<![CDATA[Gawker: valleywag, garagegames]]> http://tags.gawker.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/gawker.com.png <![CDATA[Gawker: valleywag, garagegames]]> http://gawker.com/tag/valleywag/garagegames http://gawker.com/tag/valleywag/garagegames <![CDATA[Search isn't working, so Diller tries another flooded market]]> As his search engine Ask.com inches toward irrelevance, besieged IAC CEO Barry Diller has found another crowded market to pour cash into: videogames. According to Variety, Diller plans to invest $50 million to $100 million of IAC's money on InstantAction, a new site from recently acquired IAC subsidiary GarageGames. GarageGames doesn't develop games quite so "casual" as the type Mark Pincus's Zynga produces, but the venture's product will still be Internet-based games made for those who don't want to waste time in front of a TV. Just like everyone else in the market, only a year or two later.

]]> http://gawker.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=362947&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Barry Diller camps on GarageGames]]> Barry DillerBarry Diller is easily bored. First, he was entranced by the promise of e-commerce, assembling an empire that includes such diverse offerings as Evite, the Home Shopping Network, and Ticketmaster. Then he turned his attention to search and snapped up Ask.com. With such a motley portfolio, why not add a jack-of-all-trades videogame company to your portfolio? Diller, the CEO of holding company IAC/InterActiveCorp, is focusing his energies on the videogame sector now. By acquiring a majority stake in GarageGames, which does everything from development tools and game creation to indie game publishing, Diller hopes to complement the yet-to-be launched InstantAction.com. But as usual, Diller's strategic vision isn't matched by his grasp of the technical details.

InstantAction, you see, will host 3D browser-based games. It's an effort to find an intersection between the growing "casual" market and traditional, processor-intensive gaming fare. Of course, the main problem is most casual game players are addicted to 2D puzzle games like Bejeweled and most hardcore gamers need DirectX 10-powered graphics, a level of power most workaday PCs lack. Have fun with that Venn diagram.

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