Mankind "the future of the Gaming Industry is here"

The future of the gaming industry will be found in what is referred to as "massively multiplayer".  This is not a new game format.  These on-line, Internet games are the decedents of private or proprietary PC games where four or eight players would network with each other for Doom-like shoot 'em ups.  However, this ear of Massively Multiplayer games is different. 

The local client graphics take advantage of 3D cards, and yet they synchronize to well with literally thousands of other machines that it is hard to remember that it is an on-line game.  And that is using a 56K modem!  Last night (Jan 11) I logged onto Mankind.net for my first encounter and I joined 112,000 other players.  The ideas is that the universe in which we play is so vast that we can play in clans or groups in order to re-enact real life strategies such as alliance, partnerships and so on for mutual benefit.  Or I could go it alone and try to take on an empire.  More importantly, this is a persistent world.  When I logged off and went to bed, the world - sorry, the universe, continued.  It does not stop!  My empire would be attacked while at work and I could arrange to get a call on my mobile telling me that I was under attack!  In the future, as more people get connected, and speeds increase, this form of game play will prove dominant.  It is always a superior experience playing against and with other intelligent beings and CPU's don't cut it yet.