The idea of video games becoming a social experience has been a major staple of the current generation of consoles. Games like Rock Band and Wii Sports have broken the barriers of traditional gaming audiences and have friends and family of all ages lining up across couches everywhere to play games together. The integration of social networking tools into game consoles combined with the growing broadband adoption rate means that playing with friends is as easy as turning on your console. The majority of games released these days include some type of online multiplayer and co-op modes. The real question is, outside of the causal games, has all this massive multiplayer online madness really brought people together or is it pulling us further apart?

Crouching under a grove of palm trees, hidden by tall grass, I stare down the barrel of my sniper rifle patiently waiting on the American troops to come charging over the hill. My team has silently coordinated a beautiful plan of attack that has pushed our enemy into a single corner of the map. Our planes are flying above their base continually pelting their position with payload after payload of bombs weakening their attack plans. My teammates have moved our tanks into a position that should help us prevent any type of moving assault that our enemies might be assembling. With my weapon locked and loaded, my job is to pick off any ground troops attempting to flank us from either side of our position. As a further precaution, we have secured our recently seized bases with enough explosives to ensure any attempt of a hostile takeover will be extinguished by the flip of a switch. This match will be ours as long as we keep it together and hold our position. It is just a matter of minutes now….

I spent the last two weeks logging into Xbox Live to play 1 vs.100, a new online game show. 1 vs. 100 is a two-hour game show featuring live gameplay between players, multiple rounds, and a rather boring host commenting on the action. That sounds like a real game show, right? The idea of bringing a game show with real world prizes to peoples living room is very intriguing. Millions of people connect to Xbox Live everyday and this game has been designed to give anyone the opportunity to get in on the action. This is accomplished by giving gamers three ways to participate during a live show. Every round a player is chosen to be The One. This person is selected to sit center stage and answer multiple choice trivia questions in a Who Wants To Be A Million style arena. Another 100 players are selected to be a part of The Mob. Remaining players logged into the game will be part of The Crowd.

I have been playing video games for as long as I can remember. I started gaming on my Dads Atari 7800. I spent hours on end trying to beat the high scores he had set in games like Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Dig-Dug and Galaga. Then I fell in love with a little game called Super Mario and gaming took a new turn for me. Games were no longer about high scores, they became about reaching the next level and saving the world.