Evolution of the online gaming world

What I find of particular interest in video games and in there development over the past thirty years is the transition that has taken place between single player modes (typically known as campaign) and the new precedence that has been set for functional online gaming. Examples are easily wrought out through games such as warcraft, command and conquer and what is perhaps the pioneering multiplayer game counter strike. Yet all of these have an element in common, they were computer based and were made almost purely for computer gaming. This is a trend that has continued into the more modern games such as call of duty, halo, fifa and the list is endless, the void that once seperated computers and the gaming console have now been filled. Both are equipped with the ability to play others online and the distinction between the two is becoming more and more blurred. As a result of the huge increase in online play entire sub cultures have emerged, not only with regards to gaming as a whole but people who follow one particular game and form groups and forums around solely that game. Some might argue that this is the only socializing that allot of these people do, does this have an adverse affect on the manner in which allot of the younger generation socialize in more personal circumstances? I realize this may sound extreme and irrelevant but the sociology behind video games and the manner in which it affects society is not only profoundly interesting but also the most influential upon the way in which we live our lives. For fear of sounding like a broken record I will not mention the continuing debate surrounding games ensighting violence, yet this too relates heavily to the sociological elements at play behind the gaming world.