The world is a fast changing place. Internet is now literally in the palm of your hands –watches, smartphones and all other handheld gadgets included.

Somewhere in 1997 a friend and I used to play games on the Sega Megadrive and upgrading to the Play Station 1 seemed like sorcery had come into play.  Around that time he introduced me to my first gaming zone – Needless to say, there was no looking back.

Counter Strike got us hooked and eventually came Command and Conquer, Generals, Medal of Honor: AA, Modern Warfare, DOTA, Battlefield and many other games. It was a great time for gaming enthusiasts as we could all gather in one place and play to our hearts content without requiring any hardware of our own.

South Korea  has gaming zones with 200 gaming stations in one place. Gaming Zones are big in India as well. Pakistan had its gaming zone boom, but unfortunately, the trend is now dying in Pakistan.

Downfall of Gaming Zones:

Gaming zones in Karachi started with some great places like Defcon, Delta,  Echelon, Devgroup etc and moved onto gaming places with PCs and even consoles coupled with a café. This bought gaming to larger masses allowing people to play consoles at very low prices.

With the availability of high speed internet, came affordable gaming PCs and consoles. This along with rampant piracy in games, have led to the downfall of gaming zones. Although you will find many gaming zones out there, as compared to 5-7 years ago they are few and far in between.

Also , present gaming zones don’t have the class of old gaming zones. People jumped in on the boom with minimal investment and eventually they did not provide the kind of experience or environment which we had come to expect from good gaming zones.

High Speed Internet:

The availability of high speed internet at homes at very affordable rates, enables individuals toplay games sitting in the comfort of their homes. All online games have their own servers and players can play with gamers from around the world instead of people in the same café. Consoles also allow people to go online and play games easily. Be it FIFA, Need For Speed, Counter Strike, Modern Warfare etc, players have the option to play these games online easily. But to go online and play, your consoles must not be modified.

Piracy:

Piracy has been one of the biggest thorns for the international gaming community and developers. But, inadvertently piracy has also given a boom to the gaming industry in Pakistan and has eventually led to a downfall in the gaming zone market.

So how has piracy helped the gaming industry in Pakistan. One can buy a modified Xbox 360 at reasonable rates and games come as cheap as 50 rupees a piece (less than 50 Cents). Same is the case with PC games. Moreover, hacked versions and license keys for most PC games are easily available online. This has led to people trying many different games at home and not just limit themselves to games available in gaming zones.

The PS3 has pretty much killed off any piracy options on their brand, but this has also shown that Pakistanis are willing to invest in games, since there is a very active PS3 community in Pakistan.

The MMO Boom:

Pakistan gamers are in love with Massively Multiplayer Online(MMO) games. Games like World of Warcraft, DOTA, Starcraft, Star Wars have allowed players to become a part of an online community of paid gamers.

Usually, MMOs follow payment models, for instance - players create an account for a certain fee, which is paid through credit cards and online payment options. Obviously these accounts cannot be created in cafes due to quite a few reasons, most importantly security issues.  Players spend hours and hours on these games. Moreover only original games can be played and piracy does not work here. Thus, a lot of gaming zone players’ that I know have transitioned from gaming zones to MMOs. The sense of accomplishment is much higher in these games as they provide a level up system which gives more powers and options as you move up the ladder.

Low End gaming Zones

Another reason why gamers now shy away from gaming zones is because of a severe lack of quality gaming zones. Redundant PCs, Shabby interior and bad locations have led to gamers avoiding the new gaming zones altogether.

The gaming experience used to be unreal – inclusive of options to play your own music via a jukebox, a nice café, comfortable reclining seats and so on. Now, most cafes are there just to make easy money without providing any great experience. Sigh! Times sure have changed.

So, are gaming zones dead?

Gaming zones are not dead, yet! Some folks including myself still go out and play Counter Strike/  DOTA/Generals tournaments every now and then, But the death of gaming zones will be the most probable eventual outcome. Just like video game arcades die a premature death even though they shaped a whole generation of gamers, I personally feel that with the advent of new technology and immersion in games, gaming zones will also wither away.