The belief amongst some people that Instant Play negates the need for a game to be downloaded is an illusion. Files are downloaded when you run a game, even with YoYo Games’ instant play – however gamers do not have to go through the process of choosing where to save a game or extracting or installing any files.
Why instant play?
For YoYo Games the answer is simple – they want people to go back to their website on a regular basis. Whilst an occasional visit and a handful of downloads may be what a gamer wants this will not generate the revenue that YoYo Games’ needs.
Many people like using Instant Play as it makes GameMaker games appear in a way vaguely similar to popular flash arcade games with which many GameMaker games are comparable.
The creator of one such “Instant Play” plugin, James Rhodes, has created a table comparing the features of the different instant play options. The chart has proved rather controversial with both the owners of other Instant Play services and general GMC members disputing the scoring method used.
Sites with features comparable to YoYo Games’ instant play are YAIPP, GMBed, GMArcade, GMX and launched just two days ago Revel Quick Play.
Chart reproduced with permission of James Rhodes
The chart has been updated to reflect the release of YAIPP for Internet Explorer. QuickPlay has been removed due to inactivity. YYG has had “Secure on owner’s site” and “Only runs with user’s permission.” due to the fact they still have not fixed the exploit.
The comparison chart has been updated.
Yep, the GM EULA. But regardless of the cause, from a user standpoint, YYG’s IP offers a significant advantage.
@Eyas Sharaiha
Only due to the legal restrictions YoYoGames placed on Game Maker in the first place.
YoYoGames deletes save files when the game is updated.
Selective File Saving as I am to understand deletes the game after it’s been played leaving only the save games intact. Although, I’m not sure why this is seen as a positive.
I’m thinking of removing the “Total” at the bottom, since it all really depends on what the owner of the site wants.
That instant play does not support non GM games as only party is a plus for me. While GM games might contain viruses the chances of that are smaller then blindly running any executable on your system.
YoYo Games plugin also has the advantage of the virus scanner and the moderation system that allows bad games to be filtered. If a game is popular / staff choice then it is expected ot be safe to run.
In my experience YoYo Games offers a safe, easy, reliable method of playing games. The other service do not yet give me that feeling, mostly because they are too young to have proven themself.
I’m wondering how the author of this chart is related to these projects. The list seems to be a bit biased in questions missing certain things like active moderation. I also don’t see why YoYo Games gets no points for it’s easy persistent save system and what ‘selective file saving’ means. Free hosting also seems like a nice plus.
In my personal experience, YoYo Games is far from last in the game.
Well, unlike other “Instant play” alternatives, Instant play does save the downloading of runner data, and thats rather beneficial, I would say.