Miniclip was founded in 2001 on a budget of only £400,000; it's headquarters are situated in Switzerland and has had turnovers of £20,000,000 for the last two years. The first game that was added was called 'Dancing Bush' which enabled gamers to make then current President Bush perform certain dance moves, the character was created by the face of Bush being superimposed onto a pre-recorded dancer; this game created a lot of traffic and put the website on the world stage encouraging further games to be added over time.
The layout of Miniclip is very user friendly and categorises games into sections depending on their genre, popularity and release date. The main focus of the page is on the 'Latest Games' section; this shows latest popular releases that are new to Miniclip, and by advertising them it raises their Play Hits and ensures they are given a chance to be reviewed. Next to this there is also a 'Hot Games' list; this provides the 6 most played games at that time, showing the gamer what games are popular at the moment and are worth playing. Underneath this feature there is a Top Ten Games list showing the ten most popular games on Miniclip; this shows quickly and effectively what games are well rated. Under each genre the top played/rated games are shown in quick-links; however to view all lower rated games in that section you must click a link and are redirected to an inventory of games. 
Miniclip is a free website; all games that are played here do not cost the user anything. However as Miniclip needs funding to keep the site running they advertise companies to generate revenue; companies will be eager to advertise there as Miniclip is a popular site that gets millions of views each day. The adverts are chosen based on your location (only UK companies will be advertised in the UK) and are often directed at the younger generation who are most likely to use the site; such as phone companies and computer games. Advertisements are situated on the home page, all game inventories and on the actual game page itself; by placing ads everywhere this enables more people to see them.
Users can sign up for a free account if they are regular users; this allows them to save their high scores and earn rewards- this process is also free and only requires a User name and password to be entered. Some games, such as Club Penguin, require a user name and password. This service is also restricted for younger children, not allowing them to converse freely (only using set phrases pre-built into the game); this is to ensure Internet safety. Club Penguin has become extremely popular since it's debut on Miniclip in 2005; it has now been bought by Disney and cakes and toys dedicated to the series have been produced and sold all over the world. It generates a lot of traffic on the Miniclip website and pushes almost one million plays every day worldwide.
Advantages:
- Free to play
- There are a wide variety of games available, not only on Miniclip, but on hundreds of other gaming sites that can keep you entertained for hours
- Appeals to a wide range of people and suits for lots of interests
- Now available via the iPhone
Disadvantages:
- Frequent ads all over the sites
- Addictive to play and can become time consuming
- May slow down your computer with various add ons needed to play the games
- Viruses are sometimes disguised as games and infect unsuspecting users' laptops
News Stories:
Miniclip is now playable on mobile phones and on the iPod touch via an app;
http://whatisthetrend.net/miniclip-enters-mobile-gaming-industry-20103179.html
