2020 was declared the year with the most players online. With close to 2.7 billion people, not only the number of gamers and games has increased, but also the average age of fans of online gaming . One of the curiosities of gaming is that we are talking about true 34-year-old fans who generally play non-stop.
Next, we delve into online gaming : we make a brief review of its history and its latest news.
History and beginnings of online gaming
According to the National Museum of American History, the “Brown Box” was the first gaming system for commercial home use. It was in force between August 1972 and 1975, and around 300,000 consoles were sold.
However, it would not be long before the arrival of Sega and Atari. The latter would also be in charge of creating a completely new industry around the so-called “parlor games”.
In 1973, with a retail price of $1,095, the company began selling the first electronic video game called Pong. It didn’t take long for gaming machines to appear in bars and shopping malls around the world. From there, an era of countless firsts would begin. That is, the first mass console appeared with the Atari 2600 and the use of game cartridges. However, the real beginning of online gaming would be thanks to the use of personal computers as game consoles.
Already in the late 1980s, the first computers —such as the Macintosh— and some consoles such as the Atari ST arrived. These in turn allowed users to connect their devices with others.
Between 1993 and 1996, Sega, Nintendo, and Atari also made several attempts to break into online gaming , this time using cable providers. However, none of them really took off due to slow internet connection capabilities.
It wasn’t until the year 2000 with the launch of the Sega Dreamcast, that the world’s first internet-ready console would arrive. Regardless of its failure, the Dreamcast paved the way for the next generation of consoles, like the Xbox.
In the modern era of online gaming
With phone screens getting bigger and processor speeds improving, cell phones are expanding the possibilities of online gaming. To the point that games represent 43% of all smartphone use.
For example, in 2018 alone Candy Crush generated $1.1 billion, and Fortnite, $1.3 billion. An industry development that surprises not only for its figures. He also does it for his audience changes. Most mobile gamers are middle-aged women.
Now, the console industry continues to move to the next level. Hand in hand with virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence technology, the next chapter for video games is already being written.
A representative of the next generation consoles in this field are the products of the virtual reality company Oculus. This was acquired by Facebook in 2014. Just a few years after this, with the launch of the Oculus Quest 2, it is a great benchmark for virtual reality. In this competition, Google with its Daydream and HTC continue to create an ideal environment for the arrival of new opportunities. A field that welcomes voice recognition technology and open dialogue between players.
The future of online gaming
Whether in the past or in the future of gaming , we will always talk about competitive scenarios. Although now the best players are becoming super stars in their own right.
Some of the most popular games like Fortnite reach huge numbers on screen. Like the 311.7 million hours recorded on YouTube in 2019 alone (Antevenio, 2019). Other more traditional games like FIFA even already have champions like David Bytheway.
This player is part of a strange phenomenon, since he was signed by the German football club Wolfsburg. This with the aim of seeing him wear his shirt in online tournaments.
Another of the 2021 gaming trends is precisely the benefits of 5G in which there are three that stand out above the rest. They are speed, latency and density.
The advancement of 5G gaming above all provides better connection speeds. Something extremely important since, contrary to what is believed, most players are social. To find out what speed our connection has at any given time, you can do the Movistar speed test.
Ultimately, throughout the progression of the games we will continue to see multiple trends ebb and flow. The next chapter for online gaming isn’t entirely clear yet, but whatever happens, it’s sure to be entertaining.
