Online gaming at 1am on a weeknight...

With the project in mind, I thought the online gaming world was definitely one that needed a little looking into-especially when the online gaming world definitely crosses the boundaries of sleep and capitalism. So what better excuse to stay up until 1am (I couldn't go any later, I swear!) and play online games? I also found it interesting that, when you enter a 'party' and look for an online game to join, there is a live version of the map that shows who is online and where.

I did a little research on the subject (so basically went into gamer forums and asked the average stats) and apparently 195K is a pretty good number for a game that is the second latest title- the game was Call of Duty Black Ops 2 (the latest game is Call of Duty Ghosts, but I don't have that). I took a little video of the number online at 1am and also of the 'globe' turning in the background. The little lights signify who is online, and where...

And if this video is sideways, I'm sorry but I really can't twist it round!

I could have played longer, and the Brits would have still been playing well into 2/3am. Interesting also is how a lot of Europe are ahead by a couple of hours, and a significant number are still online at those times.

As you can also see, alongside the United Kingdom, Europe and the USA, the rest of the world is all pretty much dark entirely. I understand that this is due to varied time zones mostly, but in some areas, such as South America, this can't be the case because they're only a few hours behind- West coast America is 8 hours behind, and they were just coming online. So I think it is a good example of the difference between Western society and the non-west when it comes to the online world- or at least, the online gaming world. It says some about societal differences. Now this does not mean that no one is playing in these countries (so I am told) but it usually means that there are not enough playing to actually show up significantly on the map. Interesting would have been a more recent game, or a different type of game, but COD is one of the most famous so I thought it'd be a good shot.

Now this all COULD be a server issue, but most people in these forums say that these maps are meant to represent everyone in real time. Who knows? Either way, it was a good excuse for a night of playing computer games.