Video games have always been popular vehicles for social interaction. Not long ago, gamers would flock to the arcade to fight alongside or against one another, exploring creatively designed virtual worlds. The arcade drew a large community with a common interest in gaming. There were flashing lights, prizes, and the erratic jingling of the change machine as it spewed out $5 worth of quarters at once. People of all ages crowded in dim gaming dens, huddled around the glow of the cathode ray. As of late, these places have either completely disappeared, or become dusty relics of a time past. Why is that?

Modern gaming has evolved to the point where players have become as intimately connected in an online game as they would be if they were right beside each other in an arcade. Online gaming shares several fundamental characteristics with arcade gaming, but the two are actually very different. Modern gamers still gather en masse around a scoreboard, spending hours upon hours in hopes that they may one day see their name at the top; only with modern games, the scoreboard is much bigger, instantly viewable anywhere with an internet connection, and populated by a significantly larger community.

Modern game creators continue on the hallowed gaming tradition of creativity; coming up with engaging and interactive storylines, original graphics, intuitive gameplay, and complex characters. Unlike in years past, there is substantial money to be made from games, and that draws some special attention. Even Hollywood is getting into games, bringing a host of new developers and storytellers along with it. With increased production values, games are achieving a lofty level of development, and covering a much larger generational swath as players with new peripheral devices (controllers).

The largest difference between modern gaming and arcade gaming is the scale on which the games are played. In arcade gaming, the community consisted of only what the surrounding area could provide. Players had to move themselves physically to the gaming arena in order to play, and there was usually only one machine for each game. In online gaming, players from all over the world can instantly connect, and play the games they love with countless others. There’s virtually no limit to the amount of people that can simultaneously shoot for the top spot on a modern game’s scoreboard. Everyone’s still gathering at that scoreboard, only now it’s not everyone in town–it’s everyone in the world.

Online gaming communities consist of thousands upon thousands of players. These communities are generally centered on a certain game, and separated broadly by console. Xbox LIVE, PSN, and PC gaming communities are all currently separated from one another, but it wouldn’t be incredibly surprising to see these services merge in order to allow gamers to play cross-platform with all their friends. If this were to happen, these already massive online gaming communities would grow exponentially larger. A large community is a powerful thing; a gargantuan community is exponentially more potent.

Modern games have become their own form of social media that has yet to be fully recognized as such. Players in the communities interact and converse in-game regularly. People meet friends playing games that they may see more often than people in their offline communities.

With the advent of Massively Multi-player Online games (MMOs) the community aspect of online gaming has taken a leap towards the future. MMOs are changing the way games are played, basing the game on community, rather than a community being based on games. So far, it has been one of the most effective game-building strategies to date. Either way you slice it, games are evolving quickly to become more and more connected with internet communities and the people that comprise them.

Businesses are increasingly getting into online gaming. More games are released every day with product placement and revolving billboard ads. Why would big businesses be so interested in utilizing online games as marketing opportunities? In business, connecting with people is paramount, and online games are an effective avenue for connection. As gaming communities grow in size, their attractiveness to marketers grows twice as fast. Television advertisements are the marketing tools of last millennium; now it’s all about businesses finding the right online communities to influence.