Multi-Player Games

Pong heralded the direct-manipulation interface; multi-player games have something to tell us about future groupware systems. Social games such as bridge, poker, go and chess have a long history online. Online game systems have innovative user interfaces, character and avatar design tools, ways to specify and match player skill levels, invitation protocols, communication technologies (inside and outside the games) and community-maintenance systems. Gaming "tribes" and "guilds" post news items and boast about their abilities on their Websites. They periodically run tryouts to test applicants for membership. Some day, it may be as natural to come home and relax with a game of multi-time-zone bridge or Doom as it is today to turn on the tube.