Today, almost every single video game released allows you to play against other human players online. There are a full notable exceptions, such as Dead Space and Fallout 3, but even traditionally single player franchises like Knights of the Old Republic are integrating or completely going multiplayer. In fact, Bioware recently announced a Knights of the Old Republic MMO (massively multiplayer online), so the next KotOR release won’t have an ounce of single player gameplay. However, a shoddy online video game service can break the best of games. Some games like Company of Heroes, which received critical acclaim left and right, suffered because of poor online offerings.

The Right Service

As previously mentioned, Company of Heroes used Relic’s own online video game service. Players would frequently crash, automatching was difficult, and lag was systematic. Compared to stable offerings from competitors like Blizzard (with their stable and fantastic Battle.net service), Relic’s online video game service was weak and drove many gamers away from an otherwise fantastic game. Over time, the service grew more stable, but the shattered confidence of many gamers takes a long time to repair. Another example of this is Funcom’s Age of Conan MMO, where the vast majority of players left after poor changes were made to the game against their approval.

On the plus side, there are some great online video game services available to gamers that can greatly increase the enjoyment they get out of games. Blizzard’s Battle.net service is just one of many, although there are only a few games that can be played on there (such as WarCraft III, StarCraft, and Diablo II). Another great online video game service is Valve’s Steam. Valve’s the maker of Half-Life, Left 4 Dead, and they also developed Counter-strike Source, one of the most popular first person shooters ever. Gamers get access to a wealth of features that can’t be found anywhere else atop a stable platform that very few people have problems with.

Even Wii video games, designed primarily as “party” games meant to be played split-screen, often have online functionality. Some notable titles include Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Mario Kart Wii. However, Wii gamers will many less options available to choose from when they want to play online. For online video game services, the Xbox 360 has the best built in one in the form of Xbox Live, and while the PS3 also has a decent one, consoles simply can’t compete with such online video game services like Steam and Battle.net found on the PC.

Single player games are becoming less popular every single year. Although the occasional Fallout 3 or Dead Space pops up every single year, multiplayer gaming is the wave of the future. Even games like Grand Theft Auto, which have traditionally been purely single player, are now adding mutliplayer game modes into the mix, and chances are that purely multiplayer versions of these games will pop up several years down the road. If you haven’t made the switch yet, right now is the perfect time to get into the multiplayer scene, and you can start playing video games online today free of charge.

Free and Pay Services

There are many online video game services available, and they should all appeal to different groups of gamers. Valve’s Steam is first on the list, featuring unparalleled stability and functionality in the PC gaming market. Users can not only play video games online using this service, but they can also shop for new games on the online store. If they register a CD key under any of the applicable games, they can download their games directly to their PC without needing to find the game discs first. Once installed, users can play games directly from the hard drive, and they don’t require discs to be in the PC’s optical drive to work. Considering that Steam is free to use and play video games online with, it’s no wonder that it’s become so popular.

In the console market, Xbox Live reigns supreme. This service also allows gamers to play video games online, although it is restricted to Xbox users. PS3 and Wii owners have to use their own consoles’ paltry online offerings. However, it should be noted that the PS3 appears to be picking up steam, and more games are playing video games online on their PS3s than before because of upgrades to the system. However, the PS3 also doubles as a home theater box, giving it additional value over the Xbox 360 because of the PS3’s integrated Blu-ray functionality.

If you have a Wii, you are almost completely out of luck for playing video games online. While the functionality technically exists, it is much more difficult to hop into games, and the game library alone is much paler in comparison to what’s available on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. If you really want to play video games online, it’s suggested that you upgrade to one of those platforms. You’ll pay a little bit more, but your options will be drastically increased.

You can browse for the hottest new releases and older titles without having to drive to a brick and mortar store. Often, those stores charge more, while it’s cheaper to go onto a website and purchase the game online (you might have noticed that many goods are cheaper to purchase online). In fact, most states don’t charge tax for online purchases, although the recent trend has been to selectively add taxes to some types of purchases. Sometimes, an online video game store will allow you to download games directly to your computer while you will need to have the games shipped other times.

Choices and More Choices

There are plenty of online video game stores available to shop from. Gamestop has an extensive selection of games, although you’ll need to get those games shipped to you. Other sites like Amazon might not include such a large selection, but you might be able to find a better deal on the games. However, a dedicated online video game store like Gamestop might include some special extra bonuses with games. For example, pre-orders of some popular games like Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria included some in-game items and other goodies for players.

Many PC gamers are flocking to Valve’s venerable Steam service, which includes a decent online video game store. Many gamers absolutely love Steam because it is reputed to be the most stable gaming platform available. Not only can you purchase games on Steam, but you can also play video games online directly through the service. As such, it takes care of finding game servers for you to play on, as well as providing demos, trailers, and other media for free. The only things that cost money in Steam are the games themselves, and without any doubt, it is the most popular gaming platform available on the PC. Xbox Live users would find many of the features to be similar, except that they are free.

Other online video game stores like Direct2Drive allow gamers to download games directly to their PCs, but they don’t provide the total platform like Steam does. Therefore, players will need to use the integrated multiplayer functionality with the game to find multiplayer matches online, and those stores don’t allow players to have inter-game friends lists, which are integral to keeping in touch on Xbox Live and Steam.  If you’re looking for an economical and stable alternative to driving to the store to pick up the best video games, check out online video game stores.

Online video games can be very addicting to the point of seriously impacting a person’s life. You may have read or heard in the news about several gamers over in South Korea dying because they played StarCraft for too long without sleeping, eating, or drinking. While that is an incredibly rare, worst-case scenario and shouldn’t be taken as indicative of this type of addiction at all, online video game addiction is still a serious problem that millions of people have to deal with. In fact, games can cause people to miss work, important events, and avoid responsibilities overall.

Symptoms

Online video game addiction is prevalent now more than ever because of the rise of broadband Internet access to hundreds of millions of households around the globe. Dial-up was too slow for most people to enjoy online games properly, but broadband allows gamers to play with other gamers around the world without any noticeable lag. The signs of online video game addiction generally include irritability when forced to be away from the console or PC of choice for too long a period (sometimes as little as an hour, and in better cases several days or weeks). If you find yourself growing antsy after a few hours because you can’t log into World of WarCraft, then perhaps it’s time to start scaling back your online activities. If the problem grows too severe, it can have some dire consequences.

Some people seem entirely unable to cope with online video game addiction, and they shouldn’t feel shameful because of it. Unfortunately, many people don’t even believe that such a category of addictions exists, and they avoid the problem through mass denial. People skip school and work to stay home and play video games, and the problem often isn’t laziness. It’s simply feeling bitter emotions when away from the video games, which provide an entertaining escape from the tired patterns of everyday life. Some browse online video game stores at work simply to provide themselves with some link to their virtual worlds.

However, you might find yourself having trouble getting help for online video game addiction specifically as many psychologists are unsure of whether or not it genuinely is a problem to begin with. More than ever agree that it is a problem worth looking into, but there is as of yet really no set treatment to help deal with it. At worst, you’ll have to settle for counseling which helps you cope with the withdrawal symptoms, as well as disciplining yourself to branch out into other types of media.

If you’re looking to try out some of the hottest new titles like Gears of War 2 and Call of Duty: World at War, there’s no reason to pay $60 to play a game for ten hours and then never pick it up again. Instead, you can pay $5 or so, get the same experience, and then return the game. Most games are only ever played once, if they are even completed at all. If you aren’t entirely sure that you’ll play a game at least several times or extensively online, then an online video game rental service can save you a lot of money while still allowing you to play the best games on the market.

Services to Choose From

There are a number of online video game rental services available for gamers. Having options available means you can find the service that fits your preferences the best, and also saves you a good chunk of change while you’re at it. GameTap is one such popular online video game rental service, and you can find your favorite PC games there. With over one thousand titles available, you’ll be able to find ones that you’ll find great fun. Games like Syberia and Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War really flesh out GameTap, but new titles are absent from the service. However, it also includes a list of free games to play, such as Just Cause, so you can pick up some full copies of popular (although slightly older games) while you’re at it.

For console games, try out GameFly. This online video game rental service has you choose out games online, and then they mail the game discs out to you. When you done, you just mail them back. There is no mess, and you just have to pay a $22.95 monthly fee to play the games as long as you want. However, you can conceivably play six or seven games in a single month, and even if you just play one game for an entire month, you still save over half the cost of purchasing the game retail. Other games like World of WarCraft allow you to try out trial versions of the game for one or two weeks so that you can get a feel for the game (the trial for WoW just refers to the length of time you can play it, not the functionality of the game itself).

However, many people find themselves dealing with online video game addiction as a side effect of gaming so much. While withdrawal symptoms may not be along the lines of alcohol and drug addictions, gaming addictions can include irritability and anxiety when not playing games, although psychologists are still debating its seriousness as a psychological problem. Online video game rentals can help alleviate this problem by a good bit by forcing players to allocate their time wisely. If they want to continue playing one game, they will have to hold off on trying out others. However, the main benefit of renting games is to save a great deal of money.