<s>
Gamesville	B-Application
was	O
a	O
casual	O
gaming	O
portal	O
founded	O
in	O
1995	O
in	O
Boston	O
,	O
Massachusetts	O
by	O
Steven	O
Kane	O
,	O
Stuart	O
Roseman	O
and	O
John	O
Furse	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gamesville	B-Application
was	O
acquired	O
in	O
1999	O
by	O
Web	O
portal	O
Lycos	B-Application
for	O
$232	O
million	O
in	O
stock	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gamesville	B-Application
’s	O
tagline	O
was	O
"	O
Wasting	O
your	O
time	O
since	O
1996	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Founded	O
on	O
a	O
minimal	O
capital	O
base	O
,	O
Gamesville	B-Application
operated	O
not	O
just	O
as	O
a	O
games	O
provider	O
but	O
as	O
a	O
targeted	O
marketing	O
operation	O
,	O
offering	O
free	O
games	O
and	O
prizes	O
to	O
members	O
as	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
attract	O
large	O
numbers	O
of	O
users	O
while	O
tailoring	O
their	O
proprietary	O
games	O
to	O
meet	O
the	O
demands	O
of	O
advertisers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gamesville	B-Application
pioneered	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
interstitial	O
advertising	O
as	O
a	O
method	O
of	O
monetizing	O
game	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gamesville	B-Application
's	O
first	O
game	O
,	O
The	O
Bingo	O
Zone	O
,	O
enabled	O
hundreds	O
of	O
people	O
to	O
compete	O
against	O
one	O
another	O
in	O
real	O
time	O
,	O
for	O
free	O
,	O
and	O
win	O
up	O
to	O
$20	O
by	O
getting	O
a	O
bingo	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
on	O
the	O
day	O
Gamesville.com	O
launched	O
in	O
April	O
1996	O
,	O
the	O
Wall	O
Street	O
Journal	O
ran	O
a	O
story	O
about	O
Gen	O
Xers	O
playing	O
bingo	O
in	O
bars	O
,	O
and	O
Kane	O
is	O
quoted	O
as	O
saying	O
,	O
"	O
It	O
was	O
as	O
if	O
God	O
had	O
whispered	O
to	O
us.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
approach	O
attracted	O
many	O
visitors	O
:	O
In	O
August	O
1999	O
,	O
Gamesville.com	O
was	O
the	O
"	O
stickiest	O
"	O
site	O
on	O
the	O
Internet	O
with	O
eBay	B-Application
in	O
second	O
place	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
November	O
1999	O
,	O
internet	O
portal	O
Lycos	B-Application
announced	O
that	O
it	O
would	O
spend	O
$270	O
million	O
in	O
stock	O
to	O
acquire	O
Gamesville.com,	O
which	O
at	O
that	O
time	O
had	O
approximately	O
2.2	O
million	O
registered	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gamesville	B-Application
leveraged	O
its	O
relationship	O
with	O
Lycos	B-Application
to	O
obtain	O
the	O
rights	O
to	O
produce	O
the	O
first	O
(	O
and	O
to	O
date	O
,	O
the	O
only	O
)	O
online	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
popular	O
television	O
game	O
show	O
The	O
Price	O
Is	O
Right	O
in	O
2002	O
although	O
the	O
license	O
was	O
dropped	O
after	O
one	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2002	O
,	O
Monster.com	B-Application
profiled	O
Gamesville	B-Application
's	O
Rewards	O
Manager	O
,	O
Josh	O
Yeager	O
,	O
citing	O
him	O
as	O
holding	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
Top	O
10	O
Coolest	O
Jobs	O
on	O
the	O
Internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
in	O
fact	O
more	O
truth	O
to	O
this	O
statement	O
than	O
at	O
first	O
glance	O
,	O
as	O
Gamesville	B-Application
,	O
for	O
a	O
brief	O
time	O
in	O
2002	O
,	O
had	O
hosted	O
the	O
exclusive	O
Internet	B-Application
game	I-Application
rights	O
to	O
The	O
Price	O
Is	O
Right	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Over	O
the	O
years	O
,	O
Gamesville	B-Application
developed	O
several	O
games	O
without	O
prizes	O
including	O
a	O
multiplayer	O
online	O
version	O
of	O
Spite	O
and	O
Malice	O
and	O
an	O
online	O
version	O
of	O
Spider	B-Application
Solitaire	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Drifting	O
away	O
from	O
its	O
focus	O
on	O
prizes	O
caused	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
visitors	O
to	O
Gamesville.com	O
to	O
slowly	O
but	O
steadily	O
decline	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
an	O
attempt	O
to	O
reinvigorate	O
the	O
Gamesville	B-Application
site	O
,	O
Lycos	B-Application
entered	O
into	O
a	O
year-long	O
integration	O
with	O
Skilljam	O
starting	O
in	O
2006	O
;	O
purportedly	O
the	O
integration	O
was	O
designed	O
to	O
provide	O
premium	O
"	O
best	O
in	O
class	O
skill	O
and	O
casual	O
free	O
games	O
for	O
cash	O
prizes	O
,	O
combined	O
with	O
exclusive	O
games	O
content	O
not	O
available	O
anywhere	O
else	O
"	O
to	O
Gamesville	B-Application
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
instead	O
,	O
the	O
integration	O
with	O
Skilljam	O
only	O
hastened	O
the	O
decline	O
in	O
traffic	O
to	O
Gamesville	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
April	O
2007	O
,	O
Lycos	B-Application
issued	O
a	O
public	O
apology	O
,	O
announcing	O
an	O
end	O
to	O
the	O
Skilljam	O
partnership	O
and	O
a	O
promise	O
to	O
return	O
the	O
site	O
to	O
its	O
roots	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
relaunch	O
of	O
the	O
site	O
included	O
new	O
premium	O
games	O
from	O
WorldWinner	B-Application
and	O
new	O
download	O
games	O
provided	O
by	O
Oberon	B-Application
Media	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Tripod.com	O
blog	O
was	O
also	O
integrated	O
into	O
the	O
site	O
under	O
the	O
title	O
"	O
The	O
Gamesville	B-Application
Blog	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
relaunch	O
of	O
Gamesville	B-Application
,	O
traffic	O
to	O
the	O
site	O
steadily	O
increased	O
,	O
although	O
not	O
to	O
its	O
former	O
heights	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
March	O
2007	O
,	O
Gamesville	B-Application
launched	O
Magic	O
21	O
,	O
a	O
variant	O
of	O
blackjack	O
,	O
where	O
multiple	O
players	O
compete	O
to	O
win	O
a	O
cash	O
jackpot	O
worth	O
up	O
to	O
$	O
4,999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
game	O
is	O
notable	O
because	O
it	O
is	O
the	O
first	O
proprietary	O
jackpot	O
game	O
developed	O
by	O
Lycos/Gamesville	O
since	O
2002	O
's	O
"	O
The	O
Price	O
Is	O
Right	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
July	O
2007	O
,	O
Gamesville	B-Application
launched	O
a	O
new	O
avatar	B-Application
system	O
enabling	O
users	O
to	O
create	O
2D	O
representations	O
of	O
themselves	O
for	O
use	O
in	O
Gamesville	B-Application
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gamesville	B-Application
currently	O
holds	O
"	O
best	O
avatar	B-Application
"	O
contests	O
in	O
the	O
Gamesville	B-Application
Blog	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
28	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
Gamesville	B-Application
relaunched	O
Bingo	O
Zone	O
with	O
a	O
new	O
design	O
,	O
a	O
chat	O
game	O
called	O
Dickie	O
's	O
Bonus	O
Balls	O
,	O
and	O
progressive	O
cash	O
prizes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Gamesville	B-Application
has	O
several	O
trademarks	O
and	O
patents	O
in	O
its	O
portfolio	O
,	O
most	O
notably	O
US	O
Patent	O
6	O
,	O
012	O
,	O
984	O
,	O
“	O
Systems	O
for	O
providing	O
large	O
arena	O
games	O
over	O
computer	O
networks	O
”	O
.	O
</s>
