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[LudoSmith]

Most of you might have heard about InstantAction.com.

What I know about it is that it's kind of a new service that lets you play near console-quality/3D games directly in a browser.

I've searched some interview and articles about it, and found out that the business model is quite different to the existing download market. It seems to takes player into a game with advantages of accessibility(plyaing in a browser) and free/low price(like 5$ per title), and makes profit with additional content packages, like additional levels.

I think this kind of approach is quite unfamiliar in casual download market, and I'm not sure whether it would be profitable than exiting downloadable market.

How do you think?
What would you do if you got to choose between InstantAction.com and exiting download market?



*related link

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6182495.html

[Bad Sector]

It got them two years to figure out a technology that allows cutting edge 3D gaming on the browser?

Probably they never heard of Java + JOGL applets then :-P. Full OpenGL 2.1 support, plus it works in many platforms (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux/x86, Solaris(!), etc), not just Windows.

[Derek]

I don't see why anyone would have to choose between this and downloadable games, but... I'm not sure how interested their target demographic is in playing "hardcore" games in their browser when they can buy the latest Halo or Gears of War and sit on their couch with their friends.

That said, Tribes in a browser window would be pretty sweet!

[LudoSmith]

I don't see why anyone would have to choose between this and downloadable games, but... I'm not sure how interested their target demographic is in playing "hardcore" games in their browser when they can buy the latest Halo or Gears of War and sit on their couch with their friends.

That said, Tribes in a browser window would be pretty sweet!

I raised that question, because GarageGames suggests exclusive deal in web-based distribution.

And they said they don't want to developt something like GOW or Halo on this platform.
Here's a quotation from their another interview.

Basically, we were interested in making and playing fun, great looking, action-oriented games. But we don't want to go make Halo 3 or Gears of War, spending tens of millions of dollars and working with a big publisher, grinding out titles and whittling away for royalty advances

. . .

We came up with the idea of doing those core-oriented, graphically rich, often multiplayer games in the browser. Doing that, we could create great games. We could distribute them digitally, and easily allow people to find and try out the games without having to download and install each one, or a big client-side wrapper service. We could allow gamers to connect with each other live in the browser and jump into games. We could create direct relationships between developers and players... allowing direct feedback and live game deployments and iteration over the web. We could take the best of modern console and PC games-- fun core-oriented mechanics, higher-end graphics, social connectivity-- and combine it with the easy accessibility of casual games in the browser to create something new. We could change the game, so to speak.

. . .

You can think about what we're doing sort of as a console in the browser-- just like a console, we'll have a wide, deep portfolio of great games designed for our platform. As far as differentiation goes... we're obviously not building Flash-like toy games here, or casual puzzles and bubble-poppers. We're talking FPSs, strategy, and the like. We hope to break out with some new kinds of games too, and that's why we're so excited to be working with a bunch of creative external teams.

[skaldicpoet9]

I just hope that all this emphasis on Instant Action doesn't hurt the GGE community. However, it seems as if it already has  ...there hasn't been word from any GGE staff  and no updates for a long time. While this is a great idea I hope it won't come at the cost of throwing away an excellent idea in favor for something else.

[moi]

Wasn't GG bought out by a big entity not so long ago?
It could be the sign that they are now trying to monetize on monetizable web stuff (I am thinking advertizement) did they mention embedded ads?
Everybody seems to be trying to do create some sort of spammable community thing these days.

[skaldicpoet9]

Wasn't GG bought out by a big entity not so long ago?

Yeah, by the people who own Ticketmaster

[StephenAnthony]

This idea seems really cool to me, if they can pull it off. Being able to get online, enjoy some random games and relax, that's something I'd pay for. Especially if there's a good community.

The thing is, making pretty games that are comparable to consoles is all kinds of expensive... would they really be able to afford that?

[frosty]

It got them two years to figure out a technology that allows cutting edge 3D gaming on the browser?

Probably they never heard of Java + JOGL applets then :-P. Full OpenGL 2.1 support, plus it works in many platforms (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux/x86, Solaris(!), etc), not just Windows.

Apparently, they built something where you can use *any language* and run it in a browser.  When I talked to them about it, they said I could use BlitzMax.  That, to me, is the interesting part.

I'm not sure how easy it is to set up, but I wish they would license the tech instead of tying it into an online portal, but I can understand why they're doing it that way.