Multiplayer video game: Difference between revisions

The history of multiplayer video games extends over several decades, tracing back to the emergence of electronic gaming in the mid-20th century. One of the earliest instances of multiplayer interaction was witnessed with the development of ''[[Spacewar!]]'' in 1962 for the [[Digital Equipment Corporation|DEC]] [[Programmed Data Processor|PDP-1]] computer by [[Steve Russell (computer scientist)|Steve Russell]] and colleagues at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, multiplayer gaming gained momentum within the arcade scene with classics like ''[[Pong]]'' and ''[[Tank (video game)|Tank]]''. The transition to home gaming consoles in the 1980s further popularized multiplayer gaming. Titles like ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' for the [[Nintendo Entertainment System|NES]] and ''[[Golden Axe]]'' for the [[Sega Genesis]] introduced cooperative and competitive gameplay. Additionally, LAN gaming emerged in the late 1980s, enabling players to connect multiple computers for multiplayer gameplay, popularized by titles like ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' and ''[[Warcraft: Orcs & Humans]]''.

 

Some of the earliest video games were two-player games, including early [[sports game]]s (such as 1958's ''[[Tennis For Two]]'' and 1972's ''[[Pong]]''), early [[shooter game]]s such as ''[[Spacewar!]]'' (1962)<ref name="NGen19">{{cite magazine|date=July 1996|title=Getting Connected|url=https://archive.org/details/Next-Generation-1996-07/page/n29/mode/2up|magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]]|publisher=[[Imagine Media]]|issue=19|page=29|quote=There have been multiplayer electronic games since the dawn of computing. ''Space War!'', the first real videogame, programmed by Steve Russell on the PDP-1, was an exclusive two-player game. So was Nolan Bushnell's pioneering coin-op ''Pong''.}}</ref> and early [[racing video game]]s such as ''[[EVR Race|Astro Race]]'' (1973).<ref>{{KLOV game|6949|Astro Race}}</ref> The first examples of multiplayer real-time games were developed on the [[PLATO (computer system)|PLATO system]] about 1973. Multi-user games developed on this system included 1973's [[Empire (PLATO)|Empire]] and 1974's [[Spasim]]; the latter was an early [[first-person shooter]]. Other early video games included turn-based multiplayer modes, popular in [[tabletop arcade machine]]s. In such games, play is alternated at some point (often after the loss of a [[Life (gaming)|life]]). All players' scores are often displayed onscreen so players can see their relative standing. [[Danielle Bunten Berry]] created some of the first multiplayer video games, such as her debut, ''Wheeler Dealers'' (1978) and her most notable work, ''[[M.U.L.E.]]'' (1983).