The State of the Net

With all of the media attention that is focused on the Internet and the World Wide Web, figuring out exactly what they are all about is sometimes difficult. Are they just a neat new way to market products or will they truly offer us a new medium of communication that will someChapter surpass even televisions and telephones? The answer is, who knows? Unfortunately, the ultimate use for the Internet is still unknown. This is because it is still in such a state of flux that it's pretty much impossible to accurately predict where it will end up. However, you can look at the evidence of what is there now and gain some insight into what the Internet might become, at least in terms of games.

The Web as most people know it consists of a tangled mess of hypertext documents containing text, images, and sound. For the most part, it has consisted of static information; you can search and browse and generate some things on the fly, but Web content is pretty much fixed, at least from a user's perspective. A wide range of add-ons and extensions have begun to appear that promise interactivity and new types of media. These extensions offer everything from movie clips and CD-quality audio to a hot meal embedded right there in a Web page. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but you get the idea.

No extension to the Web has generated more excitement than Java, which offers complete interactivity within the traditional Web environment. With Java, you have the ability to create full-featured, interactive applications and embed them in the middle of a Web page. It is probably not a shock to you to hear that Java is the technology touted as bringing the Web, and in turn the Internet, to the masses. Therefore, although the Web is already receiving much attention on its own accord, the Internet landscape is rapidly changing to accommodate the opportunities and benefits of Java.

What the Web Has to Offer

The concept of looking at the Web, and the Internet as a whole, as a medium for games is relatively new. It has been technically possible to link games and transfer data over an Internet connection for a while now, but that's only one facet of gaming on the Internet. The next generation of Internet games will more than likely move away from the Internet as simply a communication medium. More likely, the next generation of games will be integrated into the rapidly expanding Web environment.

The marriage of games and the Web is a natural one; like the Web, games are very content-driven, meaning that they are very much dependent on the graphics, sound, and other content that makes them interesting. It makes sense to use the Web to not only browse information, but also to act on that information. It might sound strange to look at games as information systems, but that's really all they are (as is all software). When you view a game in terms of simply being an information system, it's easier to see what the Web has to offer gaming.

The Web is a relatively stable, content-driven, globally distributed environment. The fact that it is stable isn't quite as defining because most operating systems are already fairly stable. Knowing this, it's safe to say that few people would look to the Web as a gaming environment based on its stability alone. Therefore, you have to look to the other two items to see what's important about the Web in regard to games. The fact that the Web is content-driven is important because games are content-driven themselves, and therefore fit naturally into the Web environment. However, this is more of a convenience than a compelling reason to move games to the Web.

The real appeal of moving games to the Web is the fact that the Web is globally distributed. As a result, the Web has a massive global user base that is growing by leaps and bounds even as you read this. What better appeal for a gaming environment than a lot of people anxious to see what the Web can do for them? Even though it's exciting to think of people around the world playing games on the Web, I think the real dynamic in this situation is the idea of these people playing games together.

Even with the prevalence of telephones, interactive communication of a global nature is still very limited. With interactive Web games, you're going far beyond sharing a recipe with someone on the other side of the world; you're exploring dungeons with them or dunking over them in a game of basketball. To me, this whole prospect is just too cool! So, if you haven't gotten the point, I think the Web offers the ultimate gaming environment because of the opportunities it affords for people from all places to interact, have fun, and most important, learn about each other.

Web-Based versus Non-Web Based Games

When it comes to the Internet, there are really two different kinds of games: Web games and non-Web games. Both types of games can run networked over the Internet, but only Web games have any dependency on the Web. Non-Web games are games that run networked across the Internet but have no connection to Web pages. Furthermore, non-Web games are typically available only for a single platform or a limited number of platforms. It is important for you to understand the distinction between Web games and non-Web games. Figure 1.1 shows an example of a networked non-Web game.

As you can see in Figure 1.1, the game players are connected in a network game directly with the Internet. There is no mention of the Web because the Web has nothing to do with non-Web games. Players in a non-Web game are only responsible for establishing an Internet connection and running the independent game program appropriately.

Figure 1.1 : A networked Internet game.

Web games, on the other hand, are platform-independent games that are either launched from or run within the confines of a Web page, and might or might not have networking features. Because the Web itself is built on the Internet, it goes without saying that Web games that are networked use the Internet for networking. Therefore, Web games can be considered platform-independent Internet games that run from or within the confines of a Web page. In this way, Web games are really just a specific type of Internet game. Figure 1.2 shows the relationship between Web games and how they run on the Internet.

Figure 1.2 shows a total of six players involved in four different Web games. Three of the games are non-networked Web games, meaning that the players can't interact with other players over the Internet; the fourth game is a networked Web game involving three different players. These three players are able to play the game together and interact with each other via their Web connection in real time.

Figure 1.2 : Web games running both singly and networked over the Internet.

You might be wondering what the significance of a game running inside a Web page is. Integrating games into the Web environment is yet another step toward unifying media on the Internet. The ultimate technical goal of the Web, at least in my humble opinion, is to merge all the disparate media types present on computers into a functionally single presence. In doing so, Web users can seamlessly peruse different media types in conjunction with one another, resulting in a more complete and fulfilling experience.

Games can be considered their own media type, because of their unique system requirements. In actuality, games are a merger of other media types such as graphics, sound, and animation. Integrating games into Web pages further blurs the line between static and interactive content. The real world is highly interactive, and the more interactive the Web becomes, the more natural it will feel to human users. Likewise, game playing will eventually become a standard usage of the Web.

Non-Java Based Games

There are already a variety of gaming environments on the Internet carving out the future of gaming. Some of these environments are Web-based, whereas others have little dependence on the Web. They are all dependent on client software running on a particular platform. Nevertheless, they are worth checking out because they are a solid sign of the changing climate surrounding the commercial game community and how it addresses the Internet. First, let's take a look at the Internet game services that don't rely on Java technology.

The following are some of the more popular Internet game services that aren't based on Java:

• Mpath
• Cyber Warrior Network
• ImagiNation Network
• Total Entertainment Network
• Outland
• Sim-Net