So by cloud based gaming, they mean the Streaming games right? They were pushing them so hard, even very recently. It's fine by me because I found the streaming games to be too slow and laggy. Also if I was going to use an unlimited gaming service, I'd definitely go back to Shockwave because they have a better selection and are a little cheaper. But I did think it was a good idea for people who wanted to play the same game in multiple ways (like on laptop, mobile, etc). Sounds like it didn't catch on quick enough. Thanks for sharing the article, it was interesting news.

Casino showed up in my GM too. I deleted it, but I'm in agreement with most people here in being not happy to have it installed without my permission. With the BFG forums mostly gone, where do you think would be the best place for me to go to express this opinion? It's not a really big deal to me, but when companys do stuff like this that I just think is bad practice, I do like to politely express my feelings. 

The Big Fish Casino game I deleted it from my game manager, but it stayed in the left hand side for a few days and now that has even disappeared.

Here is another article about BF.

http://www.xconomy.com/seattle/2012/08/16/jackpot-big-fish-games-dives-into-real-money-online-gambling/

I have it under new ways to play, but it's not d/l.  That was an interesting article, Sunshine. 
I tried to try the streaming but it said my service wasn't good enough.  That was with 30 whatever it is service from Brighthouse/Roadrunner.  I wonder if I was a minority or if a lot of people with decent internet service couldn't get it either?
I'm not much of a gambler in real life, a game app has zero interest for me.  I have a friend who plays online poker, they have to use something called bitcoins for currency.  They can't be cashed in too many places yet, he's having to buy stuff off Amazon to use them when he wins.  I would just never really trust online gambling, seems a bit too easy to rig for some computer genius/hacker. 
I think all this mobile stuff will be hitting it's peak this year and next.  Verizon now offers a 3g smartphone for well under $100 and they've lowered their prepaid plans for smartphones to $60/70 dollars.  That makes it affordable to the masses, with prepay you don't have to worry about breaking a contract, if you don't have the money that month you just don't pay, or you get a cheap plan for the month.  I've had a smartphone for several years now, but it bit the dust and I'm using a cheap prepay.  When I first got my smartphone I d/l every app I got my hands on, now I don't get hardly anything, the new has worn off.  It will be like that for the new users, too.  Phone app games seem like they would be much cheaper to make, they're usually pretty simple and so many of them are just copies of each other, substituting frogs for birds. 
MCQ, I've been cancelled since May.  I will never be a permanent member again.  I will wait until I have a good list of games I want, then rejoin for a month during a BOGO, buy them, and quickly use up my PCCs.  Then I will cancel again until I have a good list again.  You only have to rejoin every 6 months to keep your GCCs active.  You do have to be a member when you get that 6th punch on your card to get the PCC for it.  And I love how we trade our PCCs around, it works out so great for everyone.  You need one less game to fill a card if you borrow a PCC and the loaner gets one back with a fresh new expiration date. 

The demise of cloud, streaming, instant (whatever they're now calling it) puzzles me.  If it's being dropped, why are they still adding games, advertizing a free 7-day trial on the game manager, have a separate section for it on the new game manager, etc?

I'm also surprised that the casino game is number 1 on downloads and the new Dark Manor game only made it ito the top 100 today at #68.