Google opened their new Web Store today with version 8 of their Chrome web browser. The Web Store plays host to a network of web applications, with games being amongst them in a bid for virtual shelf space.
These applications, installed through the web store much in the same way extensions are, show up in the New Tab section of your browser. Clicking these will take you to the website where the game is hosted, and you play it or run the app in full-screen from there.
From my experience around the games so far however, there are no real defining features to the apps that I’ve played with, and none of them are available offline, which could be a bit cumbersome, but I’m sure that once the store finds its feet a little then perhaps some offline applications will be available, particularly to the Chrome OS users that this service is primarily targeted to.
Initial reaction from the user base based on reviews on the store seem to be mixed, with many thinking the games would be downloadable, rather than the store essentially acting like a library of bookmarks to existing games, with some of these games being powered by micro-transactions kept separate from the Chrome Web Store.
Choice cuts of the games so far seem to be Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online* by EA Sports, FarmVille* by Zynga, Entanglement by Gopherwood Studios, Plants vs Zombies** by PopCap and Sinuous by Hakim El Hattab.
* denotes in-game micro-transactions available
** denotes HTML trial version of full-size game, available independently from the Chrome Web Store.
