Gamesville
Encyclopedia
Gamesville is a casual gaming portal founded in 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts by Steven Kane, Stuart Roseman and John Furse. Gamesville was acquired in 1999 by Web portal Lycos
for $232 million in stock. Gamesville’s tagline is "Wasting your time since 1996".
Gamesville's first game, The Bingo Zone, enabled hundreds of people to compete against one another in real time, for free, and win up to $20 by getting a bingo. Initially, Kane was skeptical of launching a free online bingo game because bingo is traditionally associated with the elderly rather than the prized demographics most advertisers seek. However, on the day Gamesville.com launched in April 1996, the Wall Street Journal ran a story about Gen Xers playing bingo in bars, and Kane is quoted as saying, "It was as if God had whispered to us."
Over the years, additional free games with cash prizes were added, including card, trivia, puzzle, and several bingo variants. This approach attracted many visitors: In August 1999, Gamesville.com was the "stickiest" site on the Internet with eBay
in second place.
announced that it would spend $270 million in stock to acquire Gamesville.com, which at that time had approximately 2.2 million registered users.
Gamesville leveraged its relationship with Lycos to obtain the rights to produce the first (and to date, the only) online version of the popular television game show The Price Is Right
in 2002 although the license was dropped after one year.
In 2002, Monster.com
profiled Gamesville's Rewards Manager, Josh Yeager, citing him as holding one of the Top 10 Coolest Jobs on the Internet. Yeager estimated that he sent out between 1,000 to 2,500 prize checks weekly, indicating that "some days I feel like the Bob Barker
of the Internet, other days like Santa Claus himself." There is in fact more truth to this statement than at first glance, as Gamesville, for a brief time in 2002, had hosted the exclusive Internet game rights to The Price Is Right
.
Over the years, Gamesville developed several games without prizes including a multiplayer online version of Spite and Malice
and an online version of Spider Solitaire.
Drifting away from its focus on prizes caused the number of visitors to Gamesville.com to slowly but steadily decline.
In April 2007, Lycos issued a public apology, announcing an end to the Skilljam partnership and a promise to return the site to its roots. The relaunch of the site included new premium games from WorldWinner and new download games provided by Oberon Media
. A Tripod.com
blog was also integrated into the site under the title "The Gamesville Blog". This blog is now powered by WordPress.
After the relaunch of Gamesville, traffic to the site steadily increased, although not to its former heights.
In July 2007, Gamesville launched a new avatar
system enabling users to create 2D representations of themselves for use in Gamesville games. Gamesville currently holds "best avatar" contests in the Gamesville Blog.
On May 28, 2008, Gamesville relaunched Bingo Zone with a new design, a chat game called Dickie's Bonus Balls, and progressive cash prizes.
Lycos
Lycos, Inc. is a search engine and web portal established in 1994. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, webhosting, social networking, and entertainment websites.-Corporate history:...
for $232 million in stock. Gamesville’s tagline is "Wasting your time since 1996".
History
Founded on a minimal capital base, Gamesville operated not just as a games provider but as a targeted marketing operation, offering free games and prizes to members as a way to attract large numbers of users while tailoring their proprietary games to meet the demands of advertisers. To play, members must provide demographic information; in turn, members would receive targeted ads based on the demographics provided. Gamesville pioneered the use of interstitial advertising as a method of monetizing game players.Gamesville's first game, The Bingo Zone, enabled hundreds of people to compete against one another in real time, for free, and win up to $20 by getting a bingo. Initially, Kane was skeptical of launching a free online bingo game because bingo is traditionally associated with the elderly rather than the prized demographics most advertisers seek. However, on the day Gamesville.com launched in April 1996, the Wall Street Journal ran a story about Gen Xers playing bingo in bars, and Kane is quoted as saying, "It was as if God had whispered to us."
Over the years, additional free games with cash prizes were added, including card, trivia, puzzle, and several bingo variants. This approach attracted many visitors: In August 1999, Gamesville.com was the "stickiest" site on the Internet with eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
in second place.
Lycos
In November 1999, internet portal LycosLycos
Lycos, Inc. is a search engine and web portal established in 1994. Lycos also encompasses a network of email, webhosting, social networking, and entertainment websites.-Corporate history:...
announced that it would spend $270 million in stock to acquire Gamesville.com, which at that time had approximately 2.2 million registered users.
Gamesville leveraged its relationship with Lycos to obtain the rights to produce the first (and to date, the only) online version of the popular television game show The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed...
in 2002 although the license was dropped after one year.
In 2002, Monster.com
Monster.com
Monster.com is one of the largest employment websites in the world, owned and operated by Monster Worldwide, Inc. Monster is one of the 20 most visited websites out of 100 million worldwide, according to comScore Media Metrics...
profiled Gamesville's Rewards Manager, Josh Yeager, citing him as holding one of the Top 10 Coolest Jobs on the Internet. Yeager estimated that he sent out between 1,000 to 2,500 prize checks weekly, indicating that "some days I feel like the Bob Barker
Bob Barker
Robert William "Bob" Barker is a former American television game show host. He is best known for hosting CBS's The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American television history, and for hosting Truth or Consequences from 1956 to 1975.Born...
of the Internet, other days like Santa Claus himself." There is in fact more truth to this statement than at first glance, as Gamesville, for a brief time in 2002, had hosted the exclusive Internet game rights to The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right (U.S. game show)
The Price Is Right is an American game show which was created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Contestants compete to identify the pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. The show is well-known for its signature line of "Come on down!" when the announcer directs newly selected contestants to...
.
Over the years, Gamesville developed several games without prizes including a multiplayer online version of Spite and Malice
Spite and Malice
Spite and Malice, also known as Cat and Mouse, is a card game for two or more players. It is a form of competitive solitaire and has a number of variations that can be played with two or three regular decks of cards. A variation sold by Hasbro is called Spite and Malice, and another variation ...
and an online version of Spider Solitaire.
Drifting away from its focus on prizes caused the number of visitors to Gamesville.com to slowly but steadily decline.
Skilljam
In an attempt to reinvigorate the Gamesville site, Lycos entered into a year-long integration with Skilljam starting in 2006; purportedly the integration was designed to provide premium "best in class skill and casual free games for cash prizes, combined with exclusive games content not available anywhere else" to Gamesville players. However, instead, the integration with Skilljam only hastened the decline in traffic to Gamesville.In April 2007, Lycos issued a public apology, announcing an end to the Skilljam partnership and a promise to return the site to its roots. The relaunch of the site included new premium games from WorldWinner and new download games provided by Oberon Media
Oberon Media
Oberon Media is a multi-platform casual games company, delivering casual games solutions across online, social, mobile/Smartphone, interactive TV and retail categories...
. A Tripod.com
Tripod.com
Tripod.com is a web hosting service owned by Lycos. Originally aiming its services to college students and young adults, it was one of several sites trying to build online communities during the dot-com bubble...
blog was also integrated into the site under the title "The Gamesville Blog". This blog is now powered by WordPress.
After the relaunch of Gamesville, traffic to the site steadily increased, although not to its former heights.
Notable products
In March 2007, Gamesville launched Magic 21, a variant of blackjack, where multiple players compete to win a cash jackpot worth up to $4,999. The game is notable because it is the first proprietary jackpot game developed by Lycos/Gamesville since 2002's "The Price Is Right".In July 2007, Gamesville launched a new avatar
Avatar (computing)
In computing, an avatar is the graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character. It may take either a three-dimensional form, as in games or virtual worlds, or a two-dimensional form as an icon in Internet forums and other online communities. It can also refer to a text...
system enabling users to create 2D representations of themselves for use in Gamesville games. Gamesville currently holds "best avatar" contests in the Gamesville Blog.
On May 28, 2008, Gamesville relaunched Bingo Zone with a new design, a chat game called Dickie's Bonus Balls, and progressive cash prizes.