Entertainment Online:

A study about several forms of digital online entertainment

As you have seen when you took part in our Survey, we primary focus on motivation, experience and behavior in different types of internet games - browser-based games and client games (MMOGs). Though we collect data about other types of games (other computer games, console games, handy games, etc.), too, to make it possible to compare the different types with browser-based games and client games.

Maybe it is not easy to understand for everyone what is the difference between browser-based games and client games. Thus the will be described here once again.

Browser-based games need only an internet browser (no installation, no download) to for usage. That means the can be played everywhere and everytime when you have a computer with internet connection. Most games work with all popular internet browsers (Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, etc.). In this types of games we differentiate between long-term browser-based games and casual browser-based games.

For playing long-term browser-based games (often also called PBBGs) you need to login into the game world every time you play because they are played for weeks, months or even years. The game world is persistent, that means it continues existing even if you are logged out. Casual browser-based games mostly do not need an obligatory login, because the are played bye the way / casually. Some gamer call these types of games also flash games, mini games or skill games.

Client games need a small (or bigger) program, called client, to use them. Without installation of this program they can not be used. Here exist long-term client games (e.g. several free and downloadable MMORPGs) and casual client games, too. A special type of client games are poker / casino clients, because they are different to other clients in the kind of playing and in the goals of usage.