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A massively multiplayer online game (MMOG or MMO) is a video game which is capable of supporting large numbers of players simultaneously in the same instance (or world). By necessity, they are played over a network, such as the Internet.〔(What is Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG)? - Definition from ). Techopedia. Retrieved on 2014-05-25.〕 MMOs usually have at least one persistent world, however some games differ. These games can be found for most network-capable platforms, including the personal computer, video game console, or smartphones and other mobile devices. MMOGs can enable players to cooperate and compete with each other on a large scale, and sometimes to interact meaningfully with people around the world. They include a variety of gameplay types, representing many video game genres. ==History== (詳細はmassively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), which descended from university mainframe computer MUD and adventure games such as ''Rogue'' and ''Dungeon'' on the PDP-10. These games predate the commercial gaming industry and the Internet, but still featured persistent worlds and other elements of MMOGs still used today. The first graphical MMOG, and a major milestone in the creation of the genre, was the multiplayer flight combat simulation game ''Air Warrior'' by Kesmai on the GEnie online service, which first appeared in 1986. Kesmai later added 3D graphics to the game, making it the first 3D MMO. Commercial MMORPGs gained acceptance in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The genre was pioneered by the GemStone series on GEnie, also created by Kesmai, and ''Neverwinter Nights'', the first such game to include graphics, which debuted on AOL in 1991. As video game developers applied MMOG ideas to other computer and video game genres, new acronyms started to develop, such as MMORTS. ''MMOG'' emerged as a generic term to cover this growing class of games. The debuts of ''The Realm Online'', ''Meridian 59'' (the first 3D MMORPG), ''Ultima Online'', ''Underlight'' and ''EverQuest'' in the late 1990s popularized the MMORPG genre. The growth in technology meant that where Neverwinter Nights in 1991 had been limited to 50 simultaneous players (a number that grew to 500 by 1995), by the year 2000 a multitude of MMORPGs were each serving thousands of simultaneous players and led the way for games such as World of Warcraft and ''EVE Online''. Despite the genre's focus on multiplayer gaming, AI-controlled characters are still common. NPCs and mobs who give out quests or serve as opponents are typical in MMORPGs. AI-controlled characters are not as common in action-based MMOGs. The popularity of MMOGs was mostly restricted to the computer game market until the sixth-generation consoles, with the launch of ''Phantasy Star Online'' on ''Dreamcast'' and the emergence and growth of online service Xbox Live. There have been a number of console MMOGs, including ''EverQuest Online Adventures'' (PlayStation 2), and the multiconsole ''Final Fantasy XI''. On PCs, the MMOG market has always been dominated by successful fantasy MMORPGs. MMOGs have only recently begun to break into the mobile phone market. The first, Samurai Romanesque set in feudal Japan, was released in 2001 on NTT DoCoMo's iMode network in Japan. More recent developments are CipSoft's TibiaME and Biting Bit's ''MicroMonster'' which features online and bluetooth multiplayer gaming. SmartCell Technology is in development of Shadow of Legend, which will allow gamers to continue their game on their mobile device when away from their PC. Science fiction has also been a popular theme, featuring games such as ''Mankind'', ''Anarchy Online'', ''Eve Online'', ''Star Wars Galaxies'' and ''The Matrix Online''. MMOGs emerged from the hard-core gamer community to the mainstream strongly in December 2003 with an analysis in the ''Financial Times'' measuring the value of the virtual property in the then-largest MMOG, EverQuest, to result in a per-capita GDP of 2,266 dollars which would have placed the virtual world of EverQuest as the 77th wealthiest nation, on par with Croatia, Ecuador, Tunisia or Vietnam. ''World of Warcraft'' is a dominant MMOG with 8-9 million monthly subscribers worldwide. The subscriber base dropped by 1 million after the expansion Wrath of the Lich King, bringing it to 9 million subscribers in 2010, though it remained the most popular Western title among MMOGs. In 2008, Western consumer spending on ''World of Warcraft'' represented a 58% share of the subscription MMOG market in 2009. The title has generated over $2.2 billion in cumulative consumer spending on subscriptions from 2005 through 2009.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Massively multiplayer online game」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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