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"Spanning the Internet to bring you the constant variety of sport," McKay was intoning. Spanning the Internet? What's that about?
"The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." Well, at least this time it was an animated skier tumbling down the slope. Glad nobody had to get hurt again.
"The human drama of electronic competition! This is CNET's Internet World of Sports!"
NOW THAT WOKE ME UP. A CNET version of the Wide World of Sports? Probably not. But I am ready to predict that it won't be very long before online gaming becomes a spectator sport. Someday in the not-too-distant future, I believe we'll sit around watching online gamers do battle with one another, first on the Internet, and then on something like ESPN.
That will turn gamers into professional "athletes." Instead of the game endorsers like John Madden getting rich, it will be the players. Or perhaps Madden will host his own "game" show where the competition takes place. The point being that I think online gaming is going mainstream, joining TV, music, movies, and the Net in the center of our country's entertainment industry.
This may sound outlandish, but no more so than ten exceedingly tall people running around in their underwear bouncing an orange ball. Believe me, stranger successes have been made.
Several weeks into my search for the Next Big Thing in gaming, in the course of which I've interviewed experts on my radio show, looked at the online incarnations of the Xbox and PS2 consoles, and talked to vendors as well as kids at the mall, I've come to a few large-scale conclusions (in addition to this whole online-gaming-as-spectator-sport scenario). They include the following:
Game consoles--as if there is doubt--are already the platforms of choice for serious gaming. According to my colleagues over at GameSpot, console games already outsell their PC counterparts 10 to 1.
Over the next 36 months, game consoles and other home Internet hardware, such PCs and wireless access points, will become less and less distinguishable. Put another way, a future Xbox might also be your home's Internet gateway and home entertainment server.
Put those first two trends together and you see why I think online games, using consoles connected to the Internet, are going to be so huge. And why I believe that in 24 to 36 months there will be spectators watching the best players of their favorite games--and perhaps even ticket fees.
One potential impediment to that growth: Online gaming is going to cost real money. If you're spending eight or even 16 hours a day playing your favorite game (believe me, some people do), an online subscription fee for your favorite game may not seem expensive. But for ordinary mortals, the dollars--for a game console, the online connection hardware, the games themselves, and eventually online subscription fees--will really add up.
Mobile games--meaning games you download into wireless devices like cellular telephones--will generate decent revenue for wireless carriers and expand the video game market to people who don't consider themselves gamers. This will become an interesting diversion for people who have a lot of waiting to do--like in airports. But working against this is the relatively low number of people who play games on their Palms and Pocket PCs.
The cable industry, and set-top box companies, are obvious players in all this. I wonder, however, whether there won't be strong technological and economic incentives for people to buy these machines themselves, rather than rent them from a cable provider. My bet is that your cable, Internet, and online game providers may all be separate.
The video game companies need to work more closely together or accept that Microsoft will be a large (if unwanted) guest at their dinner table. There is still time for the industry--console providers and the content companies--to prevent Microsoft from becoming a major, perhaps dominant force, in electronic gaming. But I am betting the industry won't do anything, and that Microsoft will end up owning a major part of the online gaming infrastructure two or three years from now.
The bottom line is that gaming is likely to only become more important as it reaches out to really embrace the Internet. It will provide more families with a reason to go broadband. That, in turn, will help push a variety of other information and entertainment services into the home.
So in making these predictions I have to wonder: Was that a dream I was having? Or a nightmare?
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/4520-6033_16-4207677.html
"The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." Well, at least this time it was an animated skier tumbling down the slope. Glad nobody had to get hurt again.
"The human drama of electronic competition! This is CNET's Internet World of Sports!"
NOW THAT WOKE ME UP. A CNET version of the Wide World of Sports? Probably not. But I am ready to predict that it won't be very long before online gaming becomes a spectator sport. Someday in the not-too-distant future, I believe we'll sit around watching online gamers do battle with one another, first on the Internet, and then on something like ESPN.
That will turn gamers into professional "athletes." Instead of the game endorsers like John Madden getting rich, it will be the players. Or perhaps Madden will host his own "game" show where the competition takes place. The point being that I think online gaming is going mainstream, joining TV, music, movies, and the Net in the center of our country's entertainment industry.
This may sound outlandish, but no more so than ten exceedingly tall people running around in their underwear bouncing an orange ball. Believe me, stranger successes have been made.
Several weeks into my search for the Next Big Thing in gaming, in the course of which I've interviewed experts on my radio show, looked at the online incarnations of the Xbox and PS2 consoles, and talked to vendors as well as kids at the mall, I've come to a few large-scale conclusions (in addition to this whole online-gaming-as-spectator-sport scenario). They include the following:
Game consoles--as if there is doubt--are already the platforms of choice for serious gaming. According to my colleagues over at GameSpot, console games already outsell their PC counterparts 10 to 1.
Over the next 36 months, game consoles and other home Internet hardware, such PCs and wireless access points, will become less and less distinguishable. Put another way, a future Xbox might also be your home's Internet gateway and home entertainment server.
Put those first two trends together and you see why I think online games, using consoles connected to the Internet, are going to be so huge. And why I believe that in 24 to 36 months there will be spectators watching the best players of their favorite games--and perhaps even ticket fees.
One potential impediment to that growth: Online gaming is going to cost real money. If you're spending eight or even 16 hours a day playing your favorite game (believe me, some people do), an online subscription fee for your favorite game may not seem expensive. But for ordinary mortals, the dollars--for a game console, the online connection hardware, the games themselves, and eventually online subscription fees--will really add up.
Mobile games--meaning games you download into wireless devices like cellular telephones--will generate decent revenue for wireless carriers and expand the video game market to people who don't consider themselves gamers. This will become an interesting diversion for people who have a lot of waiting to do--like in airports. But working against this is the relatively low number of people who play games on their Palms and Pocket PCs.
The cable industry, and set-top box companies, are obvious players in all this. I wonder, however, whether there won't be strong technological and economic incentives for people to buy these machines themselves, rather than rent them from a cable provider. My bet is that your cable, Internet, and online game providers may all be separate.
The video game companies need to work more closely together or accept that Microsoft will be a large (if unwanted) guest at their dinner table. There is still time for the industry--console providers and the content companies--to prevent Microsoft from becoming a major, perhaps dominant force, in electronic gaming. But I am betting the industry won't do anything, and that Microsoft will end up owning a major part of the online gaming infrastructure two or three years from now.
The bottom line is that gaming is likely to only become more important as it reaches out to really embrace the Internet. It will provide more families with a reason to go broadband. That, in turn, will help push a variety of other information and entertainment services into the home.
So in making these predictions I have to wonder: Was that a dream I was having? Or a nightmare?
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/4520-6033_16-4207677.html
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"Spanning the Internet to bring you the constant variety of sport," McKay was intoning. Spanning the Internet? What's that about?
"The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." Well, at least this time it was an animated skier tumbling down the slope. Glad nobody had to get hurt again.
"The human drama of electronic competition! This is CNET's Internet World of Sports!"
NOW THAT WOKE ME UP. A CNET version of the Wide World of Sports? Probably not. But I am ready to predict that it won't be very long before online gaming becomes a spectator sport. Someday in the not-too-distant future, I believe we'll sit around watching online gamers do battle with one another, first on the Internet, and then on something like ESPN.
That will turn gamers into professional "athletes." Instead of the game endorsers like John Madden getting rich, it will be the players. Or perhaps Madden will host his own "game" show where the competition takes place. The point being that I think online gaming is going mainstream, joining TV, music, movies, and the Net in the center of our country's entertainment industry.
This may sound outlandish, but no more so than ten exceedingly tall people running around in their underwear bouncing an orange ball. Believe me, stranger successes have been made.
Several weeks into my search for the Next Big Thing in gaming, in the course of which I've interviewed experts on my radio show, looked at the online incarnations of the Xbox and PS2 consoles, and talked to vendors as well as kids at the mall, I've come to a few large-scale conclusions (in addition to this whole online-gaming-as-spectator-sport scenario). They include the following:
Game consoles--as if there is doubt--are already the platforms of choice for serious gaming. According to my colleagues over at GameSpot, console games already outsell their PC counterparts 10 to 1.
Over the next 36 months, game consoles and other home Internet hardware, such PCs and wireless access points, will become less and less distinguishable. Put another way, a future Xbox might also be your home's Internet gateway and home entertainment server.
Put those first two trends together and you see why I think online games, using consoles connected to the Internet, are going to be so huge. And why I believe that in 24 to 36 months there will be spectators watching the best players of their favorite games--and perhaps even ticket fees.
One potential impediment to that growth: Online gaming is going to cost real money. If you're spending eight or even 16 hours a day playing your favorite game (believe me, some people do), an online subscription fee for your favorite game may not seem expensive. But for ordinary mortals, the dollars--for a game console, the online connection hardware, the games themselves, and eventually online subscription fees--will really add up.
Mobile games--meaning games you download into wireless devices like cellular telephones--will generate decent revenue for wireless carriers and expand the video game market to people who don't consider themselves gamers. This will become an interesting diversion for people who have a lot of waiting to do--like in airports. But working against this is the relatively low number of people who play games on their Palms and Pocket PCs.
The cable industry, and set-top box companies, are obvious players in all this. I wonder, however, whether there won't be strong technological and economic incentives for people to buy these machines themselves, rather than rent them from a cable provider. My bet is that your cable, Internet, and online game providers may all be separate.
The video game companies need to work more closely together or accept that Microsoft will be a large (if unwanted) guest at their dinner table. There is still time for the industry--console providers and the content companies--to prevent Microsoft from becoming a major, perhaps dominant force, in electronic gaming. But I am betting the industry won't do anything, and that Microsoft will end up owning a major part of the online gaming infrastructure two or three years from now.
The bottom line is that gaming is likely to only become more important as it reaches out to really embrace the Internet. It will provide more families with a reason to go broadband. That, in turn, will help push a variety of other information and entertainment services into the home.
So in making these predictions I have to wonder: Was that a dream I was having? Or a nightmare?
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/4520-6033_16-4207677.html
"The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat." Well, at least this time it was an animated skier tumbling down the slope. Glad nobody had to get hurt again.
"The human drama of electronic competition! This is CNET's Internet World of Sports!"
NOW THAT WOKE ME UP. A CNET version of the Wide World of Sports? Probably not. But I am ready to predict that it won't be very long before online gaming becomes a spectator sport. Someday in the not-too-distant future, I believe we'll sit around watching online gamers do battle with one another, first on the Internet, and then on something like ESPN.
That will turn gamers into professional "athletes." Instead of the game endorsers like John Madden getting rich, it will be the players. Or perhaps Madden will host his own "game" show where the competition takes place. The point being that I think online gaming is going mainstream, joining TV, music, movies, and the Net in the center of our country's entertainment industry.
This may sound outlandish, but no more so than ten exceedingly tall people running around in their underwear bouncing an orange ball. Believe me, stranger successes have been made.
Several weeks into my search for the Next Big Thing in gaming, in the course of which I've interviewed experts on my radio show, looked at the online incarnations of the Xbox and PS2 consoles, and talked to vendors as well as kids at the mall, I've come to a few large-scale conclusions (in addition to this whole online-gaming-as-spectator-sport scenario). They include the following:
Game consoles--as if there is doubt--are already the platforms of choice for serious gaming. According to my colleagues over at GameSpot, console games already outsell their PC counterparts 10 to 1.
Over the next 36 months, game consoles and other home Internet hardware, such PCs and wireless access points, will become less and less distinguishable. Put another way, a future Xbox might also be your home's Internet gateway and home entertainment server.
Put those first two trends together and you see why I think online games, using consoles connected to the Internet, are going to be so huge. And why I believe that in 24 to 36 months there will be spectators watching the best players of their favorite games--and perhaps even ticket fees.
One potential impediment to that growth: Online gaming is going to cost real money. If you're spending eight or even 16 hours a day playing your favorite game (believe me, some people do), an online subscription fee for your favorite game may not seem expensive. But for ordinary mortals, the dollars--for a game console, the online connection hardware, the games themselves, and eventually online subscription fees--will really add up.
Mobile games--meaning games you download into wireless devices like cellular telephones--will generate decent revenue for wireless carriers and expand the video game market to people who don't consider themselves gamers. This will become an interesting diversion for people who have a lot of waiting to do--like in airports. But working against this is the relatively low number of people who play games on their Palms and Pocket PCs.
The cable industry, and set-top box companies, are obvious players in all this. I wonder, however, whether there won't be strong technological and economic incentives for people to buy these machines themselves, rather than rent them from a cable provider. My bet is that your cable, Internet, and online game providers may all be separate.
The video game companies need to work more closely together or accept that Microsoft will be a large (if unwanted) guest at their dinner table. There is still time for the industry--console providers and the content companies--to prevent Microsoft from becoming a major, perhaps dominant force, in electronic gaming. But I am betting the industry won't do anything, and that Microsoft will end up owning a major part of the online gaming infrastructure two or three years from now.
The bottom line is that gaming is likely to only become more important as it reaches out to really embrace the Internet. It will provide more families with a reason to go broadband. That, in turn, will help push a variety of other information and entertainment services into the home.
So in making these predictions I have to wonder: Was that a dream I was having? Or a nightmare?
http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/4520-6033_16-4207677.html