Continue reading »]]> Yahoo! Games is the section of the Yahoo! website in which Yahoo! users can play games either with other users or by themselves. The games on the website are typically Java applets or quick Flash games, but there are others which require a download. Many of the games that require a download contain TryMedia Adware (According to McAfee SiteAdvisor). Yahoo! Games also includes Yahoo! Video Games, which provides news, previews and reviews of currently available or upcoming First Party games–and Yahoo! Games on Demand–which provides free demos and full-size downloads of full PC games for a charge.

Yahoo! Games has a large user base playing various kinds of games, such as card games, board games, fantasy sports, emulated arcade games, and word games.

The site also features an “All Star” system for users, in which a user can pay to get an All Star username. All Star users are able to get extra privileges on Yahoo! Games sites such as disabling pop-up ads. All Star users do not have playable games without downloading.

Yahoo! Games was built on Yahoo!’s acquisition of ClassicGames.com (previously known as SpringerSpan Games after the programmer’s Springer Spaniel) in 1997. The current Yahoo! Video Games section of the site was formerly known as Games Domain, from back when Yahoo! acquired the website in 2003. As of April 03rd 2007 Yahoo! Games holds 416 games, most of which were developed externally.

More Information:

• Commercial? Yes
• Type of site Games
• Registration Optional
• Owner Yahoo!
• Created by Yahoo!
• Current status Active
• Website:
  • Yahoo! Games
  • Yahoo! Video Games
  • Yahoo! Quick Play
  • Four Second Fury

Continue reading »]]> IGN (abbreviated and formerly known as Imagine Games Network) is a multimedia news and reviews website that focuses heavily on video games. Its corporate parent is IGN Entertainment, which owns and controls separate sites such as GameSpy, Rotten Tomatoes, and AskMen.

IGN’s main website comprises several specialty sites, or “channels”, each occupying a subdomain on IGN and covering a specific area of entertainment. Game-related channels include PC Games, Wii, Nintendo DS, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PSP, Xbox Live, Wireless, and Retro. In addition, IGN has channels covering movies, music, gear and technology, sports, television and more.

Founded in September 1996 as Imagine Games Network by, IGN began as five individual websites within Imagine Publishing: IGN64.com, PSXPower, Saturnworld, Next-Generation.com and Ultra Game Players Online. In 1998, the network consolidated the individual sites as system “channels” under the IGN brand. Next-Generation and Ultra Game Players Online were not part of this consolidation; UGPO dissolved with the cancellation of the magazine, and Next-Generation was put ‘on hold’ when Imagine decided to concentrate on launching the short-lived Daily Radar brand.

As of June 2005, IGN claimed 23 million unique visitors a month, with 5 million registered users through all departments of the site. IGN is ranked among the top 200 most-visited websites according to Alexa, and the IGN forums are among the most active Internet forums. In September 2005, IGN was acquired by Rupert Murdoch’s multi-media business empire, News Corporation.

IGN celebrated their tenth year on the 12th of January, 2008.

Scoring

A member of the IGN staff writes a review for a game and gives it a score between 0 and 10, which is assigned by increments of 0.1 and determines how much the game is recommended. The score is given according to individual aspects like presentation, graphics, sound, gameplay and lasting appeal–each game is given a score in each of these categories, but the overall score for the game is an independent evaluation, not an average of the scores in each category.

IGN rarely gives a game a perfect 10. Some of the games that received a 10/10 score are Soul Calibur for Dreamcast, Pokémon Red and Blue for Game Boy, Ocarina of Time for Nintendo 64, Link’s Awakening DX for Game Boy Color, Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons for Game Boy Color. Two more games were awarded perfect 10s in 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV , and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. IGN UK also gave GTA IV a 10 (this was the first 10 given by IGN UK to a game ). To date, they have given a total of 26 games (including cross-gen ports) a rating of 10 out of 10. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots was the latest game to receive a perfect 10 from IGN.

More Information:

• Commercial?  Yes
• Type of site  Gaming & Entertainment
• Registration  Free, IGN Insider, Founder’s Club
• Owner  News Corporation
• Created by  Imagine Media
• Launched  1996
• Current status  Active
• Website: IGN.com

Incoming search terms:

• Imagine Games Network
• movies entertainment websites
• ign website

Continue reading »]]> FilePlanet is a video game download service that provides free game patches, mod files and media downloads to its users. FilePlanet was launched, and is run by, GameSpy, which is now a subsidiary of IGN, and is one of the most used video game download sites on the internet.

Users can either subscribe for a fee to access high-speed servers or use a free registration to access public servers, which usually have wait times before downloading. FilePlanet contains many different types of files such as game demos, trailers, and patches.

Other Information:

• Commercial?  Yes
• Type of site  Video Game related download service
• Registration  Optional
• Owner  IGN
• Created by  GameSpy
• Launched  1997-12-08
• Revenue  Unknown
• Links: http://www.fileplanet.com/