gt เกมส์ หมากฮอท เกมโปรเกมอน เกมส์ ox เกมส์มหาสนุก เกมส์สไปร์เดอร์แมน เกมส์กระบี่ เกมส์ออนไลน์ฟรี เกมส์เสิร์ฟอาหารจานด่วน เกมส์แข่งรถมอเตอร์ไซค์ เกมส์จับผิด download เกม com เกมส์แต่รถ เกมไอ้แฟรงค์ เกมส์ the sime เกมln เกมเล่นบนเว็บ เกมส์100เกมส์ เกมส์ slave เกมส์ff เกมส์ออนไรน์ เกมส์fm เกมส์ไผ่ เกมส์ บาร์บี้ เกมโดราเอม%e เกมส์ มัน มัน เกมเซ็กส์ เกมออฟไลน์
^ Lombardy, Dana. "Inside the Industry" (PDF), Computer Gaming World, October, 1982, p. 2. Retrieved on 2006-10-15.
^ Chris Morris. "The return of shareware", CNN.com, June 18, 2003. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
^ Brendan Sinclair (June 18, 2003). Spot On: The (new) dawn of digital distribution. Retrieved on 2006-09-23.
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^ Xbox 360 designed to be unhackable (October 2005). Retrieved on 2006-09-22.
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^ X-Fi and the Elite Pro: SoundBlaster's Return to Greatness (August 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ Platform Trends: Mobile Graphics Heat Up (December 2005). Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
^ Xbox 360 Review (November 2005). Retrieved on 2006-09-12.
^ American Psychological Association. Violent Video Games - Psychologists Help Protect Children from Harmful Effects.
^ Senate bill mandates CDC investigation into video game violence (September 2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-19.
^ S Korean dies after games session (August 2005). Retrieved on 2006-09-21.
^ Detox For Video Game Addiction? (July 2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-12.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_computer_game"

Category: Video games

Adventure game

2007-08-22T01:54:00.000-07:00

Adventure game

Adventure games are a type of computer entertainment programs and video game, characterized by investigation, which may include exploration, puzzle-solving, interaction with game characters, and have a focus on narrative rather than reflex-based challenges. It is important to note that this term is unrelated to adventure films, and adventure novels, and is not indicative of theme or subject matter. The vast majority of adventure games are computer games, though console-based adventure games are not unheard of. Unlike many other game genres, the adventure genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media, such as literature and film. Adventure games encompass a wide variety of literary genres, including fantasy, science fiction, mystery, horror, and comedy. Notable adventure games include Zork, King's Quest, The Longest Journey, The Secret of Monkey Island, Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Gabriel Knight, Myst and The Last Express. Nearly all adventure games are designed for a single player, since the heavy emphasis on story and character makes multi-player design difficult.

The adventure genre was quite popular during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and many considered it to be among the most technically advanced genres. While few developers continue to produce adventure games, some are still being released, and the adventure game genre has had some elements carry over into other genres. Games that fuse adventure elements with action gameplay elements are sometimes referred to as adventure games (a popular example is Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series). Adventure game purists regard this as incorrect and call such hybrids action-adventures.

History

Colossal Cave Adventure

In the early 1970s, programmer, caver, and role-player William Crowther developed a program called Colossal Cave Adventure. An employee at Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BB&N), a Boston company involved with ARPANET routers, Crowther used BBN's PDP-10 to create the game. The game used a text interface to create an interactive adventure through a spectacular underground cave system. Crowther's work was later modified and expanded by programmer Don Woods, and Colossal Cave Adventure became wildly popular among early computer enthusiasts, spreading across the nascent ARPANET throughout the 1970s.

The unique combination of Crowther's realistic cave descriptions and Woods' addition of fantastical elements proved immensely appealing, and defined the adventure game genre for decades to come. Swords, magic words, puzzles involving objects, and vast underground realms would all become staples of the text adventure genre.

The "Armchair adventure" soon spread beyond college campuses as the microcomputing movement gained steam. Numerous home-brew knockoffs and variations on Colossal Cave Adventure (which eventually came to be known as simply Adventure) appeared throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Scott Adams

One of the many fans of the Colossal Cave was programmer Scott Adams. Upon his first introduction to Adventure, Adams spent almost ten days traversing the game before he achieved Grand Master status. Once he had completed the game, Adams began to wonder how a game like Colossal Cave Adventure could be developed on a home computer like his TRS-80. The main obstacle was that home computers such as the TRS-80 did not actually have sufficient memory to run a large game like Adventure. However, Adams hit on the idea that an adventure game executable could be divided into code written in a high-level language and an interpreter, much like the way BASIC is often implemented. Furthermore, once an interpreter was developed, Adams realized that it could be reused to develop other adventure games. (For more information: Details of Adams's early work.)

In 1978, Adams founded and produced twelve adventure games before the company went bankrupt in 1985. His first games were text-based and written in BASIC, but during his third game (Mission Impossible), Adams began programming in assembly language to improve the speed of his software.

Graphical progress

The great advance which immediately followed was the introduction of images. With the use of machine language allowing shorter programs, and computer memory increasing, it became possible to use the graphical potential of a computer like the Apple II and some companies soon switched from producing pure text-based adventure games.

Soon the clumsy basic vector graphics gave way to more aesthetic imagery drawn by professional artists. Examples include:

Return of Heracles by Stuart Smith (1982) (which faithfully portrayed Greek mythology)
Sherwood Forest (1982),
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Dale Johnson's Masquerade (1983),
Antonio Antiochia's Transylvania (1982, re-released in 1984)
Stuart Smith's follow-up to Heracles, Adventure Construction Set (1985), one of the early hits of Electronic Arts. The full-length adventure that came with the software, Rivers of Light, was based on the legend of Gilgamesh.

The introduction of such high-quality bitmap graphics required more substantial storage capacity with many adventure games requiring several diskettes for installation, which would be the case until the CD-ROM made its appearance.

Infocom

In 1977, two friends Dave Lebling and Marc Blank, who were students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Laboratory for Computer Science, discovered Crowther and Woods's game Colossal Cave Adventure. After completing the adventure game, they were joined by Tim Anderson and Bruce Daniels and began to develop a similar game. Their first production, Zork, also started on a PDP-10 minicomputer and spread quickly across the ARPANET. Its success was immediate, and the game, which would reach the size of a megabyte, enormous for the time, wouldn't be updated until 1981.

On graduation, the students decided to stay together and to form a company. Tim Anderson, Joel Berez, Marc Blank, Mike Broos, Scott Cutler, Stu Galley, Dave Lebling, J. C. R. Licklider, Chris Reeve, and Albert Vezza created Infocom on 22 June 1979. The idea of distributing Zork came to mind very soon, but the game was too big to port to the microcomputers of the time: the Apple II and the TRS-80, the potential targets, each had only 16 kb of RAM. They solved this problem by breaking up the game into three episodes.

They wrote a special programming language called ZIL (Zork Implementation Language), which could function on any computer by using an emulator (the Z-machine) as an intermediary.

In November 1980 the new Zork I: The Great Underground Empire was made available for the PDP-11; One month later, it was released for the TRS-80, with more than 1,500 copies sold between that date and September 1981. That same year, Bruce Daniels finalized the Apple II version and more than 6,000 additional copies were sold. Zork I would go on to sell over a million copies.

Douglas Adams produced two games with Infocom, the first based on his popular Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series and a lesser known venture game titled Bureaucracy after his attempt to go on a vacation.

The company continued developing text adventure games even as it opened a department for the development of professional software, a department which would never be profitable. High-quality games, with massive, intelligent plots, unequaled syntax analyzers, and meticulous documentation as integral parts of the game, succeeded in all genres. However, with the power of microcomputers increasing and the demand for graphics (which it refused to include in its games), Infocom saw sales decline and in 1989, it had shrunk to a mere 10 employees, compared to 100 employees at its peak, and games developed after 1989 would have no link with the original team.

Sierra

Mystery House for the Apple II was the first adventure game to use graphics in the early home computer era.

At the end of the 1970s, Ken Williams sought to set up a company for enterprise software for the market-dominating Apple II computer. One day, he took a teletype terminal to his residence to work on the development of an accounting program. Rummaging through a catalogue, he found a program called Colossal Cave Adventure. He and his wife Roberta both played it all the way through and their encounter with Crowther's game would have a strong influence on video-gaming history.

Having finished Colossal Cave Adventure, they began to search for something similar, but found the market underdeveloped. Roberta Williams liked the concept of a textual adventure very much, but she thought that the player would have a more satisfying experience with images and began to think of her own game. She thus conceived Mystery House, the first graphical adventure game, a detective story inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.

Ken spent a few nights developing the game on his Apple II, and in the end they made packets with ziploc bags containing the game's 5¼-inch disk and a photocopied paper describing the game. They sold it via a local software shop and to their great surprise, Mystery House was an enormous success. Though Ken believed that the gaming market would be less of a growth market than the professional software market, he persevered with games. Thus, in 1980, the Williamses founded On-Line Systems which would become Sierra On-Line in 1982. The company would be a major actor in the video-gaming of the 1980s.

Image:Kings Quest.png

King's Quest I used colorful graphics which were much more immersive than the line drawings of the earlier adventure games. Below the image the command prompt can be seen, waiting for a command by the player.

Sierra soon took things further. Until this point adventure games were in the first person; images presented the décor as seen through the eyes of the player. Williams's company would introduce a new feature in the King's Quest series: a game in the third person. Taking advantage of the techniques developed in action games which had progressed in parallel, Ken introduced an animated character who represented the player in the game and whom the player controlled. With the 3D Animated Adventures, a new standard was born, and nearly all the industry latched onto it. The commands were still entered on the keyboard and analyzed by a syntax interpreter, as with text adventure games.

Soon after, Sierra had multiple successful series of adventure games running, including King's Quest, Police Quest, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, and Hero's Quest (Quest for Glory), with each containing numerous games. A few years after these series had started, the classic graphics above the command cursor was fully replaced with "point and click" game-play and VGA graphics. Their last and most critically acclaimed series was the Gabriel Knight series, which began in 1993 and ended with Sierra's last adventure game in 1999.

Sierra would develop new games and push the boundaries of adventure gaming until its purchase by Cendant in 1998. Then in 1998, Cendant sold off their entire interactive software branch for $1 billion to Havas Interactive, a subsidiary of Vivendi Universal.

Sierra pursued technologies for their games (such as hand-drawn backgrounds, rotoscoped animation, and in-game video) that were more advanced than most other genres at the time. However, the release of the Sony PlayStation marked the end of the adventure game era; as 3D became the dominant graphics format, the mostly 2D adventure market began to shrink.

LucasArts

In 1987, when nobody seemed able to overcome Sierra's power, a programmer named Ron Gilbert working for the company Lucasfilm Games — which has since become LucasArts — created the script-writing system SCUMM which used a point-and-click interface similar to ICOM Simulations' MacVenture games first introduced in 1985. Instead of having to type a command to the syntax analyzer, this system was controlled by means of text icons. To interact with his environment, the player clicked on an order, on an icon representing an object in her inventory, or on a part of the image. This approach was first used by LucasArts for the game Maniac Mansion to great effect.

LucasArts would come to differentiate itself from its main competitor, the giant Sierra, by rethinking certain adventure game concepts to improve playability. Gone was the possibility to die during the course of the game and everything was done to ensure that the player was never completely stuck. Finally, LucasArts abandoned the system of points indicating the player's progress in the adventure. These innovations were immediately taken into account by the competition, especially Sierra.

Gilbert's attempts, Maniac Mansion and Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders, however, remained in 16 colors (though the FM Towns version of Zak was 256 color), and the point-and-click engine still had vestiges of text parsing, since the player would still have to construct sentences using clickable keywords combined with objects in the game. It was The Secret Of Monkey Island that was finally a complete work, with 256 colors, a more modern point-and-click engine, a dialogue system with optional responses, puzzles solved with items, original graphics, atmosphere music, and a characteristic sense of humor. Above all, the script was written as for a film (which could be done in-house) and the dialogue and inventory served the needs of the script. The 1993 release of Day of the Tentacle, a remarkable success, began a line of cartoon-style games, including the very influential Sam & Max Hit the Road as well as the acclaimed Full Throttle, which also heralded the beginning of the end of the Golden Age of adventure games.

Steven Spielberg collaborated with LucasArts in the creation of The Dig — a science fiction adventure game that the director had envisioned turning into a film.

Taking advantage of advances in action games and integrating an engine similar to those of first-person shooters, the company took a new turn in 1998 with the game Grim Fandango, where it abandoned the cartoon style and its SCUMM scripting environment for a new 3D game system named GrimE.

First-Person 3D Adventure Games

Myst used high-quality 3D rendered graphics to deliver images that were unparalleled at the time of its release. It became so popular that for many years it was the greatest selling computer game of all time, until it was dethroned by The Sims in 2000.

In the early 1990s, some independent adventure-game makers began taking advantage of the greater storage capacities of CD-ROMs to create games with three-dimensional graphics. These were usually first-person, unlike the third-person games created by Sierra and LucasArts, and more photorealistic than games with two-dimensional graphics. This gave them a greater emphasis on immersing the player in the virtual environment. The earliest examples of this type of adventure game include The Journeyman Project and Myst, both released in 1993.

Myst, in particular, was a highly atypical game for the time. It was highly successful, and therefore had a profound influence on many adventure games that came after it. Myst and games like it have little personal or object interaction, and a greater emphasis on exploration, and on scientific and mechanical puzzles. Part of the game's success was because it did not appear to be aimed at an adolescent male audience, but instead a mainstream adult audience. Myst for many years held the all-time record for computer game sales (it sold over nine million copies on all platforms), a feat not surpassed until the release of The Sims in 2000.

There is debate among adventure gamers as to whether or not Myst and similar puzzle games should be considered at all a part of the adventure genre, as their focus on abstract puzzle solving and exploration in the place of character interaction and development sets them apart from what previously characterized adventure games.

Most adventure games today have three-dimensional graphics, but how much they adhere to the Myst tradition varies. Some, like the Journeyman Project series, have more practical puzzles and more object interaction. Others, like those created by LucasArts and Telltale Games, are still third-person, with a more cartoonish style.

Types of adventure games

There are many types of adventure games, depending on the criteria. Adventure games vary in their subject, interface, setting or plot. A definite categorization can't be done since some of them may belong to 2 or more of the below mentioned 'types'.

Text based

Main article: Interactive fiction

The first adventure games to appear were text adventures (later called interactive fiction), which typically use a verb-noun parser to interact with the user. These evolved from early mainframe titles like Hunt the Wumpus (Gregory Yob) and Adventure (Crowther and Woods) into commercial games which were playable on personal computers, such as Infocom's widely popular Zork series. In recent years, a vibrant and creative community of interactive fiction authors has thrived on the internet. Some companies that were important in bringing out text adventure games were Adventure International, Infocom, Level 9 Computing, Magnetic Scrolls and Melbourne House, with Infocom being the most well known.

Graphical adventure

Graphical adventure games were introduced by a new company called On-Line Systems, which later changed its name to Sierra On-Line. After the rudimentary Mystery House (1980) they established themselves with the full adventure King's Quest (1984), appearing on various systems, and went on to further success with a variety of strong titles.

A number of games were released on 8-bit home computer formats in the 1980s that advanced on the text adventure style originated with games like Colossal Cave Adventure and, in a similar manner to Sierra, added moveable (often directly-controllable) characters to a parser or input-system similar to traditional adventures. Examples of this are Gargoyle Games's Heavy on the Magick (1986) which has a text-input system with an animated display screen, and the later Magic Knight games such as Spellbound (1985) which uses a window-menu system to allow for text-adventure style input.

In 1984 a new kind of adventure games emerged following the launch of the Apple Macintosh with its point-and-click interface. First out was the innovative but relatively unknown Enchanted Scepters the same year, then in 1985 ICOM Simulations released Deja Vu that completely banished the text parser for a point-and-click interface. In 1987 the well-known second follow-up Shadowgate was released, and LucasArts also entered the field with Maniac Mansion � a point-and-click adventure that gained a strong following. A prime example of LucasArts' work is the Monkey Island series.

CRPG-like

Adventure games are similar to computer role-playing games (CRPG's), except that the game play is more focused on problem-solving rather than combat and statistics. In general, games that involve the management of player attributes and statistics are considered to be CRPG's, while those that focus solely on puzzles and narrative are considered to be part of the Adventure category. It should be noted, however, that this distinction is an extremely loose one, and many games blur the line between the two categories. In particular, the status of what are sometimes called action-adventure games as members of the category is largely in doubt, with adventure gaming purists (and, to a lesser extent, action gaming purists) labeling action-adventure games as belonging to neither the action nor adventure genres rather than to both.

Some adventure games rely equally on the common adventure elements, but also on the 'character building' of RPGs. The main character(s) usually has a certain "Hit point" meter and a chart of skills. Some puzzles and feats need a minimum amount of skills in order to be solved (like Climbing above 5 to climb a tree and obtain a lost ring) so the player may have to choose one character over another to solve it, or spend time building the skills of the first character. As in RPGs, the games involve battles, the result of which depends on his character's skills and health (and on the player's reflexes in the case of real-time combat). However, these kinds of games don't belong to the 'Action adventure' above. Typical examples include Quest for Glory and Beyond Zork.

Puzzle adventure

Adventure games that do not rely on obtaining items, their use, and character interaction belong to this genre. It emphasizes exploration, reading logs, and deciphering the proper use of complex mechanisms, often resembling Rube Goldberg machines.

The plot of these games is usually obscure, and relies on the player's interpretation of the setting and the scenery, and information from the logs in order for him to understand the background scenario. Almost all of these games are played from a first person perspective with the player "moving" between still pre-rendered 3D images, sometimes combined with short animations or video. Typical examples include Schizm, Atlantis: The Lost Tales, Riddle of the Sphinx and Myst, which pioneered this game style.

Japanese adventure game

The Japanese branch of adventure games, amongst many other terms, includes the genre known as visual novels and have for over a decade been a staple of PC software sales in Japan and other east-asian countries (so much so that popular titles are open ported to consoles, and some even have manga and animé based upon them). Many (those belonging to the visual novel genre) are more of an interactive novel than a conventional game, and as such have a tighter focus on narrative and more limited puzzle features than their western counterparts. Instead of point-and-click or text parser interfaces, Japanese adventure games are characterised by the use of on-screen menus for everything from interaction to navigation, and the story-lines usually have a strong romantic aspect (with "dating sims" being the main subcategory of the genre). Konami's classic Policenauts and Snatcher games were for a long time, the highest regarded games of this type in the west, and it is only very recently that they started to be released here in any significant number (particularly on the Nintendo DS console, and with mystery-solving titles such as the Ace Attorney series and Hotel Dusk). The cultural differences between western and Japanese adventure games are closely related to those in role-playing games (i.e. more linear).

Other

A few adventure games have defined themselves as "original" because they distanced themselves from the main adventure genre and put focus on other elements. They are considered unique because they didn't develop into genres.

The Prisoner (Edu-Ware): Designed by David Mullich, this 1980 game, loosely based upon the television series of the same name, purposefully broke all the conventions of text-based adventures with its abstract "text graphics", hypnotic melodies, intellectual themes, conversational language parser, and attempting to trick the player with deceptions such as simulated game errors. Its 1982 high-resolution graphics remake, Prisoner 2, poked fun at classic adventure games like Colossal Cave Adventure and Mystery House.
King's Quest VIII: The Mask of Eternity (Sierra): Although it could be labeled as an action-adventure, KQ8 was hard to define because the genre was not popular when it was released. Rather than relying solely on action, it combined many other elements including first-person and over-the-shoulder third-person views (the latter similar to that used in Tomb Raider), riddles, dialogue, inventory and RPG elements such as an extensive array of weapons and collecting experience.
Hampstead and Terrormolinos (Melbourne House): Written by Trevor Lever and Peter Jones, these games introduced a new element of satirical humor to adventure games in the mid-80s. Although Hampstead contained no graphics, it was of its time in lampooning social climbing. Terrormolinos required the player to survive a two-week family holiday in Spain, and contained simple Donald McGill-style graphics which imitated Polaroid photographs by 'developing' on-screen.
The Colonel's Bequest (Sierra): Bequest contained riddles and interaction with items and objects like an "ordinary" adventure, but the game focused primarily on communication with other characters and obtaining as much information as possible. The game advanced when the player was present at certain times and places that might reveal information on the plot and back-story. The full score would be attained not for only solving riddles, but for perceiving "suspicious" elements like the relationship between the characters, objects that changed position or traces of information about the killer's identity.
Loom (Lucasfilm Games): This game was widely hailed as original and innovative, not only because of the plot, but for the entire concept. Unlike other adventure games, this one did not have an inventory of physical objects and puzzles that relied on combining those objects. Aside from basic movement and object-examining actions, the only interactions the player had with the game world was in casting spells, which was performed by playing musical notes in certain sequences.
The Last Express (Brøderbund): Designed by Jordan Mechner, the designer of Prince of Persia, Express differed from an ordinary adventure game in that it took place in almost complete real-time, meaning that the player had to make split second decisions. In addition, the non-player characters were semi-intelligent, and moved around on their own schedules regardless of the player's progress. The game took place within the crowded confines of the Orient Express and featured a few action sequences that did not require much dexterity to complete. As well, the game mostly lacked inventory items and most of the game required the player to advance by talking to the other passengers and learn about their back-stories, rather than solving traditional puzzles.

Modern adventure games

For much of the 1980s, adventure games were one of the most popular types of computer games produced. But in the mid-1990s their market share drastically declined, as action games took a greater share of the market, particularly first person shooters such as Doom and Half-Life that feature strong, story-structured solo games. This slump in popularity led many publishers and developers to see adventure games as financially unfeasible in comparison. Text adventures met the same fate much earlier, but their simplicity has allowed them to thrive as non-commercially developed interactive fiction.

Few recent commercial adventure games have been hits. It has been suggested that this is because the "average" gamer today was weaned on console video games and first person shooters rather than the "traditional" computer games cherished by the original crop of adventure gaming enthusiasts. Another explanation offered states that MMORPGs, which offer a persistent multiplayer world, have at least partially supplanted the genre.

Still another possible cause of the genre's downturn may lie with the nature of 3D graphics themselves, which for much of the 90's and early 2000s tended to be more oriented toward fast movement than graphical detail. Conversely, however, if a game were to implement more detailed but static imagery, this could be perceived as technologically regressive. Some question therefore exists of the adventure game making a comeback with recent advances in technology.

Adventure games have ceased to be the flagship titles they once were, and high profile publishers like Sierra Entertainment and LucasArts have either disappeared or shifted towards publishing titles developed by other companies. However, adventure games continue to be made in the 2000s, primarily outside North America where the genre is still popular. Games such as The Longest Journey by Funcom and Microïds' Syberia with rich classical elements of the genre still garnered high critical acclaims. The Myst series came to a close in September 2005 with the release of Myst V: End of Ages by its original developer, Cyan Worlds. Adventure games based on the Nancy Drew books are published by Her Interactive and comprise a series of over twelve titles published since 2000. The Nintendo DS and its unique features have sparked a renewed interest in pure adventure game content, with the release of Trace Memory and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in 2005 and the release of Hotel Dusk: Room 215 in 2006. IGN has noted that Nintendo's Wii controller would be well-suited for the genre, and could see some ground-breaking releases in that vein.

Yet the genre is still easily found at retail and as a result many fans have taken on the challenge of developing their own adventure games. These "amateur adventure games" are in some cases remakes of old classics or sequels to established titles. Such games are either programmed from scratch or composed by using authoring tools. Examples for such graphical development environments for adventure games are Adventure Game Studio and Visionaire.

Although traditional adventure games are rare today, action-adventure games that combine elements of adventure games with action games are quite common. There are also similarities between adventure and role-playing games, particularly those in a more modern, story- and character-based mold. Computer role-playing games in this vein have been published more frequently since the success of Baldur's Gate in 1998, and console role-playing games have generally been quite focused on plot and story, thanks in part to the success of the Final Fantasy series.

In 2005, Fahrenheit (titled "Indigo Prophecy" in the US and Canada) was released by Quantic Dream. An adventure game with a highly-original interface, many believe that the game will help renew interest in the adventure game genre. This followed the prior release of their own Omikron: The Nomad Soul and Sega's Shenmue games, which were also adventure games with direct character control interfaces.

Many famous adventure games have problems running on modern computers. Early adventure games were developed for computers such as the ZX Spectrum, the C64 and Amiga, which are not in much use today. There are now emulators available for personal computers that allow these old games to be played. One Open Source project called ScummVM provides a free engine for the LucasArts adventure games and will soon support early Sierra titles; another called VDMSound can emulate the old sound-cards which many of the games require. Text adventure games have survived much more readily. There are only a small number of widespread standard formats, and nearly all the classics can be played on modern computers. Even some more modern text adventure games can be played on very old computer systems. Text adventure games are also suitable for PDAs, because they have very small computer system requirements.

There is something of a revival of the adventure game online - in both a fairly traditional style, such as MOTAS, and in 3-dimensional games, such as Crimson Room.

Common features

Adventure games, like RPGs, often feature "fetch quests": in order to advance, the player has to help a character in order to gain information or an important item as a reward. In fantasy-themed games, this character is often a healer or magician, and the secondary quest is to find artifacts or items, not uncommonly ingredients for a potion. From a programming point of view, this allows the adventure to be modelled as a finite state machine. Answers to problems in games are not usually plain to see, but the player must use their logic to figure out what to do next. For example, a character is usually not willing to volunteer their information, but must be convinced to talk, or given something that will benefit them.

Adventure games have been criticized because some games adopt the attitude that 'the ends justify the means'. In such cases, the player must obtain an item from someone reluctant to cooperate, and the only way to progress is to distract him or her in order to steal the item. In contrast, however, many adventure games have quests or missions that urge the player to help others; for instance, helping tormented spirits that seek deliverance, freeing a trapped animal, or otherwise performing benevolent, selfless acts. Often these characters will reward the player later in the game, often at a critical juncture.เกมส์ dota เกมไทยๆ เกมส์ แต่งตัวให้ผู้หญิง เกมเเ เกมส์ fm เกมส์มัน ต่างๆ เกม pixcel art บนมือถือ เกมยิงสัตว์ประหลาด เกมส์เงา เกม hitman2 เกมส์ดอทเอ เกมส์แบดมินตัน เกมมวยปล้ำ เกมส์ปาไก่ เกมส์รถแข่งมันๆ เกมสร้างสวน เกมศ์ทำอาหาร เกมหมากรุกdowndoad เกมส์ยิงคนป่า เกม] เกมส์เทสนิส เกมส์สไปเดอแมน เกมส์กาฟิว เกมส์ออนไลน์ ใหม่ เกมส์ yulgang เกมส์ rockman x8 เกมส์ downioad การเขียนเกมง่ายๆ

Early adventure games sometimes trapped the players in unwinnable, dead end situations. For example, if the player overlooked a key (or an important item early in the game), the game cannot be completed if he later finds himself trapped in a cell. Such games frequently did not end at this point since the player was not killed; with no indication that a vital object had been missed, the player was often reduced to trying increasingly outlandish actions until finally restoring to an earlier point or quitting the game altogether. A famous example of a dead end situation is the plant in "Return to Zork". Early in the game a plant can be obtained. Most players just take the plant, but will find out later (much later) in the game their plant has died. Without the plant the game can't be finished. What they should have done is carefully dig out the plant, instead of just grabbing it. Naturally, players rarely found this type of game-play entertaining. Some companies, including LucasArts, deliberately and explicitly avoided dead-end situations in many of their games. Although some adventure purists scorned such practices as "dumbing down games for the masses", more games adopted the approach over time; even Sierra, who was infamous for a time for ruthlessly "punishing the player", eventually embraced the concept.

Some items are featured very often in various adventure games, and have many uses. Two examples are a rope and a crowbar. In some games, certain items are used as part of running gags; for example being used in many absurd situations far from their original intended purpose, or items which are seemingly useless for most of the game, such as the rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle in The Secret of Monkey Island, or the combination of a clothesline, a clamp, and a rubber duck with a hole in it, which, when put between the clamp, can make it contract over time, and grab a certain item in The Longest Journey. Situations like these have been criticized, but such criticisms have only been minor.

Many graphic adventure games depicted or make reference to subject matter that would otherwise been censored or taboo in a video or computer game. Adventure games set in a gritty environment (e.g. Rise of the Dragon, Police Quest and Snatcher) would contain bits of profanity and include either depictions or allusions to mature sexual themes such as prostitution and illicit drugs. Adventure games that relied heavily on humor (e.g. Discworld, Blazing Dragons, The Adventures of Willy Beamish, The Secret of Monkey Island and Simon the Sorcerer) were often influenced by Monty Python-style satire and comedy.

Well-known adventure games

Graphic adventure games in a series

Broken Sword
The Colonel's Bequest and it's sequel The Dagger of Amon Ra
Discworld and its sequels Discworld 2 and Discworld Noir
Gabriel Knight
Gobliiins
Indiana Jones
The Journeyman Project
King's Quest
The Legend of Kyrandia
Leisure Suit Larry
The Longest Journey and its sequel Dreamfall
Maniac Mansion and its sequel Day of the Tentacle
Monkey Island
Myst
Phantasmagoria
Police Quest
RHEM and its sequel RHEM 2
Sam & Max Hit the Road and its sequel(s) Sam & Max
The 7th Guest and its sequel The 11th Hour
Runaway: A Road Adventure and its sequel Runaway 2: The Dream of The Turtle
เกมส์ เอรากอน เกมpocket เกมส์เเต่งภาพ เกมไก่ชน เกมหนังสือ เกมส์ แต่งหน้า แต่งตัว เกมส์เปียโน เกมส์ลูกโป่ง เกมส์ war craft เกมส์เล้าโลม เกมส์ ฟาร์มเกษตร เกมส์fs เกม dynomite deluxe เกม โปเกมอนส์ เกมจับผิด วิธีเล่น เกมส์ gears of war เกมส์แฟน เกมส์ทั่ว เกมส์บนมือถือฟรี เกมออนไลน์ ใหม่ เกมส์ยิงจุดโทษ เกม จับคู่ ผลไม้ เกม หมากฮอส เกมส์วอคาฟ เกมส์go เกม เทนนิส เกม ต่าง ๆ เกมส์gt เกมส์นารู เกมส์ปังปอน เกมเมอร์นิวส์ เกมส์ lan เกมส์เทคอนโด้ เกมส์มาริโอ3 เกม มาริโอ บนมือถือ เกม สยามโซน เกมตัดขนสุนัข เกมส์ออนไลน์น่ารักๆ เกมส์ เช่า เกมส์วอร์คราฟ ป้องกันเมือง
The Sherlock Holmes series: Mystery of the Mummy, Secret of the Silver Earring and The Awakened
Shivers and its sequel Shivers 2: Harvest of Souls
Simon the Sorcerer
Space Quest
Syberia and its sequel Syberia II
Tex Murphy

Graphic adventure games not in a series

Beneath a Steel Sky
The Black Cauldron
The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble
Blade Runner
The Dig
Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern
Dust: A Tale of the Wired West
Full Throttle
Grim Fandango
Loom
The Neverhood
RAMA
Sanitarium
Snatcher
The Last Express
Titanic: Adventure Out of Time
Toonstruck
Torin's Passage
Zak McKracken and the Alien Mindbenders
Total distortion

Text-only adventure games

Colossal Cave Adventure
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Softporn Adventure
Zork

Japanese adventure games

Ace Attorney
Another Code: Two Memories
Harukanaru Toki no Naka de
Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Muv-Luv
Policenauts
Tokimeki Memorial

References

Originally translated from the article on the French Wikipedia, which cites the following sources:

ANFOSSI, Gérald, La programmation des jeux d'aventure, Editions du PSI, Paris, 1985
MITCHELL, David, An Adventure in Programming Techniques, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., London, 1986

External links

AdventureCon - Adventure Game Convention
"Creating Adventure Games on Your Computer" a 1983 programming manual by Tim Hartnell
"Defining the ideal adventure game" article by David Tanguay (1999)
Fantasy Adventures - Classic adventure computer game museum
"Who killed adventure games?" article
SCI Community - Community based on making adventure games using Sierra's Creative Interpreter
IFReviews Organization, huge repository for text adventure game reviews written and rated by Interactive Fiction community players and members.
Just Adventure+, a repository for reviews and walkthroughs

Lineage The best Game Of MMORPG

2007-08-19T05:20:00.000-07:00

Lineage II

Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne (Korean:리니지 2) is a fantasy massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for the PC, and a prequel to Lineage. It has become very popular since its October 1, 2003 launch in South Korea, reporting 610,918 unique users during the month of March 2007. Lineage II requires a $15 USD monthly fee to play for the United States/European regional server. Lineage II - South-East Asia (L2-SEA) 30-day subscription is US$ 7.00 (PhP 350.00; S$ 11.00; MYR 26.00) which is the rate of online games in the South-East Asia region. L2-SEA will be published by AsianMedia for the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia, and the Open Beta Test (OBT) started on August 1, 2007. L2-SEA's timezone and time format is the new ASEAN Common Time or ACT which is UTC+0800H.

Overview

Lineage II screenshot of an elven character

Players create a character as their avatar in the game's medieval-style virtual world. Humans, Elves and Dark Elves start off in the Kingdom of Aden while Dwarves and Orcs start off in the Kingdom of Elmore (Elmore was an entirely different continent until recent versions of the game that have since joined Elmore to Aden). Players can choose from either fighter or mystic professions at the start, except for Dwarves which are only able to select the fighter profession. This choice acts as an archetype for later profession options. Each race has its own set of classes, even if humans, elves and darkelves have a lot of classes which are very similar to their counterparts in the other two races.

Players have a variety of things they can do for fun in the game. They play alone or as part of a group to fight monsters and complete quests for new skills, experience points, and items. Player versus player (PvP) is a significant portion of the game. The game provides many social/politic/economic aspects which are developed through the community and by the actions in-game of single players. Lineage II

features siege warfare like the original. To make sure PvP stays under control, the design includes a Karma system that provides negative consequences for killing other players when they are not fighting back.

Lineage II features greatly improved third-person 3D graphics over its predecessor. The game uses the Unreal 2.0 Engine developed by Epic Games.

Saga

Sagas are the set of story plots of Lineage II. The first time they introduced this is with the introduction of Saga 2: The Chaotic Throne which will start with the "Interlude". The first Saga was entitled "The Chaotic Chronicle"

Chronicles

Chronicles are large-scale updates to Lineage II done every half a year. They are free expansions to the game that every subscriber must download in the form of a patch. As the "Chronicles" advance, a new story develops. There are major game alterations in each new Chronicle, and the game balance has greatly changed in every case so far. Each chronicle also adds a great deal of new content to the game, including new skills, quests, areas and items; some chronicles also increased the level cap.

Saga 1: The Chaotic Chronicle

Prelude (Chronicle 0)

Lineage II went live in North America on April 27, 2004. All open beta players were required to purchase a copy of Lineage II to obtain a CD key to activate their previously used account. The purchase included the payment for the first month of gameplay. Prelude was the first time a monthly fee of $15 was charged.

There was no change in game mechanics between open beta and prelude.

Chronicle 1 : Harbingers of War

Released June 29, 2004 Chronicle 1: Harbingers of War added stirring castle sieges, new fierce monsters, items and quests, and a significantly expanded 3D world. Among the many new quests available to players is the Dragon’s Cave quest, which results in a showdown with the massive Earth Dragon, Antharas . Many of the new quests are designed to challenge higher level players, in particular. Also featured in Chronicle 1 are dozens of new weapons and skills for players to obtain. Clan housing was added, where clans can bid on clan halls through an auction system. Additionally, player and creature movement speeds were increased and new PvP arenas were added

Chronicle 2 : Age of Splendor

In Chronicle 1, when a clan successfully won a castle siege, there was not much gained from it other than reputation and pride. After Chronicle 2 was released December 8, 2004, a manor system was added. New parts of the map were added as well, such as the water city of Heine, Devastated Castle, Tower of Insolence, the castle of Innadril, the Aden Coliseum, Alligator Island, Field of Whispers, Field of Silence, and others.

Chronicle 3 : Rise of Darkness

With Chronicle 3 released May 2005, came a new twist to the L2 universe called the Seven Signs. The idea behind this twist is to pit two factions (Dusk & Dawn) against one another in a competition for Seals. This competition is voluntary but not joining may hinder progress later in the game (when one is a high level player). Seals are items dropped by mobs that, when turned in, will give players Ancient Adena. Ancient Adena is another level of the Economy in L2 and allows players to purchase items they would not normally have access to.

The addition of the Seven Signs competition also brought a large number of dungeons across Aden called Catacombs and Necropolises, that only participants in the competition can access. For one week, players compete for and turn in as many seals as they can. When dusk wins, the sky turns dark red and the moon gets a giant red eye; When dawn wins, the sky turns blue and a giant eye appears, too. Winners are given exclusive access to the Catacombs/Necropolis and the losing side will be locked out for one week. During this period, players can also exchange their seals for Ancient Adena. There is also a part called the Festival for parties of 6 or more. The party enters a room and kills monsters (also called mobs) until a time limit is up. This part of the Seven Signs also contributes to scoring in the Seals competition.

Other notable changes are: castle owners now have access to a fire-breathing Wyvern (Dragon) that they can fly around Aden (it should also be noted that they are very expensive to spawn and keep alive while in use); A Grade armor/weapons were added; and a subclass system was introduced that allows players to add another class to their character after level 75.

Chronicle 4: Scions of Destiny

Scions of Destiny was released on February 8, 2006. It featured expanded content in the form of new territories, enemies, summons, equipment, and a system designed to reward diligent, high level players that are victorious in a tournament in which they contend with other players in single combat. This expansion was released by NCSoft's North American counterpart on their Public Test Server on the 8th of January, 2006.

Chronicle 5: Oath of Blood

The Chronicle 5 expansion was released September 6, 2006. Clans received a makeover and the player level cap was raised to 80. New siegeable castles were added to the towns of Rune and Schuttgart. The Demonic Sword Zariche was introduced.Clan reputation can now be earned through Clan Academy, Clan Warfare, Clan Hall Battles and Clan Quests. Clan Reputation can be used to increase the rank of the clan to unlock clan skills and items. Clans of rank 5 and higher can create academies for the purpose of training and developing clan members. Members that complete their second class transfers through the academy receive commemorative items and increases the clan's reputation. Clan members of level 5 and higher can obtain a clan title. Clans can now have a maximum of 140 players, compared to the previous 40 players; accordingly, alliances can now only have 3 clans, instead of the previous limit of 12.

Roughly 50 skills were added for levels 55+ and the functions of certain skills were refined.

An extensive new crafting system was also introduced based on Life Crystals farmed from raid bosses, which can be traded to NPCs for items.

Saga 2: The Chaotic Throne

Interlude (Throne 0)

The name of the next Lineage II Saga was made public on October 12, 2006. Named "Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne", and the first release is entitled "Interlude", setting a new course for the Lineage II legacy. Interlude went live on Korean servers in December 2006, while on the US & EU regions, Interlude went live on April 11, 2007.

Lineage II South-East Asia will start with the Interlude patch, skipping the 3-year long Saga 1: The Chaotic Chronicle, which started on August 1, 2007.

Features : Roughly 60 skills will be added, 51 of those are for levels 76+ and 9 for levels 55+. The function of certain skills will be refined.

Interlude consists of many new features, other things include masks, weapon augmentations, additional hunting zones, a new demonic weapon for PvP, and a lot more. Interlude features the 'lost island' (or new island for the players) named "Primeval Isle" where, according to Lore, the Giants used to live. You can reach there by taking a ship, by swimming from the north of the dark elf village, or jumping off Rune castle town's harbor and swimming there.

1st Throne: The Kamael

Announced on Lineage II Korea. Trailer at: 1st Throne: The Kamael Intro1st Throne will include a new race, "The Kamael". Early fan/official art show them to have a single wing and have elven characteristics, but whereas the elves use light magic, the Kamael will use dark magic. The 1st Throne will also introduce the Fortresses and Nation Wars; not much is known about the Fortresses, but the Nation Wars is a feature that will allow not only an inter-server siege and competitions but also a regional siege and competition. This expansion will also add two more countries or land masses in the western and north eastern regions. It has also been rumored that pets will receive CP and that they "grow", similar to the Hatchlings/Striders.

Characters

Characters act as a player’s avatar within the game. Players are afforded up to 7 characters per server. As characters kill non-player character (NPC) monsters, they accumulate experience and skill points (SP). As experience points accumulate, the character's "level" increases, meaning various attributes of the character are augmented. In Chronicle 5, the level cap has been set at 80. Players purchase and then upgrade their character’s skills using SP. A character may only be deleted if not a member of a guild, or clan. The process of deletion usually takes six to seven days.

Male Human Knight and Female Dark Elf Bladedancer

Races

There are currently five races in the World of Lineage II. Human, Light Elf, Dark Elf, Orc, Dwarf, and a new race will be added on the 1st Throne: The Kamael bringing it to six races.

Classes

There are currently a large amount of classes(36) for each race respectively. Each race and subsequent class has a set amount of Stat Points already assigned to their class.

Subclasses

Upon completing the appropriate quests after reaching level 75, a player may choose add subclass to their character. This subclass starts at level 40. Limitations are put in place on what subclass one can choose. Dark and Light Elves may not choose a class from their opposing race. Overlord and Warsmith cannot be chosen by any class. In addition a player may not choose a class that matches their main class (a Dark Avenger may not become a Paladin, likewise a Treasure Hunter may not become a Plainswalker). Once a subclass has reached level 75, you may choose another. A character may hold a total of three subclasses in addition to their main class.Players are able to switch between their main and subclasses through the appropriate NPC. Once the class has been changed, the character’s attributes switch to those of chosen class. However inventory, quests, recommendations, PvP and PK scores carry over.

Noblesses

When a character’s subclass has reached level 75, they are eligible to become a Noblesse. Upon completing the necessary quest, they receive bonuses, such as a crown, more teleportation options, and certain Noblesse-only skills and abilities. They can set a title for themselves without clan. A character must be a Noblesse in order to compete in the Grand Olympiad and become a hero. The first Quest can be accepted at level 50

Heroes

Heroes are Noblesse characters who have competed in and won the Grand Olympiad. There is a limit of 31 Heroes at any time. Only the character's main class will receive the title. Heroes receive special weapons and abilities; in addition, they may speak globally to their entire server. They also receive a glowing aura so that they stand out against other characters.

Pets

In Lineage II, a player can obtain a monster that becomes their pet through the completion of quests. Unlike other summons or magic, as long as certain conditions are met, a pet will not be bound by time limitations, nor will it be dismissed by force. These pets can also hold items in their inventories while they are called, including weapons and armor that can be equipped by the pet.

Pets fall into two categories:

Pet earned xp: Wolf, Hatchling, Strider, and Wyvern.

Player earned xp: Baby Buffalo, Baby Cougar, Baby Kookaburra, and Sin Eater

Geography

Interlude Map(Note: Primeval Isle and Fortresses)

Currently, Lineage II is broken into two countries, Aden and Elmore.

Aden lies south of the Border Outposts and it's capital castle is Aden Castle. Elmore lies to the north of the Outposts and encompasses Goddard, Rune and Shuttgart. It's capital castle is Rune Castle.

Aden currently taxes the following castles: Gludio, Dion, Giran, Oren.

Rune currently taxes the following castles: Goddard, Schuttgart.

Aden's geography ranges from deserts to tropical forests. Elmore is more rugged having mostly mountainous regions along with a frozen winter wastelands.

Along with Interlude update, the newest territory is added into Elmore's Realm. Primeval Isle is a tropical island home to fierce Dinosaur mobs.

NCsoft Publisher Partnerships

NCsoft & AsianMedia

Lineage II - South-East Asia or simply L2-SEA is NCsoft's first "Publishing License" grant for their flagship game to a completely independent company. NCsoft granted a distribution license to AsianMedia for ArenaNet's Guild Wars for the Philippines. AsianMedia has been licensed to distribute, publish, and operate Lineage II. NCSoft’s licensing grant initially limits AsianMedia licensing to three countries namely, the Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia.

NCSoft & NcTrue

In July of 2005, NcSoft (Korea) and True(True Corporation Public Company Ltd., formerly Telecom Asia) established NcTrue a joint-venture. The companies publicly reported the funding for the venture was capitalized at $4 million USD, and that NCSoft would hold a 49% stake in the venture, and True 51% respectively.

NCSoft president, Kim Jack, stated that Thailand, would serve as the gate to Southeast Asia market and that the venture would be instrumental in laying the framework to penetrate the Southeast Asian market in the future. Moreover, the intention of the venture was to take NCSoft one step closer to constructing a global network for online gaming services like Lineage 2.

Currently NcSoft has joint venture offices in Japan, Taiwan, and China.

Private servers

In 2004, the official Lineage II server software was leaked and a significant number of private servers appeared. Modification of the official game client allowed players to connect to non-official (private) servers. However, some private servers that run emulated server code require only modification of the hosts file in the player's operating system, leaving the client unchanged.

There are currently three completely independent open source server emulators. All of which have been released under the GPL license and allow the client to connect with only a host file change. L2J, the first emulator created for Lineage II, is written in Java, and is the most mature server emulator available. L2Adena is written in C++ and is currently under development. L2castell is a complete rewrite of L2J started by L2J developers who disagreed with certain design aspects of the server.

Some private servers have populations reaching into the thousands. Playing on private servers is free, although many are supported by donations from players.

After the initial Prelude and Chronicle 1 file leaks, the official software was modified by the use of Assembly Language, Hexadecimal Editing and DLL hooks to support the clients and features of later Chronicles. These modified versions of the Chronicle 1 software were called "Hybrid".

Currently, it is common for private servers to be found hosting Interlude. The game play is commonly altered by boosting the experience rates, the monetary drop rate, and the item drop rate, making higher-quality gear easier to obtain. Many servers also feature unique "twists" which keep them apart from the rest.

In 2006, the Lineage II Chronicle 4 Public Test Server files were leaked and sold to private server owners. Figures as high as $15,000 US were being asked, but it's not confirmed if anyone paid for this, as the files were later leaked from the sellers and made publicly available. The C4 applications require a 64-bit microprocessor architecture to run.

NCSoft has taken some actions against private servers. One such server has been shut down by the FBI while its owner has been arrested for copyright violation.

As of 2007, the community created server files for Chronicle 5 have reached a useful level of accuracy. Private servers based on these files are getting more and more popular in the private server community.

The GameSites200 Lineage II Section, Hopzone and Games Top 100 are the main places of competition, where each server competes for user votes to rank itself among the top servers. Currently these sites contain very inaccurate vote results, as there is an ongoing epidemic of "proxy voting" (cheating).

NCsoft Involvement

On November 16, 2006, the private server L2Extreme was shut down by the FBI . L2Extreme has recently resurfaced in the private gaming community.

On November 20, 2006, NCsoft issued an official press release on their involvement with the FBI raid, verifying its validity. Additionally, the news was posted on the official Lineage II website.

On November 21, 2006, NCsoft began sending out cease and desist warnings to many private servers or their hosts.

Botting

Like many MMORPGs, Lineage II has been the target of botting, in which an external program is used to simulate the actions of a player. Such activity is prohibited and is a bannable offense, though seemingly rarely enforced. Nevertheless, players continue this practice, since the player is able to leave his/her computer and the bot will continue doing what it has been programmed to do. Some of the most well-known bots are L2Walker and Superman (formerly known as L2Wind). There is a conspiracy theory, based on fine coding, numerous features and versatility of those programs (surpassing the official game client by far), that developers of Wind and Walker were/are in league with NC Soft itself. Sometimes proven botted characters are subject to disrespect and rejection by a certain part of the community. But this tendency got terribly weakened lately, legitimate players having definitely become a minority.

Apart from easing some of the more mundane aspects of gameplay, botting can also be used as a way to generate Adena (Lineage II currency) which is then sold for real world cash. This phenomenon, Economy Interaction, is quite controversial and is common in most of today's large MMORPGs.

It should be noted that Game Guard, the "anti-cheat" system used by Lineage II, allows a player to run the game with the aforementioned bot programs running in the background; the player does not need any form of "anti-cheat" bypass to bot in this game. On the other hand, some other tools are blocked by Game Guard, like the "GameCam" program which is not a cheating tool but a program used to produce videos from in-game footage. The majority of private Lineage II servers make it impossible to start the game when a bot program is detected on the player's computer.

Controversy

Current

As of the 5th chronicle, NCsoft has released a weapon called "The Demonic Sword Zariche". This sword is very powerful, but is also temporary: it is destroyed once its "health" has run out. The sword is found as a random drop from a slain enemy. The developers have said that they are willing to see if this sword will help stop botting because of the strength that it possesses, but players use the sword only for powerleveling. Early indications suggest that NCSoft thinks it is helping; a second demonic weapon, the dual sword Akamanah, has been introduced in the Interlude release.

Awards

Expansion of the Year (Chronicle 5: Oath of Blood), Stratics Central Editor's Choice Awards 2006

Honorable Mention, Game of the Year, Stratics Central Editor's Choice Awards 2006

References

^ http://www.lineage2-online.com/content/lineage2-requirements.php

^ 1Q FY2007 Earnings Release(Consolidated)

^ http://www.gamershell.com/news/13845.html

^ http://strategywiki.org/wiki/Lineage_II/LifeCrystals

^ http://lineage2.com/news/news.html#a007783 (dead link)

^ http://www.plaync.com/us/news/2007/04/ncsoft_launches_10.html

^ http://anthony.blogs.ablenet.org/l2extreme_fbi_shutdown

^ http://www.plaync.com/us/news/2006/11/fbi_ncsoft_clos.html

^ http://www.lineage2.com/news/news.html#a007871 (dead link)

Final Fantasy 11

2007-08-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

Final Fantasy XI

Final Fantasy XI

Developer(s)	Square
Publisher(s)	PlayStation 2 Sony Computer Entertainment Windows (PC)/Xbox 360 Square Enix
Designer(s)	Hiromichi Tanaka (game producer) Hironobu Sakaguchi (executive producer) Koichi Ishii (game director) Nobuyoshi Mihara (character designer) Yoshitaka Amano (image illustrator, title logo designer) Ryosuke Aiba (art director) Nobuo Uematsu (sound producer, composer) Naoshi Mizuta (composer) Kumi Tanioka (composer)
Series	Final Fantasy series
Release date(s)	PlayStation 2 ^JP May 16, 2002 ^NA March 23, 2004 Windows (PC) ^JP November 2002 ^NA October 28, 2003 ^PAL September 17, 2004 Xbox 360 ^NA April 18, 2006 ^JP April 20, 2006 ^PAL April 20, 2006
Genre(s)	Massively multiplayer online role-playing game
Mode(s)	Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: T (Teen) (13+) PEGI: 12+ USK: 12+ OFLC: G8+ (PC) and PG (Xbox 360) CERO: B (Ages 12 and up)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
Media	DVD-ROM, CD-ROM
System requirements	(Windows) Pentium III 800Mhz CPU, Windows 2000/Windows XP, 128 MB RAM, 4X CD-ROM drive, DirectX 8.1, NVIDIA GeForce or ATI Radeon 9000 or higher, 6 GBs free disk space. Internet (TCP/IP) connection required.
Input	Keyboard, mouse, joystick, DualShock, or Xbox 360 controller

Final Fantasy XI (ファイナルファンタジーXI, Fainaru Fantajī Irebun^?), also known as Final Fantasy XI: Online, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) as a part of the Final Fantasy video game series. It debuted in Japan on the Sony PlayStation 2 video game console on May 16, 2002 and was released for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers on November 5 of the same year. It was then localized and released for the North American market on October 28, 2003. An Xbox 360 version was released worldwide in April 2006 as the system's first MMORPG.A recent Firmware update to the Playstation 3 allows a user to install the Playstation 2 version of the game to the newer consoles hard drive.

The story is set in Vana'diel, where various tasks can be performed to improve a character's powers or to complete quests. Five races are available to guide through the storylines of the 3 nations, the 4 expansion packs, and 2 sets of Dynamis realms. There are also numerous sub-plots, stories that players can experience while playing the hundreds of quests available in the game.

In January 2004, Square Enix announced that a total of over 500,000 users using more than 1 million characters were playing the game. As of 2006 there are currently between 200,000 and 300,000 active players logging in per day (see Reception) and the game is the dominant MMORPG in the Japanese market. Three expansions for the game have been released since 2002, with a fourth planned for winter of 2007, capitalizing on the game's success. Square Enix, as well as other sources, have reported that the number of users continues to grow at a steady pace.

Gameplay

Main article: Gameplay of Final Fantasy XI

Final Fantasy XI is unlike previous titles in the series in many ways. The player is able to choose traits, including race, gender, face, hair color, body size, job, and nationality. Unlike previous Final Fantasy games, all battles occur in real time, and enemies are no longer randomly encountered.

There are 32 worlds (a cluster of servers) available for play, and one world used by Square-Enix. Server names use names of summons from previous Final Fantasy titles such as Ifrit and Diabolos. PC, PS2, and Xbox 360 players from across all geographic locations play together on the same servers.

Interface

Players have the option of using any combination of a keyboard, mouse, and controller to play Final Fantasy XI.The heads-up display in "Final Fantasy XI" consists of a log window, menus, and several game information elements. The log window at the bottom of the screen displays system messages, battle messages, and text input by other players. Players may choose to filter what appears in the log window. "Menus" allow the player to access different commands, status windows, and configuration options. As well as the main menu, which contains the majority of the options for the game, the "action command menu" appears just above the log window and gives the player several options to interact with the game world. Several menu options are available through the use of keyboard shortcuts as well.

Basic gameplay

A player engaged in combat with a monster

Gameplay in Final Fantasy XI consists of two major components: quests, which do not advance the main storyline but fill out the game's fantasy world, and missions, through which the main storyline of the game is told. Quests may be undertaken for various rewards. Missions are undertaken to advance in rank, to access new areas and gain new privileges and to advance the various plotlines in the game. Each nation has its own set of missions, which a player must complete to advance in rank; a player may only complete missions for his home country.

Battles in Final Fantasy XI take place in the same world in which players move around, unlike previous Final Fantasy games in which a battle would take place in a new screen. Monsters within the game operate under a system of "claim" and "enmity". A monster is "claimed" the moment a player performs any action upon it, whether attacking it, using most job abilities on it or casting a spell. Once it is claimed, it can only be attacked by players in the party or alliance of the player that claimed it. A monster will focus its attention on whoever has built up the most enmity. Players have a number of means at their disposal, from spells to abilities to items, to both build up enmity and shed it.

Although there was originally no system allowing players to compete in battle with each other, it was eventually added to the game. The Player vs. Player (PvP) system is known as Conflict. Players may only compete directly against one another under very specific circumstances. Conflict happens only in "matches" that players enter by their own consent; players cannot attack one another outside of these circumstances. There are two types of Conflict matches. In Ballista, the objective is to score points by throwing a rock, or "Petra," into a castle-like construction called a "Rook." In Brenner, a newer PvP type, players must steal the opposing team's flame and place them in "Flammen-Brenner" on their side. By maintaining these flames, points are awarded. The team with the most points by the end of the round is announced the winner.

Crafting and Hobbies

In addition to completing quests and missions, players can participate in several side activities or minigames. Harvesting, excavating, logging and mining, allow the player to retrieve items from the world. Harvesting produces items from plants, excavating produces bone items, logging produces varying kinds of wood and mining produces metal ores and stones that can be refined into gems. Fishing in Final Fantasy XI is a sort of minigame where a player must measure their strength against the strength of fish that bite at their line. Gardening in Final Fantasy XI is when a player raises plants in their residence (also referred to as a mog house). Clamming is a minigame where players collect as many fish or sea creatures as possible without going over a limit predetermined by the size bucket they're carrying. Chocobo digging is when a player commands a bird called a chocobo to dig up items from random spots on the ground.

Final Fantasy XI has a fairly complex item synthesis system, in which players use elemental crystals obtained by fighting the various monsters to turn specific combinations of items into other items. Different recipes, using different classes of ingredients and different craft skills, will produce different types of items.

Game Economy

Final Fantasy XI has an almost entirely player-based economy with a heavy reliance on "Auction Houses" in each of the major cities of Vana'diel. The only monsters in the game that drop any in-game currency known as gil when defeated are the Beastmen, humanoids which fight against player characters. However, Beastmen drop very small amounts of gil, meaning that unlike other games in the Final Fantasy series, it is impossible to make much money merely by slaughtering monsters. Various items used in crafting, as well as sometimes extremely rare items, may drop off the monsters that are defeated. Although the game economy is mostly in the hands of the players, there are certain economic controls in place. Money may go to a non-player character (NPC), as when players purchase items from NPC merchants or rent certain forms of transportation. A fee is charged to place items up for auction at the Auction House and in certain cities, players making purchases from player-run "bazaars" are taxed a percentage of the item's set price. Since transportation, auction house and tax fees do not go to players, these gilsinks effectively remove money from the economy.

Setting

Map of Vana'diel

Main article: Vana'diel

See also: List of Final Fantasy XI characters

The world of Final Fantasy XI is known as "Vana'diel". It consists of two main landmasses and two smaller islands flanking them, surrounded by small islands. It features diverse climates, ranging from the northern glaciers to the southern deserts. The four main cities in Vana'diel are Bastok, San d'Oria, Windurst, and Jeuno. The expansion Treasures of Aht Urhgan added the large Aht Urhgan Whitegate/Al Zahbi city area. The rest of Vana'diel is made up of a number of outdoor, dungeon, and minor town areas split into various regions. While most areas are accessible by walking, various modes of transportation, ranging from the classic Final Fantasy chocobo and airships to special spells, facilitate movement across the game world.

The five playable races in Final Fantasy XI are Elvaan, strong melee fighters, reasonable healers but weak in black magic; Hume, a race resembling humans, with no notable strengths or weaknesses; Galka, a gender-neutral but physically masculine race, strong and tough, but weak with magic; Mithra, agile and dexterous, but physically weak, cat-like humanoids of which only the females of the race are playable characters and Tarutaru, tiny humanoids with incredible power over black magic, but physically weak. In addition to the player races, there are two primary non-playable races known as the Zilart, an ancient race which is the focus of the first two game expansions, and the Kuluu, a race of beings similar to the Zilart and thought to be inferior to it. There is also a huge supporting cast of NPCs who give quests and missions and appear in the game's storylines. The game features several typical Final Fantasy monsters as well as Beastmen, which includes races such as the Goblin, Orc, Yagudo, and Quadav. Some of these creatures follow the Shadow Lord, one source of the game's conflict.

There are eight major plotlines in Final Fantasy XI, including the storylines of the 3 nations (San d'Oria, Bastok, and Windurst), the 3 expansion packs (Rise of the Zilart, Chains of Promathia and Treasures of Aht Urghan) and 2 sets of Dynamis realms. The Dynamis storylines are unique in that the storyline progresses through clearing special Dynamis zones, not through completing missions as with the other storylines in the game. There are also numerous sub-plots, stories that players can experience while playing the hundreds of quests available in the game.

Development

After the conclusion of creating the English version of Chrono Cross, work began on the basic system of play for Final Fantasy XI. The Japanese game players were told to expect English speaking players, since the game makers intended to create a unified game world instead of different ones balkanized by language. This development allowed for a 66% reduction of potential costs in setup.

Different creatures had to have their names standardized, as they are called by different names in the Japanese and American versions. The game cost 2-3 billion yen (~$17-25 million) to create along with the PlayOnline Network Service and was assumed to become profitable over a five year timespan. It was originally announced that there would be simultaneous release on both the PlayStation 2 and PCs as well as concurrent Japanese and American release. The game was developed and ran on the NVIDIA GeForce 4 Ti GPU, which the President of Square described as the most powerful graphics processor available at the time. Following an August 2001 Beta test in Japan, a public Japanese Beta test was done in December 2001. The game was the first developed under Square's new philosophy to develop for "all platforms and media".

Release

Due to future updates and size, the PlayStation 2 HDD was required for PS2 users to play.

Final Fantasy XI was listed as one of IGN's most anticipated games of 2004. There were objections raised to naming the game the eleventh in the series, since it was not a structured story; it was suggested that the game instead be named "Final Fantasy Online." To commemorate the three-year anniversary of the game's release, Square Enix hosted a Fan Festival in Santa Monica where fans could try out the third expansion Treasures of Aht Uhrgan.

A few options are currently available for prospective players of Final Fantasy XI to sample the game. The first of these offered by Square-Enix was a free 30 day trial for the game included with the purchase of an Alienware PC or a Logitech computer accessory. The trial offered codes for downloading the core game and registration with PlayOnline and Final Fantasy XI. This promotion is no longer proactively offered, though the codes provided for these trials are still valid.

The second method to obtain a free trial involved the "Buddy Pass," a code included in the "Vana'diel Collection" and "Vana'diel Collection 2007" Windows releases of the game, which allows a friend to download the core game and play free for 30 days.

The newest option available to prospective players is the Final Fantasy XI Starter Pack, released by Square Enix on 20 July 2007 with a MSRP of $3.99, including registration codes for PlayOnline, Final Fantasy XI, and Tetra Master and an installation disc for the core game and its three current expansions. The disc would allow the player to test the game for 30 days, after which content IDs could be purchased from Square-Enix for the normal prices. Additionally, content IDs for the three expansion packs are now available for purchase from Square-Enix.

All releases of Final Fantasy XI include the first 30 days of play for free.

Expansions

Main article: Final Fantasy XI expansions

When news was first circulated about an expansion to Final Fantasy XI, it was thought that the game's title would be Final Fantasy XI: Vision of Girade (Which wasn't too far from the truth; it was released in Japan as Final Fantasy XI: Visions of Zilart) and was unclear whether it would be a free upgrade or not. On October 28, 2003, Final Fantasy XI was released in North America on the personal computer along with the first expansion Rise of the Zilart, with a PlayStation 2 release on March 23, 2004. It was also made available on the Xbox 360, the first collaboration of Square Enix and Microsoft. The Xbox Live version was also beta tested to see how their online playing system supported Final Fantasy XI. The Xbox version was the first game on the Xbox 360 to require the use of their hard drive addition.

The second expansion to the game, Chains of Promathia, was released in Japan on September 16, 2004, and a bundled version of the game complete with the two expansion packs was released in Europe on the same date. Five days later, on September 21, 2004, the expansion was released in North America. In addition, the US version of the full game plus the two expansions was released as a single DVD-ROM called "The Vana'diel Collection" on August 16, 2005. A third expansion, Treasures of Aht Urhgan, was released worldwide on April 18, 2006. The game was also released on Xbox 360 on the same day bundled with all three of the expansions released to date, and on the PC as "The Vana'diel Collection 2007" in November.

A direct sequel of Final Fantasy XI was thought to be in development for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows Vista. Square Enix quickly denied this report, though they confirmed that another MMO is in development, albeit not related to the Final Fantasy series.

Square Enix also announced their intention to let players communicate by text messaging with people playing the game online.

A new expansion of Final Fantasy XI, entitled Wings of the Goddess, was announced on May 12, 2007 at the Square Enix Party event in Japan. No release date has been announced, but the single released trailer says the new expansion will be out "Winter 2007."

Updates

On June 14, 2002, the game server was down for four hours for maintenance to the database servers, bug fixes on the text interface and a new patch for the game client. This is thought to be the first patch ever released for a console game. On July 8, 2002, Square also shut down the item auction system due to some players exploiting the system. In early 2006, Square Enix discovered that a group of players had found a way to generate the game currency and exchange it for real currency, which in turn drove up prices for all items across the game. In response, 700 accounts were permanently banned and 300 billion Gil was removed from circulation. This effort is an attempt to stop the interaction between real and virtual economy in the online game. Square Enix has stated that the trade of items for real currency is officially a violation of the Terms of Service for Final Fantasy XI. In July 2006, Square Enix banned or suspended over 8,000 other accounts for similar manipulation and commerce. Since the update, Square Enix has been regularly banning players' accounts found in violation of the terms, some of them using third-party tools, effectively removing billions of gil from the in-game economy. The summer 2006 update has allowed for the long requested ability for players to raise and breed chocobos.

As of March 2007, the PC version of Final Fantasy XI is compatible with Windows Vista. After working with Microsoft to resolve Final Fantasy XI's incompatibility issues with Windows Vista, Square Enix released a downloadable version of the PlayOnline client which is compatible with the operating system, fixing the main incompatibility issue. While smaller bugs are still known to exist, such as the client not launching correctly through Windows Media Center, the new client allows Final Fantasy XI to run correctly on Windows Vista.

As of December 2006, the PlayStation 2 versions of PlayOnline and Final Fantasy XI install and run on PlayStation 3. A download from the PlayStation Store and ten gigabytes of available disk space (for the PS2 drive image) are required to enable support for the software on PlayStation 3.

As of March 28, 2007, players can now experience the first installment of the Chocobo Racing system. Players are allowed to enter their home-grown chocobos into races against NPCs. You can win Chocobucks used to buy prizes, such as items to assist in breeding.

Audio

Main article: Music of Final Fantasy XI

Unlike Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XI does not have any voice actors for cutscenes, only for battle cries and related sounds. The only voice acting is the opening CGI to the game, but during actual game play none of the non-player characters speak. Instead text descriptions are used to indicate what they are communicating to the players. The opening CGI also features choral music with lyrics in Esperanto. According to its composer, Nobuo Uematsu, the choice of language was meant to symbolize the developers' hope that their online game could contribute to cross-cultural communication and cooperation.

The music of Final Fantasy XI was scored by Nobuo Uematsu, Naoshi Mizuta, and Kumi Tanioka. The expansion packs were scored by Mizuta alone after Tanioka left to pursue other projects and Uematsu left Square Enix. A holiday score titled Jeuno -Starlight Celebration- could be heard in the city of Jeuno during mid to late December. It was first introduced on December 2004 and has been played each December since then. The music can also be heard while in the area known as Dynamis - Tavnazia. A vocal, Distant Worlds, performed by Izumi Masuda, composed by Uematsu and arranged by Mizuta, was later released in a July 2005 patch and was released on the Japan iTunes Music Store of 13 September 2005.

Nobuo Uematsu noted the increased difficulty of scoring a game for which there was no linear plotline, a major change from the previous ten Final Fantasy games. It was also the first game in the series for which he composed while he was no longer a Square employee. The 2004-2005 concert series, Dear Friends -Music from Final Fantasy-, featured "Ronfaure" from Final Fantasy XI. Some of the game's music has been released on iTunes for download. A ten-track album of music inspired by Final Fantasy XI entitled Final Fantasy XI - Music from the Other Side of Vana'diel was released by The Star Onions on August 24, 2005.

A compilation CD box was released on March 28, 2007, titled Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack PREMIUM BOX, and includes the four OSTs for Final Fantasy XI and its three expansion sets, unreleased tracks from the game, along with the previously unreleased Final Fantasy XI Piano Collections.

Promotion and merchandise

Final Fantasy XI PlayOnline Visa and MasterCard credit cards were available in Japan. Features included no annual fees as long as cardholders remain PlayOnline subscribers and various rewards. There have also been posters with limited edition phone cards and keychains released, also exclusively in Japan. Several T-shirts have been made available for order in North America. Several plushies have also been made available to order of different races from the series. A Vana'diel clock was also marketed, as well as CDs of the game music.

The game has also spawned several written works. Starting in 2003, a series of novels titled Final Fantasy XI: 星の誓い was written by Miyabi Hasegawa and was released in Japanese, German, and French. In 2004, a Japanese-exclusive manhwa titled Final Fantasy XI ~The Out of Orders~ was created by artist Kim Byung Jin and story writer Kim Sungjae. Additionally, Adventure Log, a webcomic by Scott Ramsoomair, was commissioned by Square Enix starting in 2007.

Reception

By December of 2002, Square president Yoichi Wada announced that there were over 200,000 subscribers to Final Fantasy XI, allowing the company to break even and start making a profit. In January 2004, Square Enix announced that over 500,000 users utilizing over 1 million characters were playing the game. Having also been released on the PlayStation 2 as well as the personal computer, it became the first cross platform MMORPG ever created. Right before its release on the Playstation 2, a third of the players were thought to be English speaking. There are also currently between 200,000 and 300,000 active players daily.

For the April-September 2004 financial period, Square Enix saw online gaming, particularly Final Fantasy XI, sales increase by 101 percent and operating profit increase by 230.9 percent. As of summer 2006, revenues have continued to hold steady from subscription services. Since its Xbox 360 release it has become by August 14, 2006, the 6th most played game at Xbox Live.

It was rated an 8.4 at GameStats.com. It was thought to be a well done but unoriginal game, and in fact with only Japanese servers running North American players were forced to play with already much more experienced Japanese players; all the quests had literally already been beaten. GameSpot criticized it for having an unconventional control system, a lengthy installation, and having no player versus player aspects. Other problems have included EXP grind which involves constant battles to access different parts of the game, and overcrowded camp sites. With regard to the Xbox 360 release, there has been criticism that the game would only work if accompanied by a hard drive.; However, this is understandable due to the fact that the game does not stream, but must be installed prior to use.

Through further development, many issues, concerns and complaints about the game have been addressed. New servers were added, allowing American players to start on fresh servers without far more experienced players. . Although, much content had already been completed and could be easily researched, new quests have been continually added with each update. With new expansions and updates, the size of the game has greatly increased, however, the Vana'diel Collection DVD has greatly reduced install time. In April of 2004, Ballista, the first form of player versus player was released , followed by Brenner, a second form of player versus player, in February of 2006. . Developers have also reduced the amount of experience needed to fully level a character end game, as well as included new ways to gain experience such as easily obtainable items which grant increased experience for defeating enemies.

Final Fantasy XI was awarded the grand prize from the Japan's Consumer Entertainment Software Association (CESA) for 2002-2003 along with Taiko no Tatsujin. It was also named IGN's Game of the Month for March 2004, citing the game's huge customization and its successful cross-platform and cross-language game world. A Final Fantasy XI themed lobby is present in the online game Minna no Golf Online. It also won GameSpy's 2003 PC MMORPG Game of the Year Award.

References

All currency conversions are based on the February 16, 2007 exchange rate using Yahoo Finance's currency converter. All $ symbols refer to United States dollars. All prices are before sales taxes.

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^ IGN Staff (February 10, 2006). Final Fantasy XI Smacks Down Cheaters. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ Terms and Conditions. PlayOnline (December 8, 2004). Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ Patrick Caldwell (July 24, 2006). Square Enix bans more FFXI accounts. Gamespot.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ Douglass C. Perry (June 1, 2006). It's Chocobo Breeding Time. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ Support for Microsoft Windows Vista. PlayOnline (March 22, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-03-22.
^ Rob Fahey (February 25, 2005). Focus On: Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu. gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ IGN Music (May 10, 2005). Final Fantasy Soundtracks. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ Square Enix Music. Square Enix (May 10, 2005). Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ Final Fantasy XI Original Soundtrack PREMIUM BOX. Square Enix (2007). Retrieved on 2007-03-27.
^ IGN Staff (February 7, 2002). Final Fantasy XI Credit Cards. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ IGN Staff (January 18, 2002). Final Fantasy XI Moichandising Begins. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ Final Fantasy XI. Square-Enix (January 1, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-08-17.
^ Amazon.co.jp staff. ファイナルファンタジー11―星の誓い (文庫). Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ Amazon.de staff. Final Fantasy XI: Final Fantasy XI Bd. 1. Das Lied des Sturms: Bd 1 (Broschiert). Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ fleuvenoir.fr Staff. Fiche livre "Final Fantasy XI T-1". Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ Ramsoomair, Scott. Adventure Log. Retrieved on 2007-07-21.
^ Onur Komili (December 1, 2003). Final Fantasy XI Review. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ Adams, David (January 7, 2004). Final Fantasy XI Hits Subscriber Milestone. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ Lewis, Ed (March 23, 2004). FFXI Interview. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ Anoop Gantayat (November 18, 2004). Square Enix Strong on Online, Mobile Content. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ Jason Dobson (August 18, 2006). Square Enix Revises Revenue, Profit Projections Down. gamasutra.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ Larry Hryb (August 14, 2006). Halo 2, CoD 2 Remain Most-Played Xbox Live Games. gamasutra.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ Final Fantasy XI. GameStats.com (October 28, 2003). Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ IGN Staff (December 11, 2002). Final Fantasy XI Breaks Even. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ Greg Kasavin (November 14, 2003). Final Fantasy XI. Gamespot.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ Kudou-Yusaku (July 21, 2006). Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan Review. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ David Jenkins (November 1, 2005). Maruyama: No HD-DVD Games For Xbox 360. Gamasutra. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
^ FFXI Servers. FFXI Wiki. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
^ FFXI News. FFXI Wiki (October 21, 2003 - present). Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
^ Conflict: Rules of Ballista. Play Online (April, 2004). Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
^ Brenner. FFXI Wiki. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
^ Experience Points. FFXI Wiki. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
^ Dedication. FFXI Wiki. Retrieved on 2007-06-09.
^ IGNPS2 (October 30, 2003). CESA Announces Game Awards. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ IGNPs2 (March 31, 2004). Game of the Month: March 2004. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ IGN Staff (January 15, 2004). Minna no Golf Merges with FFXI. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-15.
^ Final Fantasy XI USA Awards. Final Fantasy XI Official Website (January 1, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-08-17.

Game Neverending

2007-08-19T05:02:00.000-07:00

Game Neverending

Game Neverending (GNE) was an innovative massively multiplayer computer game that was in development by Ludicorp, better known as the creators of Flickr, from 2002 until it was cancelled in 2004.

Game Neverending was an atypical roleplaying game primarily based on social interaction and object manipulation. GNE was lighthearted and humorous; indeed there was no way to win, nor even any definition of success. Many objects could be combined to create other objects, but any given object only served a questionable amount of purpose. A sense of community and communication between players was encouraged through gamewide and location-specific chat channels, as well as the ability to leave notes for other players at any location. Another aspect of GNE's novelty was that it was being developed into a highly user-extensible game: players were intended to be able to invent new objects and create new locations. The official in-game currency was shekels, but sheets (and quires and reams) of differently colored papers also served as a de facto currency.

The earliest prototype went live on the Internet in the fall of 2002 with the goal of experimenting with real time in-browser interaction, evaluating usage patterns and technical requirements and seeing how players would respond to the "tone" of the game. This was closed February 3, 2003 and eventually a new version was released as a closed beta.

Ludicorp, the game's developers, received wide press coverage while they were making the game. Through the long development, it was pondered whether GNE was yet another example of vaporware. Although development of the game was later cancelled, the tools built for GNE later evolved into Flickr, a widely-hailed photo-sharing service. Occasional signs of this legacy are visible, such as the '.gne' file extension appearing in Flickr's URLs.

Online text-based role-playing game

2007-08-19T04:53:00.000-07:00

Online text-based role-playing game

An online text-based role playing game (OTBRPG) is a role-playing game played online using a solely text-based interface such as TELNET, an internet forum, or in a chat. Online text-based role playing games predate graphical online games by several years, and can be attributed to the first attempts to bring multiplayer gaming to the internet, which culminated in the invention of MUDs, the forefather of MMORPGs.

Roleplaying appears to be popular mainly with adolescents and young adults. There are varied genres of online text-based roleplaying, including medieval fantasy, period drama (e.g., 1800s, 1950s), modern horror, anime, and media-based fan role-play. Role-playing games based on popular media (for example, the Harry Potter series) are common, and the players involved tend to overlap with the relevant fandoms.

Varieties

Play-by-post and PBEM

Play-by-post role-playing games or PBP rpgs refer to another type of text-based gaming. Rather than following gameplay in real-time, such as in MUDs, players post messages on such media as bulletin boards, online forums, Chatrooms (such as like AOL and Yahoo chat) and mailing lists to which their fellow players will post role-played responses without a real limit or timeframe. Of late such blogging tools and sites as LiveJournal have been utilised for this purpose. This includes such games as play-by-email (or PBEM) rpgs. The origins of this style of role-playing are unknown, but it most likely originated in some form during the mid to late 1980s when BBS systems began gaining in popularity. Usually it is played through 'Script' and 'Story' format, both styles area interchangeable and work well but it depends on which the player prefers.

MUDs and MU*s

Precursor to the now-more popular MMORPGs of today are the branch of text-based games known as MUD, MOO, MUCK, MUSH, MUX, DUM and MUSE, a set of games on similar platforms collectively termed as MU*s within the community by players and aficionados. The main difference in the various platforms lies in their purpose; some, like the myriad codebases for MUDs, are employed in combat-intensive games (either player versus player or against mobs), while MUSH and MUCK are seen in games that focus more on player interaction and role-play. Although interest in these games has suffered from the popularity of MMORPGs, a large number of them still operate. For a more complete history of these games refer to the entry on MUDs.

Real-time human-moderated

Some games rely entirely upon human moderators to dictate events, and physical print books for rules sets. Such games may use code dice-rollers, to generate random results, and may include databases for the purposes of maintaining character records. Interaction between characters is controlled by communication between individual players (with each other) and with moderators (who portray non-player characters). Communication software and database options vary, from the DigiChat front-end / character database back-end pairing pioneered by Conrad Hubbard at White Wolf Publishing, to the numerous AOL and Yahoo chats with hosted character databases. Free-form games may even do away with database integration or dice-rollers entirely and rely upon individual players to keep their own records, with online community reputation dictating how other players react.

Characteristics and social aspects

These methods of role-playing have many advantages and disadvantages in comparison with more traditional, off-line role playing systems. On the one hand, text-based games allows players to exercise their writing skills, while using writing as a medium. The internet also makes it relatively easier for individuals to meet and play together. This freedom, though it is a great strength to the system, also has the potential to be a great weakness. Such broad freedom of expression can easily be grossly abused, most often by new players unfamiliar with the mostly unwritten etiquette of the text-based gaming community. This has caused many more experienced players to form tight knit cliques, which can also be detrimental to new players seeking to join the community. Types of behavior commonly considered breaches of etiquette include power gaming and god-moding.

Another aspect of note is the development of a role-playing vocabulary that are almost exclusively limited to those who have experience with or are actively immersed in this pursuit as a hobby. Some terms overlap with those in commonly used in popular fandom. Terms as Mary-Sue, slash, powergaming (or powerplaying), god-moding, OOC, and IC are among the terms used with relative frequency in text-based role-playing circles, and it has come to be expected of role-players to be familiar with such jargon.

Consent

The term "consent" refers to players' "veto power" over what happens to their player characters. Often referred to in the rolling roleplay community as "orthodox", "unorthodox", and "hybrid". Levels of consent might be:

Non-consent: This does not necessarily mean that they use a traditional role-playing game system: it could just be that consequences are enforced based on a "common sense" basis, e.g, if several police officers go to seize a character, even without dice rolls, an administrator might say that the only reasonable outcome is that the character is brought into custody. Or, if there is such a system, this means that the results of system calculations are final.

Limited consent: Usually, this would be control over the character's death. A setting might strictly enforce In Character consequences, with or without a system, but allow the player an 'out' to avoid character death. For example, if it is decided that the character was mortally wounded, it might be allowable to alter in-game reality just slightly and instead have the character suffer only a serious wound.

Consent: Nothing can happen to a character without the player's approval. This is a very rare style to use.

Most RPGs have limited consent, allowing game masters some leeway if the player asks for it (in fact, almost total leeway, though this may destroy the believability of the scenario).

Elitism

A number of text-based role-players consider themselves to be elitist, and will exclude and ridicule those who do not attempt to use proper spelling and grammar. There are those who have what are seen as considerably high standards in the composition of their written replies, and a role-player's status within a given community is often tied to the quality of their writing as judged by their fellows. One form of elitism was not accepting posts from players that were below a defined limit, such as four hundred words, six hundred word, or, in extreme cases, over a thousand words. It is common to lambast poor role-playing in such circles, so much so that entire communities have been established solely for this purpose, though others and most roleplayers' advertising/networking forums try to offer a more balanced approach to whatever critiquing they do in-group. It must be allowed, though, that in a medium which is primarily or exclusively text communication, individual players' writing skills have far more importance and effect on the whole game than they do in other mediums of roleplay.

Rules systems

Though countless systems of rules exist, far too varied to be properly summed up, there is a single universal criterion that separates role-playing from collaborative writing — there must be a variable under the control of one or more players that some other players cannot control. The most common example of this is for each player participating in the activity to have their own characters that no other participant may write dialogs or actions for.

Various forms of gaming that developed within these mediums, such as sparring (see below), have garnered their own cult following and developed their own sets of norms and subcultures over time.

Sparring

Sparring is a form of online role-play that deals with combat between two or more characters, usually conducted on play-by-post mediums. Two or more players take turns in writing a joint-narrative battle, each one attempting to defeat his or her rival. The battle ends when one participant acknowledges defeat or one is judged the victor by an unbiased arbiter after a review of all related posts. In the context of Internet-based role-play, sparring retains its traditional meaning of play or practice combat, but is limited to written interaction. It is different from role-play in that sparring contributes nothing to a story or character development and participants are subject only to the rules of an agreed on role-play fighting system.

These fighting systems fall into two categories, speed-based and turn-based. Of these, the former is such that the involved parties seek to outmatch one another via superior typing speed and stratagem. The latter has no emphasis on typing speed, but focuses wholly on strategy. Both systems are further divided into explicit and implicit subsets (also called open and closed), which refer to whether the outcome of an attack is stated by the attacker or assumed to have happened in the flow of battle.

There is a large rift of ideologies within the community of sparring. It comes from the basis of the spar's purpose and intent, and divides sparrers into two categories, being roleplayers and fighters. Roleplayers are grouped as "orthodox" combatants, where no "autos" are acceptable, and it is a mutually respectful practice. Orthodox matches are completely based upon the honor system, and are held more to the ability of the character than the mechanics of the system. Explicit guidelines and rules apply to the fighters, in an "unorthodox" system. Unorthodox spars tend to use hit claims, as discussed above as open and closed.

Cheating In Online Games Online skill-based game

2007-08-19T04:44:00.000-07:00

Cheating in online games

Cheating in online games are activities that modify the game experience to give one player an unfair advantage over the other players. Depending on the game, different activities constitute cheating, as it is often a matter of consensus opinion.

Cheating exists in all multiplayer online computer games. While there have always been cheat codes and other ways to make single player games easier, most developers attempt to prevent it in multiplayer games. With the release of the first popular Internet multiplayer games, cheating took on new dimensions. Previously it was rather easy to see if the other players cheated, as most games were played on local networks or consoles. The Internet changed that by increasing the popularity of multiplayer games, giving the players anonymity, and giving people an avenue to communicate cheats.

Types of cheats

User settings

Typically, a player can change settings within a game to make it suit their play style and system. These alterations are generally not cheating, except in extreme circumstances. Changing the keyboard layout to make it easier to use is usually accepted. However, issues such as changing in-game player models and textures, turning down particle effects to see through smoke, or modifying the brightness or gamma in order to make it easier to see in dark areas are sometimes considered borderline cheating. However, there are other servers of some games that encourage customization to this level.

Exploits

Usually included in this concept of cheating is the use of existing bugs or gameplay aspects unintended by the developers known as exploits. Gamers are divided as to whether all exploitation is cheating, though most consider exploits as cheats if they are particularly unfair. It is also difficult to classify some activities as exploits, because sometimes unintended features in games can make them much more fun to play, like bunny hopping in Quake, or even an official part of the series such as "skiing" in Tribes. A common exploit in Unreal Tournament 2004 is using the shield gun in front of teleporters, which is often considered to be similar to spawn camping by most. However, most exploits are unbalancing to a multiplayer game, and are called cheats because they are based on mistakes by the developers. For example, duping ruins a synthetic economy in online role-playing games and is rarely intended, and therefore is usually called a cheat. Some exploitations of environments can create an imbalance in the PvP of an MMORPG, such as being able to stand where enemy players can not attack them but they can attack back with ranged moves, or being able to target players on an upper-level of a fortress but they cannot be attacked by melee players.

Divulging (Ghosting)

Most games allow other players to observe the game as it is played. Sometimes, these observers get the chance to see things in the map that other players don't see (ex. shrouds). And so they can cheat by telling their friend (who is playing) all the tricks or traps. Another form of ghosting is when one player tells their friend where the player of the opposing team are. Although it is legal, it is often frowned upon because it may make a huge differences in some games where players must avoid dangerous objects.

Disconnecting

In games where wins and losses are recorded on a players account, a player may disconnect from a game they have lost in order to prevent the loss from being recorded. A similar phenomenon is when someone running a server boots players who are beating them. Disconnecting can be accepted when there are multiple players in a game but if it is a one-on-one match it is considered immoral, as the opponent of the cheater will not have their "win" recorded. This is considered a major problem for Nintendo Wifi multiplayer games. Most games implement some kind of disconnection penalty, usually by recording the disconnect as a loss, anyways.

Rigging

This kind of cheating often involves altering game settings or team lineups in order to give one team an unfair advantage over the other. One example includes filling a team with only skilled or known players and pitting them against another team of lesser skill. This is known as 'stacking' the teams. Though this tactic is not illegal, it often upsets lesser-skilled players who feel that they aren't being given a fair chance. Less ethical rigging involves giving one team more advantages such as better weapons or equipment. Riggers can also abuse games with map editors by creating maps that give the advantage to a certain team in the game.

Ranking up (Boosting)

Some games involve a global leader board, where each player is ranked according to how they have done in a game. It is entirely possible to cheat your way up to a high place through fake accounting, which is when someone creates an alternative account to let a person planning on raising his rank win without trying to beat him. These free wins help them reach the top of the leader board without having to compete against other players.

Binding

Binding involves binding fire to the mouse wheel or any other key or combination of keys so that the player can shoot faster (generally with weapons that fire at the speed that the user clicks) than with the default key configuration. It's not cheating, but more unsporting.

Sharing

Sharing is when multiple people share an online game (mainly MMORPG games) character. Common reasons for doing a sort of this is to gain a very unfair advantage by having higher online times, and being capable of having more manpower (for activities such as leveling or gaining experience). In some MMOs this is not seen as cheating although others such as Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft or Jagex's Runescape actively discourage it and if caught your subscriber account can be locked for violation of the EULA.

Implementation of cheats

There are many facets of cheating in online games which make the creation of a system to stop cheating very difficult.

"Never trust the client" is a common maxim among multiplayer game developers that summarizes in their opinion the case of client-servers. It argues that programmers should assume that information sent to the client game will be known by that player, regardless of whether or not the player should know that information. For example, the server might tell a client in a First Person Shooter that a player is hiding behind a door and cannot be seen, but a wallhack cheat can reveal the player. Similarly, data from the client might indicate that the client teleported from one side of the map to another for some reason (possibly a change made to the game's data). The server is responsible for sending only the necessary information and for maintaining the game's continuity. (See "Efficiency versus security" below for the drawbacks.)

The game software

Many cheats in today's games are changes to the game software, although many game companies have policies which forbid the modification of such code. While the software (for most games) is distributed in binary-only versions and encrypted to make it harder, reverse engineering is always possible. Also many of the data files for the games can be edited without editing the main program and thereby circumvent protections in the software.

Wallhacks and maphacks often function by modifying the software. Other cheats can analyze or change the game's state in RAM, such as some aimbots and programs that give infinite ammo or health (often called trainers).

The hardware

Turning up the brightness on the monitor or using specific graphic cards with drivers that allows you to look through walls ("wallhack") are examples of using hardware tricks to get an advantage. These are frequently impossible to track with software, but they also have limited effect.

Packet tampering

Some cheats completely circumvent the protection of the software by running in real-time and changing the game data while in transmission from the server to the client. Many aimbots in first-person shooters use tricks like this. Some newer games encrypt the network data, but this uses up computer resources that could be used to make a faster-running or better game instead.

Preventing cheats

Game developers and third party software developers have created technologies that attempt to prevent players from cheating. Anti-cheating software is most commonly used in popular first person shooters such as Half-Life and its various mods or Quake. A few examples of anti-cheat software are ProQuake Cheat-Free, Choac, DMW Anticheat, GameGuard, PunkBuster and Valve Software's VAC ("Valve Anti-Cheat").

Some "Cheats" are exploitations of bugs and glitches in the game, which may sometimes cause a game-breaking imbalance in either side of a PvP game. These are usually remedied easily by fixing the physics or spaces that can be exploited.

Some companies select to ban suspected cheaters from their servers. When this is done by blacklisting the game's serial key, the player is often effectively prevented from playing online the game they purchased. Blizzard Entertainment and Valve Software are known to have banned players, though the actual number of players is unknown. These companies also chose not to restrict these players to "cheating allowed" servers, even though it would be just as easy to implement, mirroring the dislike some took to cheating.

Sometimes the anti-cheating fervor leads to embarrassment, such as when Phil DeLuca, America's Army executive producer, drew parallels between cheating and Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, and threatened FBI and Secret Service involvement. [1]

It might not be financially wise for a company to fight "cheaters" in its games. Alternate characters are frequently banned in free games but they bring in revenue just like normal players in games that require subscription fees. Gamers have speculated that this is the reason why "two boxing" is not a ban-able offense in major MMORPGs. Players are often less concerned about these circumstances because it might be debatable if the actions in question are a form of cheat.

It could be argued, however, that when a company does not take cheating seriously, they could very well be shortening the lifespan of their games because of the effects they can have on the game's economy. Regardless of one's perspective, the stance a company takes on cheating could have a significant impact on whether one will decide to purchase a game or not. For this reason, a game company is left to consider the cost of working towards stopping cheating vs the cost of ignoring cheats.

Efficiency versus security

The more of the game code that is run on the server, the fewer cheats are generally possible in the game, as the server's operator has control over what happens. However, a game server has limited bandwidth and limited resources, which makes it necessary to distribute code to the clients. It's a trade-off between lack of cheats and usability.

For example, a player is not supposed to know who is hiding behind a closed door. The server has to make a trade-off between calculating what the player can and cannot see. It can do this by sending only a part of the entire world state, which can result in client lag but makes wallhacks unlikely, or sending the player the entire world state, which is faster for the player but makes wallhacks more likely.

Cheating in MMORPGs

While persistent world online games, such as MUDs and MMORPGs, are often subject to the same sorts of mechanical weaknesses to cheating as other online games, as often as not cheating in such games are social cheats, in the form of confidence games. Many of these confidence tricks are based on old-fashioned real-life tricks, or take advantage of the greed or inexperience of new players.

These scams often take the form of uneven trades or outright bad-faith dealing in trades of in-game items. Players will misrepresent the value of their goods to new players, substitute lookalike worthless items for valuable ones, offer to improve items (by crafting raw materials or enhancing equipment) and then just walk away with the item to be improved, or use one of any other con games. Another trick that is used is to subsitute an item (that has the same icon, but lesser value) with the item that is agreed upon or shave off a 0 right before the other player accepts the trade.

Social engineering is often used to steal players' login information. Scammers will pose as the staff of the game, either in e-mail or in the game itself, and ask for the players' login information under any number of pretexts. Alternately, the scammer will offer cheating or automation services, or require that the player give their information as part of initiation into a (nonexistent) clan. A common variation of this in RuneScape was the infamous "Jagex (The company who created RuneScape) blocks your password look *******" scam, where a player claims that if you type in your password it is filtered. In fact, the filter out marks are typed by the player, and when the target tries it, the player scamming them sees the password, tricks them into logging off, and changes the password, thus putting the scammer in control of the account. This scam was aimed at new players, who did not know that passwords are not filtered; in response to this however, Jagex have prevented players from speaking any sentence containing their password (i.e. everything they enter is blocked, not just the password). They also hope that this will encourage people who chose poor passwords, in particular commonly used words that are often used in conversation, to choose more secure passwords.

Another controversial issue in MMORPGs is farming, which involves acquisition of in-game money or items in order to sell it to users in exchange for real money. Farming can be done either by manual effort, or with external programs that effectively turn the player-character into a bot. Farming often affects in-game economies negatively, and as a result, most MMORPGs prohibit farming in their user agreements under the threat of account closure. This effectively puts farming under the category of cheating, though it is difficult to enforce due to the number of players and time investments required for an investigation.

In some games that have a claim system where only one group of people can fight a monster at a time, many types of exploits exist. Most of the time, the first person to take action against a monster in such a game holds the claim and until the monster goes unclaimed again (usually when the group fighting it dies, but not always), only the group can touch it. Programs exist that can claim a monster the moment it spawns. Other programs might involve using exploits to make a monster go unclaimed in the middle of battle so a different group can attempt to claim it or to directly change the claim to a different group. Games that involve such systems tend to breed a lot of discontent amongst rival groups, with accusations of monopolization and cheating being prevalent.

Some MMORPGs can be modified by third-party tampering with the client software, allowing wallhacking or other similar cheats. A highly-competitive World of Warcraft guild, Overrated, achieved some notoriety using such a method.

References

^ RuneScape news 24 April 2007 - Password security. Jagex. Retrieved on 2007-05-05.

Online skill-based game

Online skill-based games are a growing genre of browser-based games. The top publishers of these games include PopCap Software and iWin.com. They allow users to compete for money in games of skill, rather than games of chance (that is, gambling).

Most skill-based games, or skillgames, fall into four categories:

Arcade games involve quick fingers and quick thinking. These games are basically sped-up puzzle games. Arcade skillgames include Collapse and Mini-Golf.

Puzzle games rely on logic abilities and require the user to solve certain types of puzzles. While not as fast-paced as Arcade games, these games often come with a time limit. Popular puzzle games include Bejeweled and HexTwist.

Word games are basically puzzle games using word problems, like rearranging letters to make words. Popular Word games include Bookworm and Alphabet Soup.

Trivia games test the users knowledge of trivia in specific categories or in general.

History

Around 2000, Disney invested millions in a new online skill-based game company called Skillgames.com (formerly PureSkill.com). Manhattan-based Skillgames, with endorsements by Disney-owned properties such as ESPN and ABC, was to develop skill-based games such as "Hole-In-One Golf," "Soap Opera Trivia" and others implemented as Java applets on their site. Players could win prizes up to a million dollars their first time playing. Skillgames, the brainchild of Walker Digital, also the parent company of Priceline.com, fell on hard times in 2001. Congress had begun to threaten a crack-down on Internet gambling, and although the company was confident of the distinction between games of skill and games of chance, Disney decided to withdraw its investment. Skillgames management announced a business model change in late spring of 2001 and rounds of layoffs followed. After Skillgames was forced by the September 11 attacks to relocate from its offices in Manhattan's Woolworth Building, the company failed to define a new direction, eventually going out of business in November 2001.

The first commercial launches of major skillgame sites in the US occurred in late 2000 when both WorldWinner and SkillJam (previously known as EGamesGroup) released the first versions of their respective online skill game systems.

In 2002 several large US-based portals, including MSN and Yahoo integrated SkillJam's and WorldWinner's services into their game platforms, thereby providing the first major distribution channels for wider skill game adoption.

Following the success of poker sites, online casinos such as Casino On Net and GoldenPalace.com learned that users want to play against each other instead of the house, and attempted to launch skill-based game sites in 2004 and 2005 with mixed results.

Mechanics

Like poker sites, skillgame sites take a rake from head-to-head and tournament games, but unlike casino games or games of chance, the outcome of a skill game is predominantly determined by the user's skill level.

Successful skill games heavily modify the game play of "regular" casual games such as Solitaire or Sudoku in order to remove as many random events as possible. The analogy is that the influence of chance in a skill game should not exceed the influence of chance in any other pro sport competition, such as golf or football.

Criticisms

Some websites have been accused of terminating user's accounts and withholding all money when they attempt to withdraw winnings and accusing players of cheating without any actual evidence. This said, it is possible to create computer scripts or non-human players "bots" which can attain the maximum possible score in certain games. The industry is notoriously tight-lipped about this.

Massively multiplayer online game a popular MMORPG

2007-08-19T04:16:00.000-07:00

Massively multiplayer online game

Massively multiplayer online game (also called MMOG) is a computer game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and feature at least one persistent world. Some [weasel words] argue that small player-count games, with 200 and fewer players, are also part of the genre; the persistent world is probably the only "hard" requirement.

MMOGs can enable players to cooperate and compete with each other on a grand scale, and sometimes to interact meaningfully with people around the world. They include a variety of gameplay types, representing many video game genres. Many MMOGs require players to invest large amounts of their time into the game. Most MMOGs require a monthly subscription fee, but some can be played for free.

Overview and history

The most popular type of MMOG, and the sub-genre that pioneered the category, is the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), which descended from university mainframe computer MUD and adventure games such as Rogue on the PLATO System and Dungeon on the PDP-10. These games pre-date the commercial gaming industry and the Internet, but still featured persistent worlds and other elements of MMOGs still used today.

The first graphical MMOG, and a major milestone in the creation of the genre, was the multi-player flight combat simulation game Air Warrior by Kesmai on the GEnie online service, which first appeared in 1987.

Commercial MMORPGs gained early acceptance in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The genre was pioneered by the GemStone series on GEnie, also created by Kesmai, and Neverwinter Nights, the first such game to include graphics, which debuted on AOL in 1991.

As computer game developers applied MMO ideas to other computer and video game genres, new acronyms started to develop, such as MMORTS. MMOG emerged as a generic term to cover this growing class of games. These games became so popular that a magazine, called Massive Online Gaming, released an issue in October 2002 hoping to cover MMOG topics exclusively, but it never released its second issue.

The debuts of The Realm Online, Meridian 59 (The first 3D MMOG), Ultima Online, Underlight and EverQuest in the late 1990s popularized the MMORPG genre. The growth in technology meant that where Neverwinter Nights in 1991 had been limited to 50 simultaneous players (a number that grew to 500 by 1995), by the year 2000 a multitude of MMORPGs were each serving thousands of simultaneous players.

Despite the genre's focus on multiplayer gaming, AI-controlled characters are still common. NPCs and mobs who give out quests or serve as opponents are typical mostly in MMORPGs. AI-controlled characters are not as common in action-based MMOGs.

The popularity of MMOGs was mostly restricted to the computer game market until the sixth-generation consoles, with the launch of Phantasy Star Online on Dreamcast and the emergence and growth of online service Xbox Live. There have been a number of console MMOGs, including EverQuest Online Adventures (PlayStation 2), and the multiconsole Final Fantasy XI. On PCs, the MMOG market has always been dominated by successful fantasy MMORPGs.

Science fiction has also been a popular theme, featuring games such as Anarchy Online, Eve Online, Star Wars Galaxies and The Matrix Online.

MMOGs emerged from the hard-core gamer community to the mainstream strongly in December 2003 with an analysis in the Financial Times measuring the value of the virtual property in the then-largest MMOG, Everquest, to result in a per-capita GDP of 2,266 dollars which would have placed the virtual world of Everquest as the 77th wealthiest nation, on par with Croatia, Equador, Tunisia or Vietnam.

World of Warcraft is currently the dominant MMOG in America.[citation needed] and with 9 million monthly subscribers worldwide, is the most popular Western title among MMOGs. The biggest MMOG in the world is Lineage 2 from South Korea, with over 14 million registered gamers, mostly in various Asian countries.

See also: History of MMORPGs

Virtual Economies

Within a majority of the MMOs created, there is virtual currency where the player can earn and accumulate money. The uses for such vitual currency are numerous and vary from game to game. What becomes very interesting, is there is an economy that is created from this development of virtual money. The virtual economies created within MMOs often blur the lines between real and virtual worlds. The result is often seen as an unwanted interaction between the real and virtual economies. This practice (economy interaction) is mostly seen in this genre of games. The two seem to come hand in hand with even the earliest MMOGs such as Ultima Online having this kind of trade, real money for virtual things.

The results of this interaction between the virtual economy, and our real economy, which is really the interaction between the company that created the game and the third-party companies that want to share in the profits and success of the game. This battle between companies is defended on both sides. The company originating the game and the intellectual property argue that this is in violation of the terms and agreements of the game as well as copyright violation since they own the rights to how the online currency is distributed and through what channels[citation needed]. The case that the third-party companies and their customers defend, is that they are selling and exchanging the time and effort put into the acquisition of the currency, not the digital information itself. They also express that the nature of many MMOs is that they require time commitments not available to everyone. As a result, without external acquisition of virtual currency, some players are severely limited to being able to experience certain aspects of the game.

The practice of acquiring large volumes of virtual currency for the purpose of selling to other individuals for tangible and real currency is called gold farming. Many players who have poured in all of their personal effort feel violated that there is this exchange between real and virtual economies since it devalues their own efforts. As a result, the term 'gold farmer' now has a very negative connotation within the games and their communities. This slander has unfortunately also extended itself to racial profiling and in-game and forum insulting and verbal abuse.

The reaction from many of the game companies varies. In games that are substantially less popular and have a small player base, the enforcement of the elimination of 'gold farming' appears less often. Companies in this situation most likely are concerned with their personal sales and subscription revenue over the development of their virtual economy, as they most likely have a higher priority to the games viability via adequate funding. Games with an enormous player base, and consequently much higher sales and subscription income, can take more drastic actions more often and in much larger volumes. Blizzard Entertainment and their wildly successful World of Warcaft, are not afraid to publicly announce that tens of thousands of accounts that have been banned due to violations regarding currency selling[citation needed]. This account banning could also serve as an economic gain for these large games, since it is highly likely that, due to demand, these 'gold farming' accounts will be recreated with freshly bought copies of the game.

Comparing MMOGs to other computer games

There are a number of factors shared by most MMOGs that make them different from other types of computer games. MMOGs create a persistent universe where the game continues playing regardless of whether or not anyone else is. Since these games strongly or exclusively emphasize multiplayer gameplay, few of them have any significant single-player aspects or client-side artificial intelligence. As a result, players cannot "finish" MMOGs in the typical sense of single-player games. Some MMOGs, such as Star Sonata, do have an end condition that includes awarding a "winner" based on a player's standing in the game at the finale.

Most MMOGs also share other characteristics that make them different from other multiplayer online games. MMOGs host a large number of players in a single game world, and all of those players can interact with each other at any given time. Popular MMOGs might have thousands of players online at any given time, usually on a company owned server. Non-MMOGs, such as Battlefield 1942 or Half-Life usually have less than 50 players online (per server) and are usually played on private servers. Also, MMOGs usually do not have any significant mods since the game must work on company servers. There is some debate if a high head-count is the requirement to be a MMOG. Some say that it is the size of the game world and its capability to support a large number of players that should matter. For example, despite technology and content constraints, most MMOGs can fit up to a few thousand players on a single game server at a time.

To support all those players, MMOGs need large-scale game worlds, and servers to connect players to those worlds. Sometimes a game features a universe which is copied onto different servers, separating players, and this is called a "sharded" universe. Other games will feature a single universe which is divided among servers, and requires players to switch. Still others will only use one part of the universe at any time. For example, Tribes (which is not an MMO) comes with a number of large maps, which are played in rotation (one at a time). In contrast, the similar title PlanetSide uses the second model, and allows all map-like areas of the game to be reached via flying, driving, or teleporting.

MMORPGs usually have sharded universes, as they provide the most flexible solution to the server load problem, but not always. For example, the space sim Eve Online uses only one large cluster server peaking at over 32,000 simultaneous players.

There are also a few more common differences between MMOGs and other online games. Most MMOGs charge the player a monthly or bimonthly fee to have access to the game's servers, and therefore to online play. Also, the game state in an MMOG rarely ever resets. This means that a level gained by a player today will still be there tomorrow when the player logs back on. MMOGs often feature ingame support for clans and guilds. The members of a clan or a guild may participate in activities with one another, or show some symbols of membership to the clan or guild.

However, the boundaries between multiplayer online games and MMOGs are not always as clear or obvious. Neverwinter Nights (2002) and Diablo II are usually called online role-playing games, (RPGs) but are also sometimes incorrectly called MMORPGs (a type of MMOG).

Types of MMOGs

There are several types of massively multiplayer online games.

MMORPG

Main article: Massively multiplayer online role-playing game

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games, known as MMORPGs, are the most famous type of MMOG. See list of MMORPGs for a list of notable MMORPGs. Some MMORPGs are designed as a multiplayer browser game in order to reduce infrastructure costs and utilise a thin client that most users will already have installed. The acronym BBMMORPGs has sometimes been used to describe these as browser-based.

Examples: World of Warcraft, Ragnarok Online, Star Wars Galaxies, RuneScape, City of Heroes, Ultima Online, Final Fantasy XI, and Guild Wars.

MMOFPS

Main article: Massively multiplayer online first-person shooter

Several MMO first-person shooters have been made. These games provide large-scale, sometimes team-based combat. The addition of persistence in the game world means that these games add elements typically found in RPGs, such as experience points. The first MMOFPS, 10SIX (now known as Project Visitor) released in 2000. World War II Online, released in 2001, is often quoted with the same honour, because it more closely fits the traditional FPS mold, and was more widely published. Another popular MMOFPS game is Sony Online Entertainment's PlanetSide. For building one's own MMOFPS, there are also now free MMOG game engines.Examples of a MMOFPS are, Soldier Front, Counter-Strike Source and 1.6, and WarRock.

Shattered Galaxy has been one of the few MMORTS games.

MMORTS

Main article: Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy

Massively multiplayer online real-time strategy, known as MMORTS, are games that combine real-time strategy (RTS) with a large number of simultaneous army commanders in resource competition like StarCraft, Shattered Galaxy and Dreamlords. However, most of these are disputed as they do not include the main requirement to qualify for MMO status, which is one persistent world.

MMODG

MMODG stands for Massively Multiplayer online dance game. This idea was influenced by Dance Dance Revolution.

Examples: DANCE! Online, Super Dancer Online, StepMania Online, O2 Jam and Audition Online.

MMOMG

MMOMGs, or massively multiplayer online manager games, are easy to play and don't take much time. The player logs in few times per week, sets orders for the in-game team and find how to defeat human opponents and their strategies. The most popular MMOMG is Hattrick.

MMOR

Massively multiplayer online racing. Massive online versions of racing games. Currently there's only five racing based MMORs: RaceLands , KongKong Online and Kart Rider and "upshift strikeracer" and "project torque" The Trackmania series comes close to being a MMOR. Although Auto Assault and Darkwind: War on Wheels are more combat based than racing, they are also considered a MMOR. "Test Drive Unlimited" is also considered a MMOR.

MMOTG

Massively multiplayer online tycoon game. Online versions of tycoons games. Mainly all browser based however there are two client based games, Starpeace and Industry Player.

MMOSG

MMOSG may stand for "Massively Multiplayer Online Sports Game" or "Massively Multiplayer Online Strategy Game" or "Massively Multiplayer Online Social Game".

Massively Multiplayer Online Social Games focus on socialization instead of objective-based gameplay. There is a great deal of overlap in terminology with "Online Communities" and "Virtual Worlds".

One example that has garnered widespread media attention is Linden Labs' Second Life, emphasizing socializing, world-building and an in-world virtual economy that depends on the sale and purchase of user-created content. It is technically an MMOSG by definition, though its stated goal was to realize the concept of the Metaverse from Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash[citation needed]. Instead of being based around combat, one could say that it was based around the creation of virtual objects, including models and scripts. In practice, it has more in common with Club Caribe than Everquest. It was the first game of its kind to achieve widespread success (including attention from mainstream media); however, it was not the first (as Active Worlds was released in June 1995). Competitors in this relatively new subgenre (non-combat-based MMORPG) would come to include There, Entropia Universe and Dotsoul.The PlayStation HOME coming soon is also another MMOSG of sorts.

Before the RTS games appeared, strategic games, like Empire, were turn-based and offered PBeM modes to compete with others. Nowadays turns can be processed on central (web)servers, allowing massive amounts of players. Unification Wars is a good example which relies heavily on diplomacy and player interaction. Instead of quickly mouse-clicking units into action RTS style, players carefully plan their moves.

MMOVSG

Main article: Massively Multiplayer Online Virtual Sex Game

Massively multiplayer online virtual sex games. The umbrella term MMOVSG summarizes games of the different MMOG subtypes that support simulation of virtual sexual intercourse between player characters. For Example: Sociolotron (MMORPG), Red Light Center (MMOSG). Some of these games even give primacy to sexual aspects..

MMCAP

Massively Multiplayer Collaborative Art Projects are typically browser based. In contrast to traditional MMOGs, MMCAPs place an emphasis on creative collaboration. An example of an MMCAP is TheBroth, a collaborative mosaic art application or DeviantArt.

Real-world simulations

Some MMOGs have been designed to accurately simulate certain aspects of the real world. They tend to be very specific to industries or activities of very large risk and huge potential loss, such as rocket science, airplanes, battle tanks, submarines etc. Gradually as simulation technology is getting more mainstream, so too various simulators arrive into more mundane industries.

The MMOG genre of air traffic simulation is one example, with networks such as VATSIM and IVAO striving to provide rigorously authentic flight-simulation environments to players in both pilot and air traffic controller roles. In this category of MMOGs, the objective is to create duplicates of the real world for people who cannot or do not wish to undertake those experiences in real life. For example, flight simulation via a MMOG requires far less expenditure of time and money, is completely risk-free, and is far less restrictive (fewer regulations to adhere to, no medical exams to pass, and so on).

Another specialist area is mobile telecoms operator (carrier) business where billion-dollar investments in networks are needed but marketshares are won and lost on issues from segmentation to handset subsidies. A specialist simulation was developed by Nokia called Equilibrium/Arbitrage to have over a two day period five teams of top management of one operator/carrier play a "wargame" against each other, under extremely realistic conditions, with one operator an incumbent fixed and mobile network operator, another a new entrant mobile operator, a third a fixed-line/internet operator etc. Each team is measured by outperforming their rivals by market expectations of that type of player. Thus each player has drastically different goals, but within the simulation, any one team can win. Also to ensure maximum intensity, only one team can win. Telecoms senior executives who have taken the Equilibrium/Arbitrage simulation say it is the most intense, and most useful training they have ever experienced. It is typical of business use of simulators, in very senior management training/retraining.

Others

A large amount of games categorize under MMOBBG (very similar to MMOBBRPGs), having the entire game primarily made up of text and descriptions, although images are often used to enhance the game. One of the games that set the precedent for these (many elements can be seen as similar) was Archmage. Another game that would fit under this category is KingsOfChaos.

Most other MMOGs are apparently simulation games, such as Motor City Online, The Sims Online (though this is often called an MMORPG), and Jumpgate.

In April 2004, the United States Army announced that it is developing a massively multiplayer training simulation called AWE (asymmetric warfare environment) that was expected to begin operation among soldiers by June. The purpose of AWE is to train soldiers for urban warfare and there are no plans for a public commercial release. Forterra Systems Inc. is developing it for the Army based on the There engine.

Alternate reality games (ARGs) can be massively multiplayer, allowing thousands of players worldwide to co-operate in puzzle trails and mystery solving. ARGs take place in a unique mixture of online and real-world play that usually does not involve a persistent world, and are not necessarily multiplayer, making them different from MMOGs.

Considered by some to be a MMORPG, Castle Infinity was the first MMOG developed for children. Its gameplay, however, is somewhere between puzzle and adventure, making it more like a massively multiplayer platformer than a MMORPG.

'Quick Fix' MMOGs, such as Racing Frogs are MMOGs that can be played with only a small amount of time every day.

There are also Massively Multiplayer Collectible Card Games: Magic: The Gathering Online, Astral Masters and Astral Tournament, sometime abbreviated MTGO or MODO. Other MMOCCGs might exist (Neopets has some CCG elements) but are not as well known.

Some recent attempts to build peer-to-peer (P2P) MMOGs have been made. 'Outback Online' may be the first commercial one , however, so far most of the efforts have been academic studies . A P2P MMOG may potentially be more scalable and cheaper to build, but notable issues with P2P MMOGs include security and consistency control, which can be difficult to address given that clients are easily hacked.

Massively multiplayer online role-playing game

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World of Warcraft, a popular MMORPG

Massive(ly) multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a genre of online role-playing video games (RPGs) in which a large number of players interact with one another in a virtual world.

As in all RPGs, players assume the role of a fictional character (most commonly in a fantasy setting) and take control over many of that character's actions. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player RPGs by the number of players, and by the game's persistent world, usually hosted by the game's publisher, which continues to exist and evolve while the player is away from the game.

MMORPGs are very popular throughout the world, with combined global memberships in subscription and non-subscription games exceeding 15 million as of 2006. Worldwide revenues for MMORPGs exceeded half a billion dollars in 2005, and Western revenues exceeded one billion USD in 2006.

[hide]

1 Common features
- 1.1 Themes
- 1.2 Progression
- 1.3 Social roles
- 1.4 System architecture
2 History
3 Psychology
4 Economics
5 Development
- 5.1 Trends as of 2007
- 5.2 Non-corporate development
6 See also
7 Notes and references
8 External links

Common features

Though MMORPGs have evolved considerably, and modern versions sometimes differ dramatically from their antecedents, many of them share some basic characteristics.

Themes

The majority of MMORPGs are based on traditional fantasy-themed game play, occurring in an in-game universe comparable to that of Dungeons & Dragons. Some employ hybrid themes that either merge or substitute fantasy elements with those of science fiction, sword and sorcery, crime fiction, the occult, or other recognizable literary genres. Often these elements are developed using similar tasks and scenarios involving quests, monsters, and loot.

Progression

An impressive character, here from EverQuest 2, is often the goal of an MMORPG.

In nearly all MMORPGs the development of the player's character is a primary goal. Many titles feature a character progression system in which players earn experience points for their actions and use those points to reach character "levels", which makes them better at whatever they do. Traditionally, combat with monsters and completing quests for NPC's, either alone or in groups, is the primary way to earn experience points. The accumulation of wealth (including combat-useful items) is also a way to progress in many titles, and again, this is traditionally best accomplished via combat. The cycle produced by these conditions, combat leading to new items allowing for more combat with no change in gameplay, is sometimes pejoratively referred to as the level treadmill. The role-playing game Progress Quest was created as a parody of this trend.

Also traditional in the genre is the eventual demand on players to team up with others in order to progress at the optimal rate. This tends to force players to change their real-world schedules in order to "keep up" within the game-world. Though some titles recognize this trend as a problem and provide ways to progress within short, unscheduled periods of time, this is still a widespread criticism of games in the genre.^{[citation needed]}

Social roles

MMORPGs always allow players to communicate with one another. Depending on the other interactions allowed by the game, other social expectations will be present.

Many MMORPGs exploit their players' social skills and offer support for in-game guilds or clans (though these will usually form whether the game supports them or not). As a result many players will find themselves as either a member or a leader of such a group after playing a MMORPG for some time. These organizations will likely have further expectations for their members (such as intra-guild assistance).

Even if players never join a formal group, they are still usually expected to be a part of a small team during game play, and will probably be expected to carry out a specialized role. In combat-based MMORPGs, usual roles include the "tank", a character who absorbs enemy blows and protects other members of the team, the "healer", a character responsible for keeping up the health of the party, the "Damage Dealer," a character suited to inflicting damage, with less ability to resist large amounts of it, and a "nuker," usually a magic user, that has abilities that inflict large amounts of damage, but is the most physically weak compared to its counterparts. Additionally there might be classes dedicated to "buffing", using abilities that help oneself or a team by increasing their attributes or abilities, or "debuffing", using abilities to hinder enemies by lowering their attributes and abilities. Each game might have these roles, additional hybrid roles, or might eliminate them. Some players might enjoy one role over others and continue to play it through many different MMORPG titles.

Some MMORPGs also may expect players to roleplay their characters - that is, to speak and act in the way their character would act, even if it means shying away from other goals such as wealth or experience. Most MMORPG players never actually play the roles of their characters, however, and so this behavior is far from being the norm. Still, MMORPGs may offer "RP-only" servers for those who wish to immerse themselves in the game in this way.

Often titles will also feature Game Moderators or Game Masters (frequently abbreviated to GM), which may be paid employees or unpaid volunteers who attempt to supervise the world. Some GMs may have additional access to features and information related to the game that are not available to other players and roles.

System architecture

Most MMORPGs are deployed using a client-server system architecture. The software that generates and persists the "world" runs continuously on a server, and players connect to it via client software. The client software may provide access to the entire playing world, or further 'expansions' may be required to be purchased to allow access to certain areas of the game, Everquest and World of Warcraft are two examples of games that use such a format. Players generally must purchase the client software for a one-time fee, although an increasing trend is for MMORPGs to work using pre-existing "thin" clients, such as a web browser. A notable example is Runescape, which players connect to via a browser, allowing access to the game independent of platform and location.

Some MMORPGs require payment of a monthly subscription to play. By nature, "massively multiplayer" games are always online, and most require some sort of continuous revenue (such as monthly subscriptions and advertisements) for maintenance and development. Games that feature massively-multiplayer functionality, but do not include roleplaying elements, are referred to as MMOGs.

Depending on the number of players and the system architecture, a MMORPG might actually be run on multiple separate servers, each representing an independent world, where players from one server cannot interact with those from another.

History

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MUD, an early multi-user roleplaying game

Main article: History of massively multiplayer online role-playing games

MMORPGs, as defined today, have only existed since the early 1990s. Still, all MMORPGs can trace a lineage back to the earliest multi-user games which started appearing in the late 1970s. The first of these was Mazewar, though more would soon be developed for the PLATO system. 1984 saw a Roguelike (semi-graphical) multi-user game, called Islands of Kesmai. The first "truly" graphical multi-user RPG was Neverwinter Nights, which was delivered through America Online in 1991 and was personally championed by AOL President Steve Case.

When NSFNET restrictions were lifted in 1995, the internet was opened up to developers, and this allowed for the first really "massive" titles. The first success after this point was Meridian 59, which also featured first-person 3D graphics, although The Realm Online appeared nearly simultaneously and may be credited with bringing the genre to a wider player-base. Ultima Online, released in 1997, may be credited with first popularizing the genre, though Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds was primarily responsible for mainstream attention throughout Asia and it was EverQuest that brought MMORPGs to the mainstream in the West.

These early titles' financial success has ensured competition in the genre since that time. MMORPG titles now exist on consoles and in new settings, and their players enjoy higher-quality gameplay. The current market for MMORPGs has Blizzard's World of Warcraft dominating as the largest pay-to-play MMORPG, though an additional market exists for free-to-play MMORPGs, which are supported by advertising and purchases of in-game items. One major exception is Guild Wars, which only requires the initial purchase of the game and mandates no further payment. There are a few other games of this nature but Guild Wars is by far the dominant title in this sub-category with it being the only real competitor to World of Warcraft in the West.

Psychology

Since the interactions between MMORPG players are real, even if the environments are not, psychologists and sociologists are able to use MMORPGs as tools for academic research. Sherry Turkle, a clinical psychologist, has conducted interviews with computer users including game-players. Turkle found that many people have expanded their emotional range by exploring the many different roles (including gender identities) that MMORPGs allow a person to explore.

Nick Yee has surveyed more than 35,000 MMORPG players over the past few years, focusing on psychological and sociological aspects of these games. Recent findings included that 15% of players become a guild-leader at one time or another, but most generally find the job tough and thankless; and that players spend a considerable amount of time (often a third of their total time investment) doing things that are directly-related to, but outside of, the game itself.

Many players report that the emotions they feel while playing an MMORPG are very strong, to the extent that 8.7% of male and 23.2% of female players in a statistical study have had an online wedding. Other researchers have found that the enjoyment of a game is directly related to the social organization of a game, ranging from brief encounters between players to highly organized play in structured groups.

Richard Bartle has classified multiplayer RPG-players into four primary psychological groups. His classifications were then expanded upon by Erwin Andreasen, who developed the concept into the thirty-question Bartle Test that helps players determine which category they are associated with. With over 200,000 test responses as of 2006, this is perhaps the largest ongoing survey of multiplayer game players.

Economics

See also: Virtual economy

Many MMORPGs feature living economies, as virtual items and currency have to be gained through play and have definite value for players. Such a virtual economy can be analyzed (using data logged by the game) and has value in economic research; more significantly, these "virtual" economies can have an impact on the economies of the real world.

One of the early researchers of MMORPGs was Edward Castronova, who demonstrated that a supply-and-demand market exists for virtual items and that it crosses over with the real world. This crossover has some requirements of the game:

The ability for players to sell an item to each other for in-game (virtual) currency.
Bartering for items between players for items of similar value.
The purchase of in-game items for real-world currency.
Exchanges of real-world currencies for virtual currencies.

The idea of attaching real-world value to "virtual" items has had a profound effect on players and the game industry, and even the courts. Castronova's first study in 2002 found that a highly liquid (if illegal) currency market existed, with the value of Everquest's in-game currency exceeding that of the Japanese yen. Some people even make a living by working these virtual economies; these people are often referred to as gold farmers, and may be employed in game sweatshops.

Game publishers usually prohibit the exchange of real-world money for virtual goods. However, a number of products actively promote the idea of linking (and directly profiting from) an exchange. Some players of Second Life have generated revenues in excess of $100,000. However, in the case of Entropia Universe, the virtual economy and the real-world economy are directly linked. This means that real money can be deposited for game money and vice versa. Real-world items have also been sold for game money in Entropia.

Some of the issues confronting online economies include:

The use of "bots" or automated programs, that assist some players in accumulating in-game wealth to the disadvantage of other players.
The use of unsanctioned auction sites, which has led publishers to seek legal remedies to prevent their use based on intellectual-property claims.
The emergence of virtual crime, which can take the form of both fraud against the player or publisher of an online game, and even real-life acts of violence stemming from in-game transactions.

Linking real-world and virtual economies is rare in MMORPGs, as it is generally believed to be detrimental to gameplay. If real-world wealth can be used to obtain greater, more immediate rewards than skilful gameplay, the incentive for strategic roleplay and real game involvement is diminished. It could also easily lead to a skewed hierarchy where richer players gain better items, allowing them to take on stronger opponents and level up more quickly than less wealthy but more committed players.^{[citation needed]}

Development

In general, the cost of developing a competitive commercial MMORPG title often exceeds ten million dollars. These projects require multiple disciplines within game design and development: 3D modeling, 2D art, animation, user interfaces, client/server engineering, database architecture and network infrastructure.

The front-end (or client) component of a commercial, modern MMORPG features 3D graphics. As with other modern 3D games, the front-end requires expertise with implementing 3D engines, real-time shader techniques and physics simulation. The actual visual content (areas, creatures, characters, weapons, spaceships and so forth) is developed by artists who typically begin with two-dimensional concept art, and later convert these concepts into animated 3D scenes, models and texture maps.

Developing an MMOG server requires expertise with client/server architecture, network protocols, security and relational database design. MMORPGs include reliable systems for a number of vital tasks. The server must be able to handle and verify a large number of connections; prevent cheating; and apply changes (bug fixes or added content) to the game. A system for recording the game's data at regular intervals, without stopping the game, is also important.

Maintenance requires sufficient servers and bandwidth, and a dedicated support staff. Insufficient resources for maintenance lead to lag and frustration for the players, and can severely damage the reputation of a game, especially at launch. Care must also be taken to ensure that player population remains at an acceptable level by adding or removing servers ("shards"). Peer-to-peer MMORPGs could theoretically work cheaply and efficiently in regulating server load, but practical issues such as asymmetrical network bandwidth and CPU-hungry rendering engines make them a difficult proposition. Additionally, they would probably become vulnerable to other problems including new possibilities for cheating. The hosted infrastructure for a commercial-grade MMORPG requires the deployment of hundreds (or even thousands) of servers. Developing an affordable infrastructure for an online game requires developers to scale to large numbers of players with less hardware and network investment.

In addition, the team will need to have expertise with the fundamentals of game design: world-building, lore and game mechanics, as well as what makes games fun.

Trends as of 2007

As there are a number of wildly different titles within the genre, and since the genre develops so rapidly, it is difficult to definitively state that the genre is heading in one direction or another. Still, there are a few obvious developments. One of these developments is the raid group quest, or "raid", which is an adventure designed for large groups of players (often twenty or more).

Another is the use of instance dungeons. These are game areas that are "copied" for individual groups, which keeps that group separated from the rest of the game world. This reduces competition, and also has the effect of reducing the amount of data that needs to be sent to and from the server, which reduces lag. World of Warcraft's "raids", mentioned above, are often instance dungeons, as are all of the combat areas in Guild Wars.

Increased amounts of "Player-created content" may be another trend. From the beginning the Ultima Online world included blank 30-page books that players could write in, collect into personal libraries and trade; in later years players have been able to design and build houses from the ground up. Some non-combat-based MMORPGs rely heavily on player-created content, including everything from simple animations to complete buildings using player-created textures and architecture like A Tale in the Desert. However, these games are very different from the far more popular "standard" MMORPGs revolving around combat and limited character trade skills. Player-created content in these games would be in the form of areas to explore, monsters to kill, quests to carry out and specific in-game items to obtain. The Saga of Ryzom was the first of these "standard" MMORPGs to offer players the ability to create this type of content. Again, whether or not this becomes mainstream is anyone's guess.

The use of licenses, common in other video game genres, has also appeared in MMORPGs. 2007 saw the release of The Lord of the Rings Online, based on J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Other licensed MMORPGs include The Matrix Online, based on the Matrix trilogy of films, and Star Wars Galaxies. Additionally, several licenses from television have been optioned for MMORPGs, for example Stargate Worlds, which is currently in development. The process is also apparently being applied in reverse, with James Cameron designing a MMORPG that will precede a film (Project 880) it is tied to.

The introduction of free trials, making titles into shareware, has also become more common, as developers expect that players will become "hooked" by their worlds and begin to pay for them. World of Warcraft and EVE Online have both incorporated short free-play periods with the creation of game accounts, while others, like Anarchy Online, RuneScape and Rappelz have unlimited free-to-play periods, though with caveats; these titles may display in-game advertisements to non-paying customers, or restrict some content.

Another trend that has shown great presence in MMORPGs is "player-driven" gameplay. Player-driven gameplay relies on the players themselves for events and wars, instead of having these things come from non-player characters (NPCs). Although all MMORPGs try to maximize player interactions, as it provides immersion, some take the concept to an extreme. One example is Shadowbane, which provides neither quests nor dungeons, and instead has players enlisting each other to control land, properties, provinces, and nations.

Non-corporate development

Though the vast majority of MMORPGs are produced by companies, many small teams of programmers and artists have attempted to contribute to the genre. As shown above, the average MMORPG development project requires enormous investments of time and money, and running the game can be a long-term commitment. As a result, non-corporate (or independent, or "indie") development of MMORPGs is less common compared with other genres. Still, many independent MMORPGs do exist, representing a wide spectrum of genres, gameplay types, and revenue systems.

Some independent MMORPG projects are completely open source,while others like PlaneShift feature proprietary content made with an open-source game engine. The developers of Endless Online have also released development information with details about their coding.

The WorldForge project has been active since 1998 and formed a community of independent developers who are working on creating framework for a number of open-source MMORPGs. The Multiverse Network is also creating a network and platform specifically for independent MMOG developers.

Notes and references

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Tobold (July 2003). What IS a MMORPG actually?. Tobold's MMORPG Blog. Retrieved on 2007-04-01.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d
^ Chart of Subscriber Growth, http://www.mmogchart.com
^ Parks Associates (2005). Online Gaming Revenues to Triple by 2009. Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
^ Harding-Rolls, Piers [March 2007]. Western World MMOG Market: 2006 Review and Forecasts to 2011 (PDF), London, UK: Screen Digest. Retrieved on 2007-05-17.
^ Loewald, Torino (2005). World of Warcraft. MMORPG Suckage. And Other Stories. blogspot.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
^ Cenarion Corner (2007). RP, Where Hast Thou Gone?. IGN.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-29.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Koster, Raph. Online World Timeline. Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
^ Welcome to the world of Meridian 59!. Retrieved on 2007-04-03.
^ ^a ^b
^ Sherry Turkle (1997), Life on the Screen: Identity in the Age of the Internet, ISBN 0-684-83348-4
^ Yee, Nick (2006-03-20). Life as a Guild Leader. The Daedalus Project. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
^ Yee, Nick (2006-08-29). Time Spent in the Meta-Game. The Daedalus Project. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
^ Yee, Nick (2006-08-29). An Ethnography of MMORPG Weddings. The Daedalus Project. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
^ Nardi, Harris (2006), Strangers and Friends: Collaborative Play in World of Warcraft, Proceedings of the 2006 20th anniversary conference on Computer supported cooperative work
^ Bartle Test of Gamer Psychology, http://www.guildcafe.com/bartle.php
^ ^a ^b Privantu, Radu (2007-02-17). Tips on Developing an MMO Economy, Part I. DevMaster.net. Retrieved on 2007-04-21.
^ Castronova, Edward. Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games. ISBN 0-226-09626-2, University Of Chicago Press
^ Whiting, Jason (2002-11-06). Online Game Economies Get Real. Wired News. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
^ Lee, James (2005-07-05). Wage Slaves. 1UP.com. Retrieved on 2007-04-21.
^ Hof, Robert (2006-05-01). My Virtual Life. BusinessWeek. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
^ Robert Shapiro (2003), How online games teach us about economics, http://www.slate.com/id/2078053/
^ Blizzard Goes to War, http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2004/12/blizzard_goes_t.html
^ BBC News (2005), Game Theft led to Fatal Attack, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4397159.stm
^ Adam Carpenter (2003), Applying Risk-Based Analysis to Play Balance RPGs, Gamasutra, http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20030611/carpenter_01.shtml
^ Jon Radoff (2007), "Anatomy of an MMORPG," GuildCafe PlayerVox, http://www.guildcafe.com/Vox/04075-Radoff-MMO-Anatomy.html
^ Frank Luna (2006), "3D Game Programming with DirectX 9.0c, a Shader Approach," Worldware Publishing, ISBN 1-59822-016-0
^ Jay Lee (2003), Gamasutra, Relational Database Guidelines for MMOGs, http://www.gamasutra.com/resource_guide/20030916/lee_01.shtml
^ GDC Proceedings 2005, Online Game Architecture: Back-End Strategies, http://www.gamasutra.com/gdc2005/features/20050310/esbensen_01.shtml
^ Chris Crawford (2003), Chris Crawford on Game Design, New Riders Games, ISBN 0-13-146099-4
^ Koster and Wright (2004), "A Theory of Fun for Game Design," Paraglyph Press, ISBN 1-932111-97-2
^ Wilson, Steve (December 14, 2006). Casual Play: Raiding Needs to Die. Retrieved on 2007-05-02.
^ Jon Radoff (March 20, 2007), Gamasutra, Five Prescriptions for Viral Games, http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20070320/radoff_01.shtml
^ James Cameron's Game Theory, Business Week (Feb. 13, 2006) http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_07/b3971073.htm
^ Endless Online Technical Information. Retrieved on 11, 2007. Retrieved on March 2007.
^ WorldForge History. Retrieved on 11, 2007. Retrieved on March 2007.
^ About Multiverse. Multiverse. Retrieved on 11, 2007. Retrieved on March 2007.

Computer role-playing game

2007-08-17T19:30:00.003-07:00

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Computer role-playing game

Video role-playing games
Computer RPG History of computer RPGs Chronology of computer RPGs List of computer RPGs Console RPG Chronology of console RPGs Tactical RPG Action RPG Cultural differences

A computer role-playing game (CRPG) is a widely encompassing video game genre originally developed for personal computers and other home computers. The earliest CRPGs were inspired by early role-playing games, especially Dungeons and Dragons, and attempted to provide a similar play experience. Despite the large degree of differences that exist among CRPGs, some common elements can be found in most CRPGs. These include having at least one avatar with quantized characteristics which change over the course of the game in predictable ways and take the place of the gamer's own skill in determining in game outcomes, and having a well developed fictional setting.

Gameplay elements strongly associated with CRPGs, such as statistical character development, have been widely adapted to other video game genres. For example, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, an action game, uses resource statistics (abbreviated as "stats") to define a wide range of attributes including stamina, weapon proficiency, driving, lung capacity, and muscle tone, and uses numerous cutscenes and quests to advance the story. Warcraft III, a real-time strategy game, features heroes that can complete quests, obtain new equipment, and learn new abilities as they advance in level. Some players might say that what separates these from games traditionally termed CRPGs is the inclusion of material not normally considered part of CRPGs, more than the absence of content which often is. However, many CRPG fans would say that the exclusion of these games from the genre stems from a lack of decision in character advancement, one of the key aspects in most CRPGs.

1 Overview
- 1.1 Character development
- 1.2 Themes
- 1.3 Navigation
- 1.4 Quest Structure
- 1.5 Encounters
- 1.6 Combat
2 History and Chronology
3 Criticisms
4 Variant terminology
5 Differences between PC RPGs and Console RPGs
6 List of companies
7 Prominent designers
8 References
9 See also
10 External links

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Overview

CRPGs are originally derived from traditional role-playing games, especially Dungeons & Dragons, and use both the settings and game mechanics found in such games. The stories featured usually involve a group of characters (a party) who have joined forces in order to accomplish a mission or "quest". Along the way, the adventurers must face a great number of challenges and enemies (usually monsters inspired by fantasy, and, to a lesser extent, science fiction and classic mythology).

Characters have a variety of attributes such as hit points. These attributes are traditionally displayed to the player on a status screen as a numeric value, instead of a simpler abstract graphical representation, such as the bars and meters favored by video games in general.

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Character development

Players are allowed to choose how they want to improve their character's (or party's) performance in terms of attributes, skills, special abilities, and equipment. These improvements are given as rewards for overcoming challenges and achieving goals. The conditions that need to be met in order to earn these rewards may vary; some games are focused on defeating enemies, while others emphasize completion of the quests. The amount of freedom players are given when choosing what to improve also varies by game; some allow highly detailed and specialized customizations (known as "builds"), while others automate the process almost entirely. In many games, players are allowed to name and create the concept of their characters, as opposed to playing the role of a pre-defined protagonist. When creating a character from scratch, players might be able to choose their race. Players choose a character class or profession that defines the focus of their training in different aptitudes such as weapons mastery, social skills, spell-casting, and stealth. Some games allow characters to advance in more than one of these professions, but this usually carries some form of disadvantage in order to maintain game balance. Some games also allow the player to choose a "background" or "vignette" that defines the history of the character, prior to gameplay.

Two different systems of rewarding the player characters for solving the tasks in the game can be set apart: the experience system (also known as the "level-based" system) and the training system (also known as the "skill-based" system). The former system, by far the most common, was inherited from traditional role-playing games and emphasizes receiving "experience points" by winning battles, performing class-specific activities, and completing quests, which are then "invested" by the player into the necessary skills. The second system is similar to the way the Basic Role-Playing system works. It was first used in CRPGs in Dungeon Master, and emphasizes developing the character's skills by using them - meaning that if a character wields a sword for some time, he or she will become proficient with it. This system was later used in the The Elder Scrolls series, as well as the Dungeon Siege series.

Both character development systems have their advantages and disadvantages. The experience system allows more flexibility and fairness in rewarding the completed tasks, but is generally unrealistic, since it is, for example, theoretically possible to develop a character's warrior skills without ever actually using them in game. The training system does not imply any reward for the completed quests, except a material one, assuming that the character trained his or her skills while working towards the set goals. However, such systems tend to over-simplification (as seen in Dungeon Siege) and are often considered a step away from classical CRPGs towards the action RPG genre. Many games, such as Oblivion (the Elder Scrolls), utilize both the training system and experience system.

In most computer role-playing games, character advancement does not affect the characterization of the player character. Planescape: Torment and Fallout both stand as notable exceptions to this trend for their inclusion of complex quest structures and NPC behaviors that were altered depending on the player's choices, with Torment taking into account the player's predilection for order or chaos and Fallout introducing reputation-based traits such as "Protector of the Wastes", "Child Killer" or "Gigolo." Other D&D-based games (including the Baldur's Gate and Knights of the Old Republic series) also offered many opportunities to shape the player's character, changing the nature of the game and its NPC reactions.

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Themes

There is a marked tendency for CRPGs to be set in a fictional high fantasy world, likely the result of cautious investment in new genres by the computer gaming industry, although there are numerous exceptions. Whereas traditional role-playing games have since diversified, fewer CRPGs feature elements from space opera, post-apocalyptic, alien and other science fiction themes. Few take place in historical or modern settings. Several notable exceptions to this trend are Arcanum (steampunk), Bloodlines ("gothic punk"), Starflight (science fiction), Darklands (a blend of medieval German history and legend), Star Wars Galaxies (space opera) and Fallout (post-apocalyptic).

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Navigation

An important characteristic of a CRPG is freedom of movement. Most CRPGs allow the player to travel where he wants, putting few or no implemented restrictions of where the player can go, locked doors not withstanding. This makes exploration an important element to all CRPGs.

Characters in CRPGs often travel long distances or navigate through complex and maze-like locations in order to accomplish their goals; thus, many use a system of maps to help the player navigate through the game world.

Since Akalabeth, these games feature characters moving on one or more maps. When the player-character in that game entered a dungeon or city, the view was often changed from a map view to a player view. This representation was also used by many console RPGs including the first nine Final Fantasy titles. But since Bard's Tale II, many CRPGS now feature a player view also in travels showing fully developed and complex landscapes, and only show the map to help the player. Ultima 6 and Ultima 7, on the other hand, used a "map" view (with a narrow field of vision) even in the dungeons. This system was also used in many console RPGs, such as the first seven Dragon Quest games.

Some games feature maps that must be viewed on their own separate screen, while others feature an automap that is always visible during normal gameplay. These maps commonly keep track of a character's current location and important destinations. Although these maps generally make navigation easier for the player, some games limit the visibility of the map intentionally to provide additional challenge or more realism.

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Quest Structure

Computer role-playing games, more so than any other genre, are famous for having long and involved quests. In particular, many of the most famous and well-regarded CRPGs such as Fallout contain multiple quest solutions and nonlinear gameplay through branching plots and often multiple endings. Different character builds may approach quests differently, using diplomacy, violence, subterfuge, bribery, or a variety of other methods, often driven by character as opposed to player skill. Many quests in CRPGs are optional, allowing for freedom of choice in defining a character's goals and intentions. In some CRPGs, such as Planescape: Torment, choosing one path over another may have moral implications, potentially changing the alignment of the player. In some other CRPGs, such as Arcanum or Geneforge, a set of quests may be mutually exclusive with another set, forcing the player to come to a decision on the possible long term effects. Such quests often affect the player's standing with a particular faction which may help or hinder the player. Thus the player's choices can have profound consequences later in the game.

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Encounters

The CRPG travel system usually uses a map view and a set of nodes that the player can traverse to. During travel, the player characters may wander around in dangerous places, such as enemy strongholds or the savage wilderness. In some games, these locations will spawn random encounters, usually when the characters are moving. A random encounter may be benign in nature, such as finding a friendly non-player character or a wandering merchant, or it may be hostile, such as being spotted by a group of enemies or walking into a trap. Encounters are more often hostile than benign. By encountering and defeating enemies, the group of characters may be rewarded with loot and experience points, just as in many of the simpler traditional fantasy RPGs. Participating in random encounters repeatedly for the sake of amassing these rewards is referred to as grinding. Enemy characters featured in random encounters rarely have any impact on the story. Some games, instead of using a traditional random encounter system, show wandering monsters on the screen before the player is forced to interact with them. This way, the player is able to better prepare for the encounter or avoid it altogether (if possible).

Some encounters in CRPGs are not random; they happen automatically when the player reaches a certain point in the story. These encounters are usually important events and may be foreshadowed in some way. The vast majority of these non-random encounters are "bosses", enemy characters of importance who are always more difficult to defeat than any common random encounter. Other scripted encounters may include unavoidable guards, characters seeking the player's attention, or incidents that are critical to the story. Like most video games, CRPGs often feature a climactic final encounter, after which the game soon reaches its conclusion.

Random encounters are no longer frequently used in modern CRPGs, although randomly generated wandering monsters (shown on screen) remain common.

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Combat

Almost every CRPG features combat as one of the main challenges to the player. A good portion of these games is spent avoiding, preparing for, or carrying out fights. Combat is usually carried out in either turn-based or real-time mode.

In a classical turn-based system, only one character may act at a time; all other characters remain still, with a few exceptions that may involve the use of special abilities. The order in which the characters act is usually dependent on their attributes, such as speed or agility. This system rewards strategic planning more than tactical quickness. It also points to the fact that realism in games is a means to the end of immersion in the game world, not an end in itself. A turn-based system makes it possible, for example, to run into range of an opponent and kill him before he gets a chance to act, or duck out from behind hard cover, fire, and retreat back without an opponent being able to fire, which are of course both impossibilities. However, tactical possibilities have been created by this unreality that did not exist before; the player determines whether the loss of immersion in the reality of the game is worth the satisfaction gained from the development of the tactic and its successful execution.

In real-time mode, there are no turn restrictions and characters may act at any time. Action tends to be more frenetic though sometimes difficult to control. An example of a CRPG featuring real-time combat is Diablo. Many real-time CRPGs are classified as Action RPGs.

A variant of this mode called real-time with pause allows the player to pause the game and issue orders to all characters under his/her control; when the game is unpaused, all characters follow the orders they were given. This system, abbreviated as RTwP, has been particularly popular in games designed by Bioware. The most famous RTwP engine is the Infinity Engine. A similar system can be found in the Final Fantasy series; time can be set to flow normally, or flow up until the start of the Player Characters' next available actions, or paused. When set to normal, it is identical to live action, with emphasis on quick decisions. Set to wait, it effectively has an autopause, and strategies can be contemplated.

Early Ultima games featured a semi-real time system: they were strictly turn-based, but if the player waited more than a second or so to issue a command, the game would automatically issue a pass command, allowing the monsters to take a turn while the PCs did nothing.

There is a further subdivision by the structure of the battle system; in many early games, such as Wizardry, monsters and the party are arrayed into ranks, and can only attack enemies in the front rank with melee weapons. Other games, such as most of the Ultima series, employed duplicates of the miniatures combat system traditionally used in pen-and-paper games. Here, icons representing the players and monsters would move around an arena modeled after the surrounding terrain, attacking any enemies that are sufficiently near.

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History and Chronology

Main articles: History of computer role-playing games and Chronology of computer role-playing games

Role-playing video games began in 1975 as an offshoot of early university mainframe computer text RPGs on PDP-10 and Unix-based computers, starting with Dungeon and graphical RPGs on the PLATO System, pedit5 and dnd, themselves inspired by traditional role-playing games. Other influences during this period were text adventures, Multiple-User Dungeons (MUDs) and roguelike games. Some of the first graphical CRPGs after pedit5 and dnd, were orthanc, avathar (later renamed avatar), oubliette, baradur, emprise, bnd, sorcery, moria, and dndworld, all of which were developed and became widely popular on PLATO during the latter 1970s, in large part due to PLATO's speed, fast graphics, nationwide network of terminals, and large number of players with access to those terminals. These were followed by (but did not always lead directly to) games on other platforms, such as Akalabeth (1980) (which gave rise to the well-known Ultima series), Wizardry, and Dungeons of Daggorath.

These early Ultima and Wizardry games are perhaps the largest influence on the later console RPG games that are now popular. Many innovations of Ultima III: Exodus (1983) eventually became standards of almost all RPGs in both the console market (if somewhat simplified to fit the gamepad) and the personal computer market. Later Dungeon Master (1987) introduced realtime gameplay and several user-interface innovations, such as direct manipulation of objects and the environment with the mouse, to first-person CRPGs.

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Criticisms

CRPGs often face criticism from players of traditional RPGs. A common reason for this is the fact that many CRPGs focus on combat and statistical character management instead of storytelling and thorough characterization. This trend is called powergaming. Players also criticise the fact that the player has limited, pre-programmed control over their digital avatar, rather than unlimited control of a character who may interact with any aspect of the game's world.

These are common criticisms of simulated realities in general; indeed, these criticisms are also directed at gamist and simulationist players of traditional role-playing games. A virtual world might create the illusion of freedom in terms of choice and motion, but even in the most free-form CRPGs, a player's actions are limited by the amount of content that a game's designers are able to program. Narrativist RPG players, being used to having no such pre-defined limitations, find themselves unsatisfied with the experience provided in CRPGs.

Many gamers feel that it is inaccurate to use the term "role-playing game" to describe games in which the characterization of the game characters is determined by the game designer rather than the players' portrayal of their roles. However, this is a criticism of the term rather than of the games themselves.

Although current technical limitations may not allow CRPGs to be as open-ended and free as traditional RPGs, numerous games allow for considerable variation in their content delivery. Many games also feature graphic engines designed to be easily modified by enthusiasts, who with their own variations and ideas may add new graphical content and build their own home-grown setting and stories. Some games such as Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption and Neverwinter Nights also feature built-in "storytelling" multiplayer modes which provide one player all the functions of a gamemaster. However, future developments in artificial intelligence may lead to the development of CRPGs which answer all the traditionalist criticisms.

Another major criticism of CRPGs is one inherited from their roots in early, combat-focused role-playing games — that their typically strong emphasis on statistics and numbers for many facets of gameplay has diluted "role-playing" into "roll playing." In many cases, it's not clear where to draw the line between player choices and numerical determination. For instance, whether there should be a stat-based skill for information gathering has long been the subject of debate in the RPG community.

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Variant terminology

Because traditional role-playing games predate them, computer RPGs were given the abbreviation “CRPG” as they increased in popularity to avoid confusing the two. In Japan, however, video game RPGs became widely popular first, so the term “RPG” (in the Latin alphabet) is used for them primarily, while the original versions are given the retronym “PRPG”. Outside Japan, console RPGs are frequently referred to as “JRPGs”, and computer RPGs are sometimes referred to as Western role-playing games (WRPGs^[2]).

CRPGs which mainly feature complex, squad-based combat systems are known as Tactical RPGs, and may be abbreviated as “TRPGs”. Some prefer to call them “Strategic RPGs”, thus they may also be referred to as “SRPGs” instead. Tactical RPGs feature a strong emphasis on tactical combat, usually turn-based. This subgenre borders with Real-time tactics and Turn-based tactics, and some games are considered to belong to both the CRPG and Tactics genres, or be a hybrid between them. Jagged Alliance and Silent Storm are famous Turn-based strategy games that are also classified as part of the tactical RPG genre.

Many games commonly referred to as CRPGs, such as Diablo II or Dungeon Siege, are often described more specifically as Action RPGs. This subgenre tends to be faster-paced, more skill intensive and focused on combat, while lacking developed plot and dialogue. Sometimes Action RPGs are also referred to as hack and slashers.

Games that take significant elements from CRPGs and other genres, but don't have a genre name like "Action RPG" yet, are usually referred to as "hybrids." For instance, System Shock 2 and Deus Ex are two famous FPS/RPG hybrids. Warlord's Battlecry and Spellforce 2: Shadow Wars are RPG/RTS hybrids. Other games, such as Space Rangers 2: Rise of the Dominators, have so many different genres mixed together (i.e. CRPG, RTS, Elite-style trading simulation, TBS, text adventure, SHMUPS) that they defy any meaningful singular characterization. These games are usually simply referred to as multi-genre.

Furthermore, any CRPG developed by an amateur developer is usually referred to as an Indie ("Independent") role-playing game. Popular Indie role-playing games include Avernum and Geneforge. Indie role-playing games are not a distinct subgenre but their small budgets usually have a dramatic effect on the game design.

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Differences between PC RPGs and Console RPGs

Main article: Cultural differences in role-playing video games

Due to cultural differences between developer companies, historically different inspirations and origins, distinct target audiences, and hardware with dissimilar capabilities, two main trends or "families" of computer and console RPGs exist. Each follows a certain pattern in terms of art style, storyline, and game mechanics.

List of companies

Below is a list of game developers who specialize in or have created notable computer role-playing games.

Activision
Akella
Artix Entertainment
Bethesda Softworks
BioWare
Black Isle Studios
Blizzard North
Enix
FTL Games
Funcom

Gas Powered Games
Interplay Entertainment
Iron Lore Entertainment
Jagex
Looking Glass Studios
Lionhead Studios
New World Computing
Obsidian Entertainment
Origin Systems
Piranha Bytes

Sir-Tech
Spiderweb Software
Square Enix (merger of Enix and Squaresoft)
Square Co.
Stormfront Studios
Strategic Simulations, Inc.
Troika Games
Turbine, Inc.
Westwood Studios

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Prominent designers

Brian Fargo
Chris Taylor
Chris Avellone
David W. Bradley
James Ohlen
Jason D. Anderson
Josh Sawyer
Julian Lefay
Leonard Boyarsky
Richard Garriott
Timothy Cain

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Timeline

Psychology

Luck, strategy and diplomacy

Common terms

References

Further reading

Personal computer game

Early growth

Industry crash

New genres

Contemporary gaming

PC game development

User-created modifications

Distribution

PLAYSTATION PS2 GAME BRATZ: ROCK ANGELZ BRAND NEW