Gary Gygax, the original dungeon master, can see as well as anyone how computers have changed the face of video games. All he has to do is look down the hall at his home in Lake Geneva, Wis.The New York Times has come up a story looking throught the change of a D&D game.

Three decades ago, when Gygax helped create the world¡®s first role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons, advanced game technology meant the exotic 20-sided dice players roll to determine if their imaginary sword has skewered the orc or manticore they are confronting.

?Traditional D&D is still around (actor Vin Diesel wrote the adoring foreword to a 2004 book celebrating the game¡®s 30th anniversary). But these days, aspiring wizards, druids and paladins are more likely to click and type their way through the evil necromancer¡®s tower rather than huddle around a table casting spells between grabbing bites of pizza. In recent years, millions of people have flocked to rich online games that let players express their inner warlock without leaving home.

"My youngest son--he¡®s 19--even he stays up until 4 or 5 in the morning many times at the computer playing games like ¡®World of Warcraft,¡®" Gygax said recently, referring to one of the world¡®s most successful online games, which could take in ¡ç1 billion in revenue this year. "The analogy I make is that pen-and-paper role-playing is live theater, and computer games are television. People want the convenience and instant gratification of turning on the TV rather than getting dressed up and going out to see a live play. In the same way, the computer is a more immediately accessible way to play games."

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