Since many console games cost hundreds of dollars and game titles typically cost between $40 and $80, a good alternative is to play any of the thousands of free games online. You can forget about the need to buy a new HDTV and the latest audio equipment and simply use any modern computer with Internet access to entertain yourself for hours.
Find good quality games
Often the best way to find the most entertaining games is word of mouth, and Google searches often return great search results. I think the best quality games are often found on game portals as they pre-select their games for variety, quality and hold them to high standards.
Another option is bloggers who are often passionate about the newest and most entertaining games available, so they are often a very useful resource when looking for new games to try. There are thousands of these blogs available that are updated on a daily basis, so I recommend that you find one that appeals to you.
game portals
Online gaming portals have achieved great success as a result of increased broadband connections among consumers, but even dial-up modems can play many of these games due to small file sizes. Increased internet access speeds also mean that game developers can create higher quality games with better graphics and gameplay. Fans of all genres, types and styles of games will quickly find entertaining ways to pass the time.
An example of an immensely popular browser-based gaming portal would be Miniclip, which has over 43 million unique visitors to its website per month. These larger portals often have multi-language localization including English, Korean, Italian, Chinese, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, and French.
Other very large and successful Game Portal sites include Yahoo Games, Kongregate, Newgrounds, and Armor Games. Millions of users each month visit these websites playing a variety of games ranging from chess to zombie games.
Variety is one of the most attractive features of these free portals, which is why you will often find categories such as Action, Adventure, Girls, MMOs, Racing and Multiplayer Games. Also, you can find entire game portals dedicated to only one type of category, like Racing Games or Dress Up Games for example.
game formats
The most popular format used for these games would be Adobe Flash Player. This format has been distributed very well in the desktop market resulting in market dominance. Adobe claims that 98% of US web users have their software player installed. Also, one of the best things about Flash is that it is not specific to PC or Mac, but can be used on both types of personal computers.
Other types of online browser game formats may include Html, Java, Shockwave, Unity, and the newer Microsoft Silverlight format. Most new computers don’t come pre-installed with older game players, so when you try to play a game without the proper software, it will often install automatically.
Popularity
Numerous studies from research groups such as Deloitte & Touche have published reports detailing the growing popularity of online gaming. A five-fold growth prediction was recently touted in one of their white papers. Developing nations like China, India and Latin America are poised to introduce millions more gamers, which will drive demand for more games and game portals.
Summary
Browser games only require an internet connection and a web browser, so why not give them a try? It is one of the fastest growing gaming markets. They’re fun, unique, often innovative, and best of all, available at no cost.