It’s the first choice an online gambler makes when choosing a casino: whether to download casino software or surf to a no-download game, typically Java. But which option is better and which is more popular?
A January poll of more than 1,000 Winneronline readers indicated that 61% preferred no-download games while 39% preferred the download variety. Word-of-mouth indicates that player preference may be evenly split.
“Although there has been no empirical research into the popularity of Java, the market doesn’t lie,” says Mark Waters, Director of Business Development at GamblingSoftware.com. “Nielsen Net ratings recently did a survey of the top gambling-related sites, as measured by unique visitors. Three of the top five gaming sites are of Java technology. Two of the sites, Virtual Vegas and PlaceMyBet, are 100% Java.”
GamblingSoftware.com, which powers PlaceMyBet, is the leading supplier of Java games for the online casino market with more than 40 licensees using their product. Other companies providing instant play games include Unified Gaming, Chartwell Technology, Net Entertainment and newcomer Diamond Games.
“Java is popular because it works on any computer platform and on any machine with access to the Internet,” says Waters. People enjoy the convenience of playing from home, from work, all while using the same account. Java technology also allows for instant upgrades without re-installation; nothing is more tiresome than downloading and installing patch after patch for poorly designed download executable games.”
While most online gamblers agree that download games provide superior graphics and sound, Waters believes the download days are numbered. “Download executables are essentially a sunset technology. As the Internet continues to develop as a distributed computing tool, more emphasis will be placed on the development of virtual machine technology like Java.”
GamblingSoftware.com plans to reveal their latest gaming development — the world’s first Java multi-player games — at the World Gaming Congress in Las Vegas later this month. “To date all true multi-player games are download only. With our new games, players will be able to chat and play with other players instantly without having to be situated at their local machine.”
Still, some of the biggest names in the Internet Togel gaming software industry continue to rely on download technology, including Boss Media, Microgaming, Starnet and Cryptologic — although Starnet is currently touting their new breed of Java games and Boss Media and Microgaming have both produced play-for-fun Shockwave games.
“Shockwave has the potential for richer game graphics, but the security is still not there. That’s why there are no play-for-real Shockwave sites. We plan to develop more games with instant-play technology in the future, such as Shockwave and Flash, but Java remains our platform of choice,” says Waters.
