Enjoy Online Games as Part of a Healthy Lifestyle

Online video games started way back in 1970 with PLATO, a famous Spacewar service. As this sort of technology progressed, MMOG (massive multi-player online games) gained their roots in the 1980s with classic mud games, to text based role playing games (start thinking Dragon Warrior), to MegaWars I which was released in 1983. This was the was the longest running online game when it was eventually shut down in 1998. This honour is now only held by Trubshaw / Bartle with a title called MUD II. In 1988, Never Winter Nights was born, a major breakthrough in gaming. It finally saw its last year of existence as a paid online game in 1996.

As time progressed, the public began to see games such as Neopets, Gaia, Subeta, all technically multiplayer games yet they are played by an individual in an individual quest. Soon, other games which did not result in multiplayer choices, turned up. These games reminded us of our old arcade games, like PacMan. Others would be much simpler online games, like online chess and checkers, or online solitaire.

Out of all of the innocence of these games, others like Poker and Slots would end up as online casino games. The realistic quality of these games would place a casino in one's own home. The Slots would still be a random luck of the draw, but would happen often (or rarely) enough to draw people in and create a gambling addiction (for some) without having to leave the safety of one's living room. Poker or Black Jack would still retain it's uncertain draws. However, the online casinos are not licensed or taxed by the government. Essentially, one's credit card company receives 2-5% of each transaction amount. There stands the danger of operator abuses, computer hacking, and money laundering. While these games would draw in the addiction of gamblers, a new kind of addiction would be born, starting with Everquest, which was a multiplayer online role playing game released in 1999. This game was a paid game that allowed you to create a character and move this character fairly realistically. You would roam through the worlds created by Everquest and complete quests and develop your character. Essentially, there wasn't an ultimate goal. Since this game lacked a goal, and lacked a limited amount of time, one would continue playing this game for a hours and hours. It could last weeks, years, or until one lost interest.

However, there is still a risk when playing addictive online games. One risks obesity with a sedentary lifestyle and could do poorer in school or at work due to distraction that the games cause. If one can limit oneself, then one can resist the draw of the online games and live a balanced life. Try out the traditional casino games for free at Mecca Games and enjoy as part of a healthy lifestyle.