ABSTRACT

The first digital game, Tennis for Two, was designed for two persons, who could navigate it by using separate input controllers. With the technical evolution, the possibilities of playing computer games together have multiplied. They include the shared use of a single-player game, engaging in a multiplayer game using one single technical device (e.g. a games console), participating in co-located multiplayer games realized on many technical devices (e.g. at local-area network (LAN) parties), and engaging in an online multiplayer game, which does not rely on the co-presence of the players, and offers the possibility of playing with people all over the planet. “Video gaming is increasingly a social pastime and social interaction has become an important motive for many players” (Ruggles, Wadley, and Gibbs, 2005, p. 114). The diverse forms of community gaming allow various numbers of possible players and, in combination with that, require different dimensions of organizational effort. While it is rather easy to come together for a dyadic games console match, it is very complicated to find a location and a time and space to gather thousands of gamers and their computers in one place to start a huge LAN event. In addition, the technical affordances of the different multiplayer constellations vary. While the players only have to set up the console and the TV to have a game round with this technical device, a LAN event requires the installation of a LAN, in which all the participating computers are integrated properly, preceding the actual gaming event. As the number of players who participate in the digital game(s) increases, the communication required to coordinate their gaming experience becomes more important and more complex as well.