Rediff has launched Rediff Games in beta, reports Startup Dunia. As per the site, Rediff Games features free arcade games, puzzles and strategy games, and also allows users to chat with friends and create 3D avatars. One needs to register for a Rediff account - which means that it contributes to Rediff’s email subscribers; the login for Rediff Games is delivered to the Rediffmail account.
What I didn’t like is that one also needs to download and install a 57 MB file. There’s an additional minimum system requirement of an ATI Radeon 8500 or GeForce 3 or 4 MX series Video Card with 32 MB of VRAM. I wonder what that is all about…I’m downloading the setup file (first download was corrupt). Updates tomorrow.
Update: So they’re using a format similar to that which Boonty provides. There are four casual games so far - Swordfish, Ironsides, Space Dhoom and Jewel Connect. Ironsides is an approx 13mb download, while Swordfish is around 25mb. These are multiplayer games, but I see the downloads+installation hindering adoption…It’s easier to play casual games online. Let’s see if they release an MMOG. I also didn’t like the automatic installation of Rediff Bol, for which there wasn’t an opt-out option.