Games

People have played games for thousands of years but the wide availability of computers and the increasing popularity of the internet have transformed the games landscape in Britain, both for traditional pastimes and for computer based games.

Traditional British Games

Even in the current age of high technology, traditional games remain popular in Britain, either in their original forms or as interactive replicas played on a computer or games console. Board games are probably the most widely played of all games, ranging from ancient games such as chess, draughts, go and backgammon to twentieth century games such as monopoly, risk and scrabble. All these games can be played with traditional boards and pieces or, alternatively, they can be played interactively against a computer or against a remote opponent (or opponents) via the internet.

Traditional games are not limited to board games. Just think of all the traditional British games that used to be found in pubs: darts, dominoes, bar billiards, pool, pinball, skittles and cribbage. Interactive versions of these games are now widespread.

Card Games

Card games are played worldwide, as well as in Britain. All the common card games and many obscure ones can be found on the internet. Online gambling, mainly poker and blackjack, has turned into a multi-billion pound industry in only a few years.

Arcade Games

The earliest true computer games were ‘coin in the slot’ arcade games. Atari’s ‘Pong’, introduced in 1972, is generally agreed to have been the first game of this genre. Pong was joined by a host of other arcade games including Pac-Man, Space Invaders and Tetris. These games spread rapidly to a variety of computer hardware platforms and remain popular to this day, particularly on small handheld games consoles.

Games Consoles

Although many games are available for the Windows PC and other types of computer, the main platform for computer games is the games console. Big increases in raw computing power and ever improving computer graphics quality have led to fierce competition in this marketplace. The current leaders in this sector are the Sony Playstation, Microsoft X-Box and the newest contender, the Nintendo Wii. The range of games available in this area is vast, from simple interactive games for young children to violent games for adults such as the Grand Theft Auto series. The Nintendo Wii has been particularly successful with its range of sports and fitness games such as tennis and golf.

Multi User Domain Games

Multi User Domain (MUD) games, which developed with widening usage of the internet, have a keen following in Britain. They usually involve role playing by participants in some kind of dream world, often featuring elves, goblins and other fantasy creatures, many of them having developed from the Dungeons and Dragons game. World of Warcraft is probably the best known of the current generation of these games.