Online gaming has been enjoying rampant growth over the past five years. People of all ages have been spending increasing amounts of time playing games on their personal computers. Companies that produce these games, such as Jenkat Games, (www.jenkatgames.com) have been successfully riding the growing trend of online gaming.

But now, as we’re beginning to grow accustomed to writing 2008 on our official documents, a new trend is forming. Online games are crossing over to video game consoles. Gaming machines like the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 are offering their users an opportunity to download these previously "Online only" games directly to their home gaming machine. From the arcade, to the computer, to the gaming console, video games have certainly become well traveled. Arcade games that were once only obtainable at the local mall, can now be downloaded not only to a personal computer, but also their home console.

On the Playstation 3, the online service is actually offered for free, while the Xbox 360 charge an annual fee of $50.00 for the privilege of downloading content for their Xbox 360. PS3 owners can go online at anytime to search the web, download new content for their existing console games, or download some online games to play on their console. And if you think you’ve seen good graphics, you haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen a game delivered in 1080p graphics on your plasma or LCD big screen television. You may never get off the couch again!

According to industry insiders, enhanced graphics and gameplay have leveled the playing field between consoles and online games. Three years ago, the visual difference between a console game and an online game was staggering. High speed connections were still not prevalent enough to justify bigger online games that required the increased data transference. But now, thanks to the growing public acceptance of cable and DSL modems, online games can be just as high-tech as their console brethren.

Downloaded games seem to be a growing trend that isn’t going to stop soon. Companies like Jenkat Games and Big Fish Games (www.bigfishgames.com) are creating more and more games each day, and the demand just keeps going up. Soon, all of your favorite games will be ported directly over to your home console. With all of the current generation of gaming machines now online. (And high-speed at that!) Gaming seems to have entered a new age in quality and accessibility. One thing is for sure, the video game industry is no longer child’s play.