The Daily OrangeTwo Whitman students create online gaming Web site
By Fred Hintz
Posted: 10/8/09, 4:23 AM EST Section: News
Taylor Louie and Ray Williams knew college students liked to gamble - they themselves have won more than $4,000 on popular skill gaming Web sites. To the pair, students seemed like an easy audience to make a quick profit off of.
"I always saw the Internet as something that you could do anything you want with," Williams said. "I thought I would make some money."
So the two Syracuse University juniors in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management created their own gaming Web site, SkillAddiction.com, in April 2009.
Their site isn't like conventional gaming sites, however. It is based on skill gaming, or playing based on skill over luck, a relatively new addition to the world of online gaming. Skill gamers still play online games for money, but want to win because they have more ability over an opponent, not because of random chance or luck.
"We're taking as much chance out of it as we can," Williams said.
The way SkillAddiction.com works is that a player enters a tournament and is matched up with an opponent of a similar skill level. Each person puts an equal amount of money in the pot and they play the same game with the same setup. The person who wins takes the jackpot, with a 15 percent cut taken for the site. So, if both players put in $1, making the total pot $2, the winner would take $1.70.
One of the major differences between Louie and Williams' Web site and others is that users won't recognize the titles of games you can play. The site uses games mostly from independent game developers.
Sometimes the games are similar to arcade or card classics like "Breakit" ("Breakout") and "SmileyChomp" ("PacMan"), but there are also original game ideas like "Flower Quest" and "Twin Botz."
Louie and Williams are trying to target a younger, college-aged audience with their site. Although the ages of their players range from 13 to 65, they wanted to target people that were like themselves, Louie said.
Williams has worked in Web design for more than 10 years and had his first Web site when he was 14. He's owned at least five sites since then.
But money isn't the only profit being made. Louie, a marketing major, said the site has proven to be a valuable tool.
"If nothing else, I'm talking about this in every (job) interview, and it's featured very prominently on my résumé," Louie said.
Before they started SkillAddiction.com, Louie and Williams ran a social networking site that specialized in flash content. The users of their site eventually started making flash games. The two students said they essentially followed where the demand of their users took them.
The Web site has also made them connections across the world, working with designers in Romania and India.
Besides the people designing their Web site, the site also has players from 149 different countries. Users are mostly from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, but they said they have had visitors from 110 countries on their site since Sept. 5.
fahintz@syr.edu
"I always saw the Internet as something that you could do anything you want with," Williams said. "I thought I would make some money."
So the two Syracuse University juniors in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management created their own gaming Web site, SkillAddiction.com, in April 2009.
Their site isn't like conventional gaming sites, however. It is based on skill gaming, or playing based on skill over luck, a relatively new addition to the world of online gaming. Skill gamers still play online games for money, but want to win because they have more ability over an opponent, not because of random chance or luck.
"We're taking as much chance out of it as we can," Williams said.
The way SkillAddiction.com works is that a player enters a tournament and is matched up with an opponent of a similar skill level. Each person puts an equal amount of money in the pot and they play the same game with the same setup. The person who wins takes the jackpot, with a 15 percent cut taken for the site. So, if both players put in $1, making the total pot $2, the winner would take $1.70.
One of the major differences between Louie and Williams' Web site and others is that users won't recognize the titles of games you can play. The site uses games mostly from independent game developers.
Sometimes the games are similar to arcade or card classics like "Breakit" ("Breakout") and "SmileyChomp" ("PacMan"), but there are also original game ideas like "Flower Quest" and "Twin Botz."
Louie and Williams are trying to target a younger, college-aged audience with their site. Although the ages of their players range from 13 to 65, they wanted to target people that were like themselves, Louie said.
Williams has worked in Web design for more than 10 years and had his first Web site when he was 14. He's owned at least five sites since then.
But money isn't the only profit being made. Louie, a marketing major, said the site has proven to be a valuable tool.
"If nothing else, I'm talking about this in every (job) interview, and it's featured very prominently on my résumé," Louie said.
Before they started SkillAddiction.com, Louie and Williams ran a social networking site that specialized in flash content. The users of their site eventually started making flash games. The two students said they essentially followed where the demand of their users took them.
The Web site has also made them connections across the world, working with designers in Romania and India.
Besides the people designing their Web site, the site also has players from 149 different countries. Users are mostly from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, but they said they have had visitors from 110 countries on their site since Sept. 5.
fahintz@syr.edu
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