THE GAZEBO HISTORY OF GAMINGBrian steps back from the future

It is arguable that, over the thousands of years humans have been living on planets

and had some free time, there have been many alleged “golden ages” of gaming. We could cite the 1970s when the whole hobby really went global or thirty years later when World of Warcraft took MMORPGs from a niche hobby into one enjoyed by a respectable fraction of a percent of all human-ity. Of course, the introduction of third generation Google Glasses in 2020, along with ubiquitous 4G across Europe, North America, and substantial portions of South-east Asia brought MMOs to an entirely new level. However, the period I wish to concentrate on in this issue is around the turn of the 22nd century when the markets of “chipped” and “augmented table-top” games really started to com-pete.

Once commercial implantation of computing devices had been proven safe (the old US Federal Air Authority led the world in saying that they were okay for air travel) it was inevitable that someone would start designing ways to play games with them. Initially, this was just an extension of what was already possible with the commodity networked contact lenses (plastic

hemispheres people used to put on their eyeballs to help them see. I know!), but when people realised just how much of the brain they could access, things got really interesting. When all the senses got to come out and play it began to get really tricky to tell between the augmented reality and, well, the real one. This is commonplace today, of course, but there was serious backlash from the last dying outposts of religious bigotry, along with the usual finger-wagging conservatives saying it would all end in tears. However, mass chaos did not break out and, while there were a few incidents, they were sadly in line with what police and psychologists would expect to happen even without chipping.

“ when people

realised just how much of the brain they could

access, things got really

interesting”

I’ve read pieces by the first gamers

to take this tech out for a spin in true ARGs. They speak in almost religious terms of the thrill of not actually being able, at least on an irrational level, to tell if the dragon-fire was real or illusion, the rush of finally being able

Brian NisbetBrian Nisbet has been gaming since the early 80s and because just doing is never enough for him, he’s been writing about it and organising events since the early 90s.

He is more than willing to discuss almost anything to do with gaming, politics, history or networking and you can find him on twitter as @natural20 or in the bar.

THE GAZEBO 12 days of Christmas

to claim full immersion. While high fantasy and incredible sci-fi games dominated the scene, the real long term winners were those games that just tweaked day-to-day life, merging your brain input with what you could rationally accept; Ordinary Janes solving crimes or saving the day through one act of bravery, before going back to their daily lives. Studies began to show that life affirming games like Have A Go Hero, A Good Samaritan, and Something For The Weekend were not only fun (and huge money-spinners) but they also made people feel happier and better able to live their “normal” lives. Humanity, at least those parts of it on settled planets rather than new colonies, has a lot more leisure time now, but even so games like this are fun. Back in the days of long 25-hour working weeks, a break from the mundane did everyone a power of good.

Of course this left purveyors of more traditional games in somewhat of a bind. How can you compete in a world where everyone can be whatever they want to be, even in the safety of their own homes? The answer was as simple as it ever was. The makers of tabletop games fell back on the same strategy they’ve been using since ancient Egypt and that has stood them in good stead throughout the entirety of human history; they assumed people liked sitting around a table playing games. Given the number of games loaded onto my family’s table in the main room, I guess they were and are still right.

Of course they took advantage of the technology at hand. The holographic armies, dice, landscapes, race tracks or whatever eventually stopped using light and started using brainwaves. Strictly speaking, a lot of these games

didn’t even need a table, but a place to rest your elbows and your snacks seems to be a constant comfort to humanity. The tradition persists to this day, along with the usefulness of being able to impose some rules on a group of players as they all sit around. My Nana’s chip hasn’t been updated in twenty years (she claims to be too used to it) and the table is, of course, a handy way to make sure that I can’t just out process her when we’re all playing the latest Smallworld expansion on a Saturday night.

“ The late 21st and

early 22nd centuries really did set the scene forgaming to the

present day.”

Traditional games also maintained their niche in situations where not everyone felt comfortable opening even their firewalled brains to strangers. The technology these days has largely made this security concern irrelevant, but back then the dire tabloid warnings of braintheft were still foolishly believed (okay, it happened, but twice in recorded history, so the odds were significantly lower than the building you’re currently sitting in being hit by an asteroid before you finish this article; yes, even if you live in an asteroid belt) so immersive holo-tables and games were still sold to games societies, shops, and pubs. By 2110 they weren’t really tables any more but thin laminates that rolled out across any flat surface. You can still buy non-linked games like that today, but the industry is only still going because the cost of manufacture is so cheap and the hardware is about

the size of a fingernail. Sure kids back then complained about being “forced” to play around a table, but five minutes later they were as engrossed as everyone else.

The late 21st and early 22nd centuries really did set the scene for gaming to the present day. Everything we have right now can be traced back to technological innovations and social evolutions from that time. So I’m going to stake my claim right now to those years as a Golden Age that influences humanity a few hundred years later and a few solar systems further apart.

In the next part of the Gazebo History of Gaming we’re going to take a longer look at the competition and merging of sport and e-sport and how real athletes started to take their orders from genius kids on consoles.

CREDITS

EDITORS-IN-CHIEF

Anita Murray & Noirin CurranDESIGN & LAYOUT

Wayne O ConnorPROOF-READERS

Charles Dunne & Sarah Condon

THE GAZEBO 12 days of Christmas