Yahoo Games (original) (raw)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Yahoo! Games)

Defunct casual games website

Yahoo! Games
Type of site Games
Owner Yahoo!
Created by Yahoo!
URL https://www.yahoo.com/games
Commercial Yes
Registration Optional
Launched March 31, 1998; 26 years ago (1998-03-31)[1][2]
Current status Available in US only

Yahoo! Games was a section of the Yahoo! website, launched on March 31, 1998, in which Yahoo! users could play games either with other users or by themselves. The majority of Yahoo! Games was closed down on March 31, 2014, and the balance was closed on February 9, 2016.[3] Yahoo! announced that "changes in supporting technologies and increased security requirements for our own Yahoo! web pages, made it impossible to keep the games running safely and securely".[4] It was then announced by Yahoo! that its games section would be dissolved completely on May 13, 2016.[5] However, the Yahoo! games service is still available on Yahoo! Japan, along with Yahoo! Auctions.

The games on the web site were typically Java applets or quick Flash games, although some titles required a local download. Many of the games that required a download contained TryMedia Adware.[6] Yahoo! Games also included Yahoo! Video Games, which provides news, previews, and reviews of currently available or upcoming First Party games–and Yahoo! Games on Demand–which provided free demos and full-size downloads of full PC games for a charge.[_citation needed_]

The site featured an "All Star" system for users, in which a user could pay to get an All Star username. All Star users were able to get extra privileges on Yahoo! Games sites such as disabling pop-up ads. All Star users did not have playable games without downloading.[_citation needed_]

Yahoo! Games was built on Yahoo!'s acquisition of ClassicGames.com (created by Internet entrepreneur Joel Comm and programmer Eron Jokipii) in 1997.[7] The last used Yahoo! Video Games section of the site was formerly known as Games Domain, from back when Yahoo! acquired the web site in 2003. As of May 14, 2016, Yahoo! Games held over 1,400 games, most of which were developed externally.[_citation needed_]

Playable online (PO), Downloadable (D), Mobile (M), Skill (S)

Up until March 2014, Yahoo! Games included a popular Internet chess server. Ten years earlier, in 2004, James Eade had recommended Yahoo! Chess as the best of Internet chess, writing that "action is to be found there at all times".[8] Yahoo! Chess differed from more contemporary Internet chess servers in its complete lack of oversight regarding user conduct or chess engine use.[_clarification needed_][_citation needed_]

Playable online (PO), Downloadable (D), Mobile (M), Skill (S)

Playable online (PO), Downloadable (D), Mobile (M), Skill (S)

Yahoo! Chess was the subject of a song by the British rock band Half Man Half Biscuit on their 2008 album CSI:Ambleside. Entitled "Bad Losers on Yahoo! Chess", the song references a fictitious player, Dennis Bell of Torquay, Devon, who on losing a chess game signs out from the Yahoo! Chess server "Good game, Sir, do you want another bout? But Dennis ain't replying 'cos he's just signed out." The song also references Deep Blue.

In around September 2023, Yahoo launched a redesigned Yahoo! Games section that is available for players in the United States only.[9] The updated platform features a selection of classic games, like Jigsaw, Mahjong, Solitaire, Word and etc.

  1. ^ "Yahoo! Inc. - Company Timeline". Wayback Machine. 2008-07-13. Archived from the original on 2008-07-13. Retrieved 2016-07-18.{{[cite web](/wiki/Template:Cite%5Fweb "Template:Cite web")}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. ^ "Yahoo Games Has Passed Away at Just 17". Wired. 2016-02-04. Retrieved 2016-02-10.
  3. ^ Yahoo! Games shuts down
  4. ^ YGames News (2014-03-11). "State of the Yahoo! Multiplayer Parlor Games". Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2014-04-05.
  5. ^ Yahoo! Games end-of-life FAQ - Yahoo! Inc.. Retrieved on 2016-04-10 from "Yahoo Games end-of-life FAQ". Archived from the original on 2016-04-14. Retrieved 2016-04-11..
  6. ^ According to McAfee SiteAdvisor.
  7. ^ Carlson, Nicholas (May 22, 2009). "Yahoo!'s Entire, Sorry Acquisition History". Business Insider.
  8. ^ Eade, James (2004). The Chess Player's Bible: Illustrated Strategies for Staying Ahead of the Game.
  9. ^ "Welcome to Yahoo Games". 2023-09-26. Retrieved 2024-09-09.