Knibble = Casual gaming + Wii Internet channel

By Vivek | August 14th, 2007 at 10:28 pm ET         

Social networking boom is touching every online app, and obviously online casual gaming not left behind. Unlike the past where you would play pool online against someone you never knew and had no way of connecting with again, the new-gen apps are making sure players interact and stay out there longer. To add to that Wii-volution has brought in millions of additional casual gamers. While millions of games have been played on Nintendo Wi-Fi connection, you always want more, right? Well, Los Gatos, CA based Knibble.com is moving in early into that space to enable users to search and play casual online games via their Wii console.

Knibble.com had launched earlier last month as a casual game search engine. The startup currently indexes over 10,000 Flash-based online games and is incorporating Java, JavaScript and downloadable games to its existing comprehensive suite. Coming to the real motivation point, Knibble CEO Sashi Chimala believes that the reason for recent VC interest is due to what he calls the “blended gaming market” - a mixture of at-home console players and online casual players. Investment opportunities have skyrocketed thanks to this successful marketing tactic, expanding gaming demographics from grandparents to families to housewives, who are all embracing the gaming world with open arms and consoles. Chimala is looking to grow fast in the casual gaming market, while also leveraging the popularity of the Wii console, specifically the Wii Internet channel.

Before you start stress testing each and every casual game available on Knibble on your Wii, remember that not all games would work right with the Wii console.