Of America's 160 million gamers, 41 percent of them are playing social games on Facebook or another social network, Newzoo's 2010 US National Gamers Survey says. As we all know, social games have just emerged in the later half of this decade compared to console games that been around--if we want to get technical here--for nearly 40 years, which maintain 56 percent of gamers' attention. This means that in just a few short years, social games like FarmVille have become more popular than MMOs, PC or Mac games and games on mobile devices, some of which have had decades to garner the same attention, Newzoo says.
But what's going on here isn't that gamers are switching platforms, rather they're taking on more platforms with the average gamer playing on three of the seven major gaming platforms simultaneously (define average), according to Newzoo.
Newzoo's US National Gamers Survey 2010
Of course, there's something to be said of social games' accessibility. In other words, they don't exactly require the amount of dedication or focus that console or traditional PC games do, which definitely contributes to the amount of social gamers. Though, if there is any metric that shows whether social games allow for true dedication, it's cold hard cash.
According to Newzoo, of the 115 million--71 percent of total--gamers who spend money on their favorite hobby, 25 percent spend their hard-earned dough on social games. With over 28.7 million players nationwide paying for in-game currency (at sometimes admittedly unreasonable rates), it's a no-brainer that social games are becoming a mutli-billion dollar industry.
These numbers beg the question: is it only a matter of time, with digital distribution becoming more robust every year (62 percent of console gamers pay for games and digital game content), before all games are free-to-play, taking the microtransaction model that social games seem to have mastered?
Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn social games. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng
Hiển thị các bài đăng có nhãn social games. Hiển thị tất cả bài đăng
Thứ Bảy, 4 tháng 2, 2012
Thứ Hai, 9 tháng 1, 2012
If Pawn Stars works on Facebook, Storage Wars will feel right at home
What the hey, let's throw Parking Wars on their too while we're at it--oh, never mind. It's official, folks: Now that Storage Wars has made it to Facebook after just a single season on A&E, reality TV has staked its claim in social gaming. The game based on the popular--though, we can't understand why--TV show hits Facebook today as the second season premieres tonight on A&E. (With Pawn Stars still kicking, this is A&E's second Facebook game.)
In Storage Wars on Facebook, players join animated versions of characters from the show in high-stakes bidding wars on things in folks' storage units. Players travel around the world in-game to bid on various relics with virtual cash in order to earn more digital bucks to bid on more things. It sounds like a boring vicious cycle, but ultimately players will go all-in for Wanted Treasures that come with huge profits.
"Storage Wars fans have shown that they are eager to get in on the bidding action themselves and our new game for Facebook lets them do just that," said A+E Networks SVP of Games Kris Soumas in a release. "We've put the same emphasis on developing a fun and addictive game experience that A&E brings to its program development."
Gallery: Storage Wars on Facebook
Based on these first screen shots, the game looks to pack numerous storage units with items to bid for inside. More importantly, however, players are guided through the game with none other than quests, or folks craving for Wanted Treasures. But what about our Wanted Treasure, Mario Kart on Facebook?
In Storage Wars on Facebook, players join animated versions of characters from the show in high-stakes bidding wars on things in folks' storage units. Players travel around the world in-game to bid on various relics with virtual cash in order to earn more digital bucks to bid on more things. It sounds like a boring vicious cycle, but ultimately players will go all-in for Wanted Treasures that come with huge profits.
"Storage Wars fans have shown that they are eager to get in on the bidding action themselves and our new game for Facebook lets them do just that," said A+E Networks SVP of Games Kris Soumas in a release. "We've put the same emphasis on developing a fun and addictive game experience that A&E brings to its program development."
Gallery: Storage Wars on Facebook
Based on these first screen shots, the game looks to pack numerous storage units with items to bid for inside. More importantly, however, players are guided through the game with none other than quests, or folks craving for Wanted Treasures. But what about our Wanted Treasure, Mario Kart on Facebook?
Social game startup Pangalore makes HTML5 games look good
Let's just get something out of the way: HTML5 gaming on Facebook and mobile hasn't exploded because, frankly, most of the early HTML5 games look like high school programming class projects. Pangalore, a startup based in Seoul, South Korea and San Jose, Calif., looks to change that with HTML5-based social games that both work across platforms and are actually a treat to look at.
Today, the company launches its first two HTML5 games--ArtFit and Wild West Solitaire--for Facebook, iOS and Android devices simultaneously. (Players can also play these games from their smartphone's web browser.)
The former of which is a puzzler presented in colorful, semi-realistic crayon and paper mache-style artwork. Players must use predetermined colored blocks in various shapes to fit them inside of a larger shape, like, say, a giraffe. Of course, players are scored for how long it takes them to fit the pieces within the larger shape, and for how many changes made before it's complete.
Everything from the music to the textured artwork in ArtFit is top notch, which is surprising for an HTML5 game. (However, it's important to note that animation isn't a particularly impressive component to neither this game nor Wild West Solitaire.) Players can invite their friends to compare scores with and source hints for tough puzzles from, which you'll incessantly be reminded of.
Gallery: Pangalore Games on Facebook
While the latter, Wild West Solitaire, looks wonderful, its animation is rather choppy, a likely limitation of HTML5 games. (Not to mention its artwork is terribly reminiscent of Blue Fang's take on The Learning Company's The Oregon Trail.) The game is a variation on Solitaire in which players must clear numerous stages of cards by clicking them in either standard or reverse numerical order. Doing so quickly and without fail earns combo points, and each stage is a representation of the Oregon Trail.
ArtFit in action
Each stage in the game culminates with a target practice of sorts in which players click badges in succession similar to the Solitaire portion of the game. The more badges you can put a dent into before the dynamite goes off, the more badges you'll collect, which are needed to access the next stage. Players can compete Wild West Solitaire's weekly tournaments as well, which rank players based on their scores. Of course, you also need friends to provide you with more cards to play with in story mode.
Aside from the annoying, constant requests to add friends and somewhat unnatural animations, ArtFit and Wild West Solitaire are two of the most visually impressive HTML5-based Facebook games we've seen to date. More importantly in Pangalore's case, however, is that these games are linked via Facebook. This means players can pick up where they left off on in, say, ArtFit on Facebook through their iPhone, and later continue their progress made on the iPhone back on Facebook.
Wild West Solitaire
Pangalore calls this "Universal Play," and during a demo of the two games, CPO Doyon Kim tells us that it's the developer's core mission. While Kim admits that the games are asynchronous, like nearly all social games, Pangalore is more concerned with allowing its players to enjoy games like ArtFit everywhere they are. Two more HTML5-based social games, Pop Candy and Bubble Prince, are due out before the end of the year, according to Kim.
But Kim also took the time to show us another game built using the Unity Player for decidedly more hardcore or traditional audiences. The game, which has yet to even receive an official title, is essentially a more visually robust FarmVille, but set in a medieval world. Players will create their own farming village, which is to support their character's quests slaying monsters and rescuing damsels. While we were only shown a knight class, Kim tell us that more character options that fit into the high fantasy theme will be available when the game launches simultaneously on Facebook, iOS and Android in early 2012.
Wild West Solitaire in action
Pangalore's strategy is twofold: Make games for the average Facebook gamer through HTML5, and hit up the supposedly growing hardcore gaming audience on Facebook with more visually robust games through Unity. (Notice how Flash--the normal method of creating social games--is avoided altogether.) Then again, Pangalore's approach comes back to a single motivation: Make games that people can play from wherever they are.
Today, the company launches its first two HTML5 games--ArtFit and Wild West Solitaire--for Facebook, iOS and Android devices simultaneously. (Players can also play these games from their smartphone's web browser.)
The former of which is a puzzler presented in colorful, semi-realistic crayon and paper mache-style artwork. Players must use predetermined colored blocks in various shapes to fit them inside of a larger shape, like, say, a giraffe. Of course, players are scored for how long it takes them to fit the pieces within the larger shape, and for how many changes made before it's complete.
Everything from the music to the textured artwork in ArtFit is top notch, which is surprising for an HTML5 game. (However, it's important to note that animation isn't a particularly impressive component to neither this game nor Wild West Solitaire.) Players can invite their friends to compare scores with and source hints for tough puzzles from, which you'll incessantly be reminded of.
Gallery: Pangalore Games on Facebook
While the latter, Wild West Solitaire, looks wonderful, its animation is rather choppy, a likely limitation of HTML5 games. (Not to mention its artwork is terribly reminiscent of Blue Fang's take on The Learning Company's The Oregon Trail.) The game is a variation on Solitaire in which players must clear numerous stages of cards by clicking them in either standard or reverse numerical order. Doing so quickly and without fail earns combo points, and each stage is a representation of the Oregon Trail.
ArtFit in action
Each stage in the game culminates with a target practice of sorts in which players click badges in succession similar to the Solitaire portion of the game. The more badges you can put a dent into before the dynamite goes off, the more badges you'll collect, which are needed to access the next stage. Players can compete Wild West Solitaire's weekly tournaments as well, which rank players based on their scores. Of course, you also need friends to provide you with more cards to play with in story mode.
Aside from the annoying, constant requests to add friends and somewhat unnatural animations, ArtFit and Wild West Solitaire are two of the most visually impressive HTML5-based Facebook games we've seen to date. More importantly in Pangalore's case, however, is that these games are linked via Facebook. This means players can pick up where they left off on in, say, ArtFit on Facebook through their iPhone, and later continue their progress made on the iPhone back on Facebook.
Wild West Solitaire
Pangalore calls this "Universal Play," and during a demo of the two games, CPO Doyon Kim tells us that it's the developer's core mission. While Kim admits that the games are asynchronous, like nearly all social games, Pangalore is more concerned with allowing its players to enjoy games like ArtFit everywhere they are. Two more HTML5-based social games, Pop Candy and Bubble Prince, are due out before the end of the year, according to Kim.
But Kim also took the time to show us another game built using the Unity Player for decidedly more hardcore or traditional audiences. The game, which has yet to even receive an official title, is essentially a more visually robust FarmVille, but set in a medieval world. Players will create their own farming village, which is to support their character's quests slaying monsters and rescuing damsels. While we were only shown a knight class, Kim tell us that more character options that fit into the high fantasy theme will be available when the game launches simultaneously on Facebook, iOS and Android in early 2012.
Wild West Solitaire in action
Pangalore's strategy is twofold: Make games for the average Facebook gamer through HTML5, and hit up the supposedly growing hardcore gaming audience on Facebook with more visually robust games through Unity. (Notice how Flash--the normal method of creating social games--is avoided altogether.) Then again, Pangalore's approach comes back to a single motivation: Make games that people can play from wherever they are.
Facebook strategy games match PC quality ... from back in the day
Edgeworld
"We see the emergence now of companies on Facebook who are building what they'd call a core game," Facebook games platform head Gareth Davis said to GamesIndustry.biz in an interview. "Games targeted at people who played PC games back in the day, strategy games. They're at the quality level now of those PC games."
Considering these games are being created in 2011, we're not sure whether that's a compliment or a complaint. This isn't to say that games like Kixeye's War Commander or Edgeworld by Kabam aren't impressive in their own right. However, if Davis is referring to classic real-time strategy games for the PC like StarCraft and Command & Conquer--you know, games that allowed for real-time multiplayer matchmaking and control of individual units on the battlefield--then we'd have to disagree.
Davis's ultimate point is that new genres are blooming in the Facebook games space for growing niche audiences, like hardcore strategy gamers (from the late '90s?). Jokes aside, new niches in Facebook games are certainly cropping up, and that can only mean more diversity from the tired FarmVille formula. For instance, Entertainment Games is aiming directly at our parents with its first Facebook game, Retro World.
"So we're seeing this broadening now of the kinds of games and audiences and you can be very successful, creating different types of games and you can make a lot of money doing it," Davis told GI.biz. "We're seeing a real maturing of the eco-system as people figure out the right opportunities and go after them." If this means an end to the rampant propagation of the 'Ville species, then count us in.
"We see the emergence now of companies on Facebook who are building what they'd call a core game," Facebook games platform head Gareth Davis said to GamesIndustry.biz in an interview. "Games targeted at people who played PC games back in the day, strategy games. They're at the quality level now of those PC games."
Considering these games are being created in 2011, we're not sure whether that's a compliment or a complaint. This isn't to say that games like Kixeye's War Commander or Edgeworld by Kabam aren't impressive in their own right. However, if Davis is referring to classic real-time strategy games for the PC like StarCraft and Command & Conquer--you know, games that allowed for real-time multiplayer matchmaking and control of individual units on the battlefield--then we'd have to disagree.
Davis's ultimate point is that new genres are blooming in the Facebook games space for growing niche audiences, like hardcore strategy gamers (from the late '90s?). Jokes aside, new niches in Facebook games are certainly cropping up, and that can only mean more diversity from the tired FarmVille formula. For instance, Entertainment Games is aiming directly at our parents with its first Facebook game, Retro World.
"So we're seeing this broadening now of the kinds of games and audiences and you can be very successful, creating different types of games and you can make a lot of money doing it," Davis told GI.biz. "We're seeing a real maturing of the eco-system as people figure out the right opportunities and go after them." If this means an end to the rampant propagation of the 'Ville species, then count us in.
Thứ Tư, 4 tháng 1, 2012
The Godfather: Five Families takes an exclusive hit out on Google+
Google+ just made hardcore social gamers an offer they can't refuse. Kabam announced that its new ... family-oriented social game, The Godfather: Five Families, hits Google+ exclusively today, and it'll stay that way for the next 45 days. In fact, this is the first game to release exclusively on Google's games platform, meaning not both there and on Facebook, capiche?
The game, set in the Prohibition Era before the events of the first film, employs many of the same gameplay hooks found in existing Kabam games: build armies, sic armies against enemies or defend your friends asynchronously, repeat. However, this social take on the Oscar-winning franchise packs features that spice up the social strategy gaming formula, namely "Families".
Upon starting the game, players must choose to join one of five Families (get it?). The concept of "Families" introduces a level of tension to the alliances players make, because there can only be one Don. Perhaps it's thanks to features like this that Five Families is said to have enjoyed the most successful beta test in Kabam history.
Five Families in action
"The Godfather: Five Families has enjoyed the best ever beta period for a Kabam game," Kabam COO Chris Carvalho said in a release. "To support the exclusive launch on The Godfather: Five Families on Google+, Google will provide promotional support to maximize the game's visibility to Google+ users. This is our fourth title to launch on Google+ and they have repeatedly exceeded our expectations."
It's nice to hear that Google will somehow support Five Families, as the size of the network's audience could be a cause for concern, especially for a game launching exclusively on the platform. Then again, "hardcore" social gamers are said to be a dedicated bunch, and they'll certainly know where to find their next family.
Click here to play The Godfather: Five Families on Google+ Now >
Do you consider yourself "hardcore" social gamer? Do you plan on trying the game out on Google+, or will you wait until it hits Facebook?
The game, set in the Prohibition Era before the events of the first film, employs many of the same gameplay hooks found in existing Kabam games: build armies, sic armies against enemies or defend your friends asynchronously, repeat. However, this social take on the Oscar-winning franchise packs features that spice up the social strategy gaming formula, namely "Families".
Upon starting the game, players must choose to join one of five Families (get it?). The concept of "Families" introduces a level of tension to the alliances players make, because there can only be one Don. Perhaps it's thanks to features like this that Five Families is said to have enjoyed the most successful beta test in Kabam history.
Five Families in action
"The Godfather: Five Families has enjoyed the best ever beta period for a Kabam game," Kabam COO Chris Carvalho said in a release. "To support the exclusive launch on The Godfather: Five Families on Google+, Google will provide promotional support to maximize the game's visibility to Google+ users. This is our fourth title to launch on Google+ and they have repeatedly exceeded our expectations."
It's nice to hear that Google will somehow support Five Families, as the size of the network's audience could be a cause for concern, especially for a game launching exclusively on the platform. Then again, "hardcore" social gamers are said to be a dedicated bunch, and they'll certainly know where to find their next family.
Click here to play The Godfather: Five Families on Google+ Now >
Do you consider yourself "hardcore" social gamer? Do you plan on trying the game out on Google+, or will you wait until it hits Facebook?
Frogger is 30 years old, still bouncin' in Frogger Pinball on Facebook
Alright, so 30 is far from old, but that's ancient in frog years. Konami celebrates the 30th anniversary of gaming's favorite jaywalker with Frogger Pinball on Facebook. The game, created by Silverball Studios, is definitely a departure for Frogger, having the little green guy save his Lily from the clutches of the evil RoboCroc ... as a pinball. We at least hope the villain drives a red sedan.
Frogger Pinball takes cues from games like Bejeweled Blitz with its weekly leaderboards and tournaments, but attempts to add a light storyline to its naturally twitch-reflex play style. Come on, did you expect anything less from a Frogger game, and a pinball-themed one at that? The game's story mode spans three different tables: the Swamp, City and Space Station.
Players can unlock special characters from there to compete with their friends for the high score in Challenge Mode. Of course, unique power-ups and bonuses are rewarded throughout for leveling up, hitting targets and completing loops. We're sure each pinball table features unique obstacles, and you'll have to complete them with both Frogger and Lily to play Challenge Mode with all three characters.
Frogger Pinball in action
Konami has been no slouch when it comes to social gaming, either. The company has already released a few Facebook games, including an original in Viva! Mall. While that game has since shut down, the company has reported that social games helped the company double its profits year-over-year, according to Joystiq. That said, expect way--and we mean way--more where Frogger came from.
Click here to play Frogger Pinball on Facebook Now >
Are you still a Frogger fan after all of these years? Do you think Konami can bring its classic franchises back to life through Facebook?
Frogger Pinball takes cues from games like Bejeweled Blitz with its weekly leaderboards and tournaments, but attempts to add a light storyline to its naturally twitch-reflex play style. Come on, did you expect anything less from a Frogger game, and a pinball-themed one at that? The game's story mode spans three different tables: the Swamp, City and Space Station.
Players can unlock special characters from there to compete with their friends for the high score in Challenge Mode. Of course, unique power-ups and bonuses are rewarded throughout for leveling up, hitting targets and completing loops. We're sure each pinball table features unique obstacles, and you'll have to complete them with both Frogger and Lily to play Challenge Mode with all three characters.
Frogger Pinball in action
Konami has been no slouch when it comes to social gaming, either. The company has already released a few Facebook games, including an original in Viva! Mall. While that game has since shut down, the company has reported that social games helped the company double its profits year-over-year, according to Joystiq. That said, expect way--and we mean way--more where Frogger came from.
Click here to play Frogger Pinball on Facebook Now >
Are you still a Frogger fan after all of these years? Do you think Konami can bring its classic franchises back to life through Facebook?
Chủ Nhật, 25 tháng 12, 2011
Games.com Weekly Roundup: Spotlighting social games at E3 2011
Couldn't get your daily Games.com news fix and want to know what you've missed? Whether it's a major FarmVille guide or the launch of a new Facebook game, the Roundup will bring you up to speed on the most important or popular or just plain out amazing and weird social gaming stories of the week.
Monday:
The Sims creator Will Wright is making a Facebook game, and it's not SimCity
Instead, Wright is basing his new game on Bruce Sterling's short story "Maneki Neko".
Want to work for Marriott Hotels? Play the Facebook game first
"We had no idea there was such a demand for hotel employees, but alas, here we are, recruiting them through ... Facebook games."
Zynga hangs on iPhone in Hanging with Friends: Fuhgettabout pen and paper
"Developed by Texas-based Zynga subsidiary Zynga with Friends, Hanging with Friends is a mobile multiplayer take on the classic two-player puzzle game Hangman."
Playdom's City of Wonder on iPhone: Conquer the world wherever
"Playdom has released City of Wonder, it's Civilization-like empire-building Facebook game, to iOS devices. And better yet, it's absolutely free."
The Sims Social: Yup, The Sims is finally coming to Facebook
Were you as creeped out by the debut trailer as we were? Nonetheless, it's hard not to get excited.
Tuesday:
Apple Game Center in iOS 5 mirrors Facebook gaming, coming this fall
"Social gaming has effectively become mobile gaming in many a developer's eye, and Apple is poised to strike the competition this fall with the new Facebook games-inspired Game Center."
'Arookoo: World Explorers' steps up social gaming, but stumbles on Facebook
Reader's Digest Association and Vivity Labs' create a Facebook game to complement a free iPhone app that nabs you virtual perks for real world strolls.
E3 2011: Prime World mixes free-to-play MMO with Facebook friend interaction
"You'll be able to invite your Facebook friends to play the game with you . . . There's even a Zuma-inspired marble game for those that would prefer to match marbles than enter combat (at least temporarily)."
E3 2011: Yoostar Playground puts you in the movies on Facebook
"With Yoostar Playground, you're really given the opportunity for your 15 minutes of fame, as the company routinely holds contests over the best videos uploaded to the service."
Wednesday:
Zynga celebrates FarmVille's 2nd Birthday with an explosion of items
For the full scoop, check out our FarmVille 2nd Birthday Guide.
E3 2011: Walking Dead game gets a Facebook tie-in
"A few months ago, we learned that The Walking Dead, a hit TV series on AMC as well as a comic book series with a serious cult following, is getting the game treatment."
Casino City, Bar World and Slot City get the axe
"[A]s a result of Zynga's recent acquisition of DNA Games (its 14th purchase in just a year!), all three of the studio's games will shut down come July 8."
Thursday:
E3 2011: Fruit Ninja Frenzy takes a slice out of Facebook this summer
"In Fruit Ninja Frenzy, the same basic gameplay from the mobile version has been retained, but has been chopped (no pun intended) into 60-seconds of bite sized fruity goodness."
E3 2011: Pet Society Vacation on iPhone takes your Facebook pet on a tropical trip
Playfish fans are definitely excited, but the catch is this iOS game won't crossover with the one on Facebook except when it comes to porting over your pet.
John Carmack: Facebook offers the 'Walmart experience of gaming' [Interview]
"[Social games are] not a connoisseur experience, but it's important to recognize that most of what people consume in the world is not a connoisseur experience."
E3 2011: Shooters, not social, are still king
So how's E3 treating the social games scene? Our EIC, Libe Goad, spent the week over there and left us this thoughtful piece.
The Amazing Spider-Man's Emma Stone was hooked on FarmVille
"I got to level 42, and I wasn't doing anything else anymore, so I had to stop," Stone told ELLE.
FrontierVille Oregon Trail becomes 'Pioneer Trail' after community vote
Not that we thought anyone could confuse the official Oregon Trail with Zynga's FrontierVille expansion on Facebook, but that's lawsuits for ya.
Scam Alert: 'Zynga Promotions' is not RewardVille, but another scam
Dastardly!
Monday:
The Sims creator Will Wright is making a Facebook game, and it's not SimCity
Instead, Wright is basing his new game on Bruce Sterling's short story "Maneki Neko".
Want to work for Marriott Hotels? Play the Facebook game first
"We had no idea there was such a demand for hotel employees, but alas, here we are, recruiting them through ... Facebook games."
Zynga hangs on iPhone in Hanging with Friends: Fuhgettabout pen and paper
"Developed by Texas-based Zynga subsidiary Zynga with Friends, Hanging with Friends is a mobile multiplayer take on the classic two-player puzzle game Hangman."
Playdom's City of Wonder on iPhone: Conquer the world wherever
"Playdom has released City of Wonder, it's Civilization-like empire-building Facebook game, to iOS devices. And better yet, it's absolutely free."
The Sims Social: Yup, The Sims is finally coming to Facebook
Were you as creeped out by the debut trailer as we were? Nonetheless, it's hard not to get excited.
Tuesday:
Apple Game Center in iOS 5 mirrors Facebook gaming, coming this fall
"Social gaming has effectively become mobile gaming in many a developer's eye, and Apple is poised to strike the competition this fall with the new Facebook games-inspired Game Center."
'Arookoo: World Explorers' steps up social gaming, but stumbles on Facebook
Reader's Digest Association and Vivity Labs' create a Facebook game to complement a free iPhone app that nabs you virtual perks for real world strolls.
E3 2011: Prime World mixes free-to-play MMO with Facebook friend interaction
"You'll be able to invite your Facebook friends to play the game with you . . . There's even a Zuma-inspired marble game for those that would prefer to match marbles than enter combat (at least temporarily)."
E3 2011: Yoostar Playground puts you in the movies on Facebook
"With Yoostar Playground, you're really given the opportunity for your 15 minutes of fame, as the company routinely holds contests over the best videos uploaded to the service."
Wednesday:
Zynga celebrates FarmVille's 2nd Birthday with an explosion of items
For the full scoop, check out our FarmVille 2nd Birthday Guide.
E3 2011: Walking Dead game gets a Facebook tie-in
"A few months ago, we learned that The Walking Dead, a hit TV series on AMC as well as a comic book series with a serious cult following, is getting the game treatment."
Casino City, Bar World and Slot City get the axe
"[A]s a result of Zynga's recent acquisition of DNA Games (its 14th purchase in just a year!), all three of the studio's games will shut down come July 8."
Thursday:
E3 2011: Fruit Ninja Frenzy takes a slice out of Facebook this summer
"In Fruit Ninja Frenzy, the same basic gameplay from the mobile version has been retained, but has been chopped (no pun intended) into 60-seconds of bite sized fruity goodness."
E3 2011: Pet Society Vacation on iPhone takes your Facebook pet on a tropical trip
Playfish fans are definitely excited, but the catch is this iOS game won't crossover with the one on Facebook except when it comes to porting over your pet.
John Carmack: Facebook offers the 'Walmart experience of gaming' [Interview]
"[Social games are] not a connoisseur experience, but it's important to recognize that most of what people consume in the world is not a connoisseur experience."
E3 2011: Shooters, not social, are still king
So how's E3 treating the social games scene? Our EIC, Libe Goad, spent the week over there and left us this thoughtful piece.
The Amazing Spider-Man's Emma Stone was hooked on FarmVille
"I got to level 42, and I wasn't doing anything else anymore, so I had to stop," Stone told ELLE.
FrontierVille Oregon Trail becomes 'Pioneer Trail' after community vote
Not that we thought anyone could confuse the official Oregon Trail with Zynga's FrontierVille expansion on Facebook, but that's lawsuits for ya.
Scam Alert: 'Zynga Promotions' is not RewardVille, but another scam
Dastardly!
Thứ Tư, 14 tháng 12, 2011
Row Sham Bow CEO: 'This isn't just a profession' [Interview]
For Phil Holt (pictured), CEO of Orlando-Fla.-based social game start-up Row Sham Bow, social games have been a part of his professional life for far longer than the nearly seven months since he co-founded the studio. During his second, 5-year stint with EA at its Tiburon studio, also in Orlando, Holt has seen the company adapt to social gaming's effects on the industry at large.
Only little more than six months before Row Sham Bow released its first game, Woodland Heroes, Holt realized that social games are the future of the industry. We sat down with Holt recently to find out what specifically drove him to co-found his own studio, what he hopes Row Sham Bow will change about these games and where Woodland Heroes goes from here.
On the company website it seems that the team disappointed with the state of social games. If that's the case, what is it about the space that has drawn you in?
I think it's a fascinating space. I was trying to describe this to somebody the other day: You have zero barrier to entry on an open platform-anybody can develop for it. You don't have to become a licensed developer, nobody is reviewing your content--approving or not approving it. Literally, if you've got the wherewithal to deploy on the platform you can.
It's measured in hundreds of millions of people, and the technology everyone uses is off-the-shelf. It's widely available. That I think is unique in the history of technology: That a marketplace that is that big, is that wide open and has such a low barrier to entry has never happened before. To me it's like, "Holy crap, that's a massive audience." The innovation in the social space is more focused around how data can drive design decisions.
Woodland Heroes concept art
What is it about social games industry specifically that you hope to change with Row Sham Bow?
We hope that we're going to go into this space and learn very rapidly, and use the trail blazed as way of not repeating a lot of the mistakes. With that said, we feel like the games are more--if you talk to people that play a lot of social games, you listen to the way they describe their experience. They're like, 'Yeah, I'm still playing Game X.' They sort of sheepishly admit the fact that they're playing.
You start digging deeper and it's like, 'Well, I can't really tell you why I'm playing.' And they never use the words like, 'I'm having a blast.' It's more like, 'I just can't stand leaving whatever I'm building alone.' It's a compulsive experience. It's more akin to the people you see in a casino late at night still dropping nickels in the slot machine--it's the psychological compulsion that drives people to play these things rather than, 'I'm playing it, because I'm having a blast.' That pure entertainment and pure fun I think is really lacking in the space, and that's the kind of thing we're trying to bring. At the same, we want to learn from the people who came before us.
Do you think that the Facebook platform is capable of merging compulsion and joy of play?
Absolutely. I can't think of anything that would prevent it. I'm a child of the '70s, and I spent a lot of my youth in the arcades. Those games, from a technology standpoint, are so primitive by comparison to any of the games out there today. Yet they got a few simple things right: The games are instantly learnable--you learn how to play and arcade game with one quarter. [They're] instantly accessible and impossible to master. Brilliant game design.
That's a very rewarding experience. Now, arcade games are based on dexterity. The Facebook platform I don't think is going to reward that type of play mechanic, at least I'm not going to do it. The thing that we try to do is that you need to make decisions in the game, and things need to have consequences. At its base terms, I think is the foundation of creating strategy. And that I think creates a compelling experience.
I think that what you do, as a designer, is create an emotional attachment to the experience--you've got some level of commitment to the game. I think that one of the ultimate challenges in the free-to-play space is there is no financial commitment. So, the design has to create the commitment, and one of the ways to do that is you become emotionally invested in the characters or your progress or the purchases you've made. And if you feel like, if the stakes are high enough, that you're going to lose something like that, then you're going to care.
Gallery: Woodland Heroes on Facebook
What are Row Sham Bow's goals as a studio? Do you hope to take the fight to Zynga and EA, so to speak, or carve out a niche for yourself in the space, and what's your battle plan?
Well, you can never out-Zynga Zynga and out-EA EA. That is a losing strategy. No matter how big you are, I think you have the define your way into the world. We certainly feel like there are some under-served parts of the market. I think it has to do with blending more traditional game mechanics with the data-driven design that's prevalent on the platform. What I think the existing players have done so well is ease-of-use, a good first-time user experience and really ramping people up.
The thing I haven't talked about is that the art in our game--I would put it up against any game on the platform. I think it's stellar, and that used to be a huge motivation for people playing. The reason I loved games like Diablo 2 is because you wanted to see the next character, the next level. That sense of discovery through art is a major play motivation, and again most people have glossed over that.
Where did the team come up with the idea for Woodland Heroes?
When we started the company, many of us had experience in the space, and quite a few of us didn't. We wanted to create an environment that would get us up to speed quickly. So literally the first thing we did was release a game. And if you searched for it, you're not going to find it--it was a rock, paper, scissors game. We just wanted to go through the exercise of start-to-finish. And we learned a lot.
The other thing we did was play like literally everything out there in a very guided way. We sort of broke down the competitive titles. We also had a number of concepts that we had come to the company with. I didn't want us to be the kind of company that sat around and talked about ideas, but I wanted us to react to stuff that we could actually play with. So, we prototyped.
We spent about three week wherein anyone in the company could work on any idea and every few days we would get together and review what we had done. We slowly kind of whittled down to two ideas: Woodland Heroes was one of them, but it was called some different at the time. Woodland Heroes initially started as a space conquest type game. Somebody in the studio said, 'If we want this to be a little more broadly accepted, why not animals instead of space?'
The thing that we liked about it was the battle mechanic. We thought it was a great mechanic that we could build from. We started at the center of the game with what was going to be a fun, core loop that players would be involved in, and we built outward from there.
Woodland Heroes characterI haven't seen many social features in the game, so is there anything particularly compelling about them, as opposed to most social games?
Probably not yet, but today is actually our six-month anniversary. I'm just damn proud of the fact that in six months we were able to start a company, and hire a team. We opened our code editors and literally the first line of code was written six months ago. From zero to game launch in six months I think is pretty cool. So, we've got lots of ideas about what we want to do with social features, visitation and interactions with friends.
Again, we think there's more than just 'go visit your buddy's farm.' We want meaningful interactions that take place between friends, and whether that's cooperative or head-to-head, we've got plenty of ideas. We're going to try some stuff and see how the audience reacts. This is the fun part: Now really a key partner at the table is the audience, so we're going to build a game that the audience is reacting to. Ultimately, the audience is going to determine what the game becomes.
Does the game's strategy gameplay and setting set a precedent for Row Sham Bow, or will the studio pursue different genres and themes in the future?
I think one of the things that really is appealing to all of us is just how much creative freedom we have. Being a start-up, being in a space where you can build a game in six months you can just take a lot more creative risks. I don't think we're going to be bound by any set of genres, settings, character styles or art types. So, we're just going to use the same process that we used to create this game.
Woodland Heroes environment
Can you talk about any future plans for Woodland Heroes, or future Row Sham Bow games?
Right now, we're on a weekly cadence of major content updates. We're trying to push new things to the game every Tuesday. So, we're going to be on that cadence for awhile, continuing to add to the game and responding to the major issues that we see. There's some stuff we want to do around the world map where I think that usability is a little on the low side.
Ultimately, it's going to be where the audience is playing, what the data tells us about the audience and how we think we can best engage them. From the get-go, our focus has been on, 'How do we build a game that we've always wanted to play ourselves?' It's not that we've sat for years thinking, 'Man, it would be great to be a raccoon and fight some bears,' but just make a really fun experience. We're gamers ourselves--this isn't just a profession.
Thanks for taking to time to talk with us, Phil.
[Home Page Image Credit: Orlando Business Journal]
Have you tried Woodland Heroes on Facebook yet? What do you think of Row Sham Bow's strategy and goals, and can the company carve out a niche for itself amongst the mob of social game makers?
Only little more than six months before Row Sham Bow released its first game, Woodland Heroes, Holt realized that social games are the future of the industry. We sat down with Holt recently to find out what specifically drove him to co-found his own studio, what he hopes Row Sham Bow will change about these games and where Woodland Heroes goes from here.
On the company website it seems that the team disappointed with the state of social games. If that's the case, what is it about the space that has drawn you in?
I think it's a fascinating space. I was trying to describe this to somebody the other day: You have zero barrier to entry on an open platform-anybody can develop for it. You don't have to become a licensed developer, nobody is reviewing your content--approving or not approving it. Literally, if you've got the wherewithal to deploy on the platform you can.
It's measured in hundreds of millions of people, and the technology everyone uses is off-the-shelf. It's widely available. That I think is unique in the history of technology: That a marketplace that is that big, is that wide open and has such a low barrier to entry has never happened before. To me it's like, "Holy crap, that's a massive audience." The innovation in the social space is more focused around how data can drive design decisions.
Woodland Heroes concept art
What is it about social games industry specifically that you hope to change with Row Sham Bow?
We hope that we're going to go into this space and learn very rapidly, and use the trail blazed as way of not repeating a lot of the mistakes. With that said, we feel like the games are more--if you talk to people that play a lot of social games, you listen to the way they describe their experience. They're like, 'Yeah, I'm still playing Game X.' They sort of sheepishly admit the fact that they're playing.
You start digging deeper and it's like, 'Well, I can't really tell you why I'm playing.' And they never use the words like, 'I'm having a blast.' It's more like, 'I just can't stand leaving whatever I'm building alone.' It's a compulsive experience. It's more akin to the people you see in a casino late at night still dropping nickels in the slot machine--it's the psychological compulsion that drives people to play these things rather than, 'I'm playing it, because I'm having a blast.' That pure entertainment and pure fun I think is really lacking in the space, and that's the kind of thing we're trying to bring. At the same, we want to learn from the people who came before us.
Do you think that the Facebook platform is capable of merging compulsion and joy of play?
Absolutely. I can't think of anything that would prevent it. I'm a child of the '70s, and I spent a lot of my youth in the arcades. Those games, from a technology standpoint, are so primitive by comparison to any of the games out there today. Yet they got a few simple things right: The games are instantly learnable--you learn how to play and arcade game with one quarter. [They're] instantly accessible and impossible to master. Brilliant game design.
That's a very rewarding experience. Now, arcade games are based on dexterity. The Facebook platform I don't think is going to reward that type of play mechanic, at least I'm not going to do it. The thing that we try to do is that you need to make decisions in the game, and things need to have consequences. At its base terms, I think is the foundation of creating strategy. And that I think creates a compelling experience.
I think that what you do, as a designer, is create an emotional attachment to the experience--you've got some level of commitment to the game. I think that one of the ultimate challenges in the free-to-play space is there is no financial commitment. So, the design has to create the commitment, and one of the ways to do that is you become emotionally invested in the characters or your progress or the purchases you've made. And if you feel like, if the stakes are high enough, that you're going to lose something like that, then you're going to care.
Gallery: Woodland Heroes on Facebook
What are Row Sham Bow's goals as a studio? Do you hope to take the fight to Zynga and EA, so to speak, or carve out a niche for yourself in the space, and what's your battle plan?
Well, you can never out-Zynga Zynga and out-EA EA. That is a losing strategy. No matter how big you are, I think you have the define your way into the world. We certainly feel like there are some under-served parts of the market. I think it has to do with blending more traditional game mechanics with the data-driven design that's prevalent on the platform. What I think the existing players have done so well is ease-of-use, a good first-time user experience and really ramping people up.
The thing I haven't talked about is that the art in our game--I would put it up against any game on the platform. I think it's stellar, and that used to be a huge motivation for people playing. The reason I loved games like Diablo 2 is because you wanted to see the next character, the next level. That sense of discovery through art is a major play motivation, and again most people have glossed over that.
Where did the team come up with the idea for Woodland Heroes?
When we started the company, many of us had experience in the space, and quite a few of us didn't. We wanted to create an environment that would get us up to speed quickly. So literally the first thing we did was release a game. And if you searched for it, you're not going to find it--it was a rock, paper, scissors game. We just wanted to go through the exercise of start-to-finish. And we learned a lot.
The other thing we did was play like literally everything out there in a very guided way. We sort of broke down the competitive titles. We also had a number of concepts that we had come to the company with. I didn't want us to be the kind of company that sat around and talked about ideas, but I wanted us to react to stuff that we could actually play with. So, we prototyped.
We spent about three week wherein anyone in the company could work on any idea and every few days we would get together and review what we had done. We slowly kind of whittled down to two ideas: Woodland Heroes was one of them, but it was called some different at the time. Woodland Heroes initially started as a space conquest type game. Somebody in the studio said, 'If we want this to be a little more broadly accepted, why not animals instead of space?'
The thing that we liked about it was the battle mechanic. We thought it was a great mechanic that we could build from. We started at the center of the game with what was going to be a fun, core loop that players would be involved in, and we built outward from there.
Woodland Heroes characterI haven't seen many social features in the game, so is there anything particularly compelling about them, as opposed to most social games?
Probably not yet, but today is actually our six-month anniversary. I'm just damn proud of the fact that in six months we were able to start a company, and hire a team. We opened our code editors and literally the first line of code was written six months ago. From zero to game launch in six months I think is pretty cool. So, we've got lots of ideas about what we want to do with social features, visitation and interactions with friends.
Again, we think there's more than just 'go visit your buddy's farm.' We want meaningful interactions that take place between friends, and whether that's cooperative or head-to-head, we've got plenty of ideas. We're going to try some stuff and see how the audience reacts. This is the fun part: Now really a key partner at the table is the audience, so we're going to build a game that the audience is reacting to. Ultimately, the audience is going to determine what the game becomes.
Does the game's strategy gameplay and setting set a precedent for Row Sham Bow, or will the studio pursue different genres and themes in the future?
I think one of the things that really is appealing to all of us is just how much creative freedom we have. Being a start-up, being in a space where you can build a game in six months you can just take a lot more creative risks. I don't think we're going to be bound by any set of genres, settings, character styles or art types. So, we're just going to use the same process that we used to create this game.
Woodland Heroes environment
Can you talk about any future plans for Woodland Heroes, or future Row Sham Bow games?
Right now, we're on a weekly cadence of major content updates. We're trying to push new things to the game every Tuesday. So, we're going to be on that cadence for awhile, continuing to add to the game and responding to the major issues that we see. There's some stuff we want to do around the world map where I think that usability is a little on the low side.
Ultimately, it's going to be where the audience is playing, what the data tells us about the audience and how we think we can best engage them. From the get-go, our focus has been on, 'How do we build a game that we've always wanted to play ourselves?' It's not that we've sat for years thinking, 'Man, it would be great to be a raccoon and fight some bears,' but just make a really fun experience. We're gamers ourselves--this isn't just a profession.
Thanks for taking to time to talk with us, Phil.
[Home Page Image Credit: Orlando Business Journal]
Have you tried Woodland Heroes on Facebook yet? What do you think of Row Sham Bow's strategy and goals, and can the company carve out a niche for itself amongst the mob of social game makers?
Triple Town, 'Civilization of match-3 games', goes Kindle to Facebook
Triple Town is a new puzzler on Facebook that had its start on the Amazon Kindle last October, where it flourished in popularity. It was created by Spry Fox, a game studio founded by Daniel Cook, the co-creator of Realm of the Mad God, and David J. Edery, a former Worldwide Portfolio Manager for Xbox Live Arcade. After a spiffy makeover, Triple Town made its debut on Facebook and Google+ Games earlier this month, with plans to go mobile. According to AppData, it's now attracted 190,000 monthly players on Facebook.
Hailed by one reviewer as "the Civilization of match-three games," Triple Town is a unique title with familiar aesthetics. Spry Fox originally chose the Kindle as the game's platform, which was explained as "an interesting emerging opportunity" by Edery. But as the game grew popular, Spry Fox wanted to spread the love around. Citing a lack of Bejeweled Blitz-type games on Facebook, Spry Fox decided to push for Triple Town's launch on the social network, as well as make it available in both English and Spanish.
Triple Town merge objects
A basic principle to understanding how to play Triple Town is the following idea: "Grass turns into bushes, bushes into trees, trees into huts, and so on." When you start a round, you're presented with a grid in a woodland theme. There are no time limits and no energy limit. Though you do run out of moves eventually, the creator made sure that you get so many moves that any average player would be able to earn enough virtual currency to buy more moves through play alone.
Triple Crown Double Combos
Like most match-3 games--Bejeweled Blitz and Diamond Dash, for instance--you'll receive random pieces one at a time, but you get to control where they go on your grid. But unlike those traditional games, matching stuff doesn't make it disappear. Instead, matching stuff creates other stuff that's worth a lot more, thereby, netting you more points. The goal of the game is to get as high a score as possible by continuing to merge objects and not running out of space to put things.
Triple Town bears church
The game also throws in some monkey wrenches in the form of Bears and Ninja Bears to make things more challenging. These are pieces that will move around the grid even after you've put them down. Despite having evil, beady and glowing red eyes, the bears are pretty adorable. They'll totter about, roar, and make grumbly ursine noises as you play. On the flip side, other pieces will be there to help you, like the Blue Crystal and Imperial Bot.
Triple Town gameplay
You can see how all these elements can make the game simple, yet surprisingly complex. Every time you move objects on the grid and a match occurs, you've altered the playing field. I thought I'd jump in for a few minutes for one round, but the better of a player you are, the longer you can last, and this game can easily suck up an hour.
Triple Town is truly unlike any game I've ever seen before, for Facebook or otherwise. The closest comparison I can think of is Scott Brodie's Hero Generations, which also involves manipulating an evolving grid-based landscape with a fantasy setting. But Brodie's game is more like an old-fashioned, 8-bit role-playing adventure game. Triple Town also isn't a social game at all, since the only element is a weekly leaderboard, though Spry Fox has plans to expand the game in the future, hinting that it's only a small aspect of a larger Triple Town universe.
Hailed by one reviewer as "the Civilization of match-three games," Triple Town is a unique title with familiar aesthetics. Spry Fox originally chose the Kindle as the game's platform, which was explained as "an interesting emerging opportunity" by Edery. But as the game grew popular, Spry Fox wanted to spread the love around. Citing a lack of Bejeweled Blitz-type games on Facebook, Spry Fox decided to push for Triple Town's launch on the social network, as well as make it available in both English and Spanish.
Triple Town merge objects
A basic principle to understanding how to play Triple Town is the following idea: "Grass turns into bushes, bushes into trees, trees into huts, and so on." When you start a round, you're presented with a grid in a woodland theme. There are no time limits and no energy limit. Though you do run out of moves eventually, the creator made sure that you get so many moves that any average player would be able to earn enough virtual currency to buy more moves through play alone.
Triple Crown Double Combos
Like most match-3 games--Bejeweled Blitz and Diamond Dash, for instance--you'll receive random pieces one at a time, but you get to control where they go on your grid. But unlike those traditional games, matching stuff doesn't make it disappear. Instead, matching stuff creates other stuff that's worth a lot more, thereby, netting you more points. The goal of the game is to get as high a score as possible by continuing to merge objects and not running out of space to put things.
Triple Town bears church
The game also throws in some monkey wrenches in the form of Bears and Ninja Bears to make things more challenging. These are pieces that will move around the grid even after you've put them down. Despite having evil, beady and glowing red eyes, the bears are pretty adorable. They'll totter about, roar, and make grumbly ursine noises as you play. On the flip side, other pieces will be there to help you, like the Blue Crystal and Imperial Bot.
Triple Town gameplay
You can see how all these elements can make the game simple, yet surprisingly complex. Every time you move objects on the grid and a match occurs, you've altered the playing field. I thought I'd jump in for a few minutes for one round, but the better of a player you are, the longer you can last, and this game can easily suck up an hour.
Triple Town is truly unlike any game I've ever seen before, for Facebook or otherwise. The closest comparison I can think of is Scott Brodie's Hero Generations, which also involves manipulating an evolving grid-based landscape with a fantasy setting. But Brodie's game is more like an old-fashioned, 8-bit role-playing adventure game. Triple Town also isn't a social game at all, since the only element is a weekly leaderboard, though Spry Fox has plans to expand the game in the future, hinting that it's only a small aspect of a larger Triple Town universe.
'Zynga is making games for accidental gamers,' studio VP says
Look, nobody gets hooked on FarmVille by accident--there's always that friend. Zynga studio VP Bill Mooney (pictured) recently spoke to students at The University of California at Santa Cruz during its Research Review Day about the company's design philosophy. During his talk, titled "Social Games: An Overview and Exploration," Mooney said, "Zynga is making games for accidental gamers," according to IndustryGamers.
The studio head was implying that Zynga doesn't create video games for hardcore or traditional gamers. Sure, that's stating the obvious, but it's vitally important to remember when looking at Zynga's games. They're not exactly technological marvels, accessible to those who just don't get the complexity of controllers and traversing 3D space. But as players progress, they become well-versed in increasingly complex interfaces, thus becoming, well, gamers.
Regardless, social gamers still aren't the same as traditional game fans, and probably never will be. (At least until another friend introduces them to something new.) And because of these "accidental gamers" have a different understanding of what a game should be, Zynga says it caters to that understanding. "You're not shipping a product, you're running an amusement park," Mooney told the students.
And traditional game companies are trying to keep up with that philosophy, wary that even hardcore gamers might yearn for that experience. (Just look at Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty Elite.) "Don't be like work, don't ask too much, be social, help me connect," Mooney said. That, ironically enough, might be the burgeoning industry's greatest challenge, if you ask the right folks.
[Image Credit: Josh Lowensohn (CNET)]
What do you expect from your social games these days? Have you come to expect this level of "connectedness" from other games or services, too?
The studio head was implying that Zynga doesn't create video games for hardcore or traditional gamers. Sure, that's stating the obvious, but it's vitally important to remember when looking at Zynga's games. They're not exactly technological marvels, accessible to those who just don't get the complexity of controllers and traversing 3D space. But as players progress, they become well-versed in increasingly complex interfaces, thus becoming, well, gamers.
Regardless, social gamers still aren't the same as traditional game fans, and probably never will be. (At least until another friend introduces them to something new.) And because of these "accidental gamers" have a different understanding of what a game should be, Zynga says it caters to that understanding. "You're not shipping a product, you're running an amusement park," Mooney told the students.
And traditional game companies are trying to keep up with that philosophy, wary that even hardcore gamers might yearn for that experience. (Just look at Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty Elite.) "Don't be like work, don't ask too much, be social, help me connect," Mooney said. That, ironically enough, might be the burgeoning industry's greatest challenge, if you ask the right folks.
[Image Credit: Josh Lowensohn (CNET)]
What do you expect from your social games these days? Have you come to expect this level of "connectedness" from other games or services, too?
Zynga studio VP Lou Castle leaves for Las Vegas casino games maker
Hey, look on the bright side, Zynga: At least the guy didn't leave for a competitor. IndustryGamers reports that former Zynga studio VP Lou Castle (pictured) left for Shuffle Master, a Las Vegas-based creator of various casino game products like shufflers. According to IndustryGamers, Castle's move was purely for personal reasons, just months after joining the social game giant.
"The Zynga gig was clearly a 5 day a week, 24/7 requirement," Castle told IndustryGamers. "[I have] twins in senior year of high school and [Shuffle Master's] a local job. Life's too short, so I couldn't resist." Quite the noble move, eh? Well, Castle had already served on Shuffle Master's board of directors for six years before becoming the company's CSO, or chief strategy officer. Castle opted to resign from his position on the board as Chairman of the Audit Committee before taking on the job.
Castle is best known for his contributions in creating the famed strategy game series, Command & Conquer, as co-founder of Westwood Studios. The former Zynga executive most recently joins Treasure Isle GM Jeremy Verba in leaving the company. Verba also entered a completely different industry, becoming the CEO of famous (or infamous?) online dating website eHarmony.
These recent departures from Zynga aren't to other game companies, but away from the games industry entirely. Whether Zynga proves to be the video game swan song for industry veterans has yet to be seen. But the San Francisco-based social games maker presses on, with almost too many games announced recently.
Why do you think folks are leaving Zynga, but for companies in completely different industries? Is this the start of a trend of the social game maker?
"The Zynga gig was clearly a 5 day a week, 24/7 requirement," Castle told IndustryGamers. "[I have] twins in senior year of high school and [Shuffle Master's] a local job. Life's too short, so I couldn't resist." Quite the noble move, eh? Well, Castle had already served on Shuffle Master's board of directors for six years before becoming the company's CSO, or chief strategy officer. Castle opted to resign from his position on the board as Chairman of the Audit Committee before taking on the job.
Castle is best known for his contributions in creating the famed strategy game series, Command & Conquer, as co-founder of Westwood Studios. The former Zynga executive most recently joins Treasure Isle GM Jeremy Verba in leaving the company. Verba also entered a completely different industry, becoming the CEO of famous (or infamous?) online dating website eHarmony.
These recent departures from Zynga aren't to other game companies, but away from the games industry entirely. Whether Zynga proves to be the video game swan song for industry veterans has yet to be seen. But the San Francisco-based social games maker presses on, with almost too many games announced recently.
Why do you think folks are leaving Zynga, but for companies in completely different industries? Is this the start of a trend of the social game maker?
Facebook has more gamers than Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo combined?
Facebook games are big, but they might not be that huge just yet. At the company's London edition of the F8 conference, Facebook director of partnerships Ethan Beard said that it has more gamers than Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft combined, TechRadar reports. We're not exactly certain what measure Beard was referring to, because our math adds up a bit differently.
"Social design inside social gaming has driven fantastic growth," Beard told F8 conference-goers. "It's revolutionising gaming. We have over 200 million social gamers on Facebook every month; that's more Facebook gamers than the Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo combined."
But after looking at the number of units sold by each company, compared to Facebook's reported 200 million monthly players, we're not 100 percent on board with that call. Nintendo has shipped over 87 million Wii units and over 147 million Nintendo DS systems to date, as of June 30. And Microsoft has sold over 57 million Xbox 360 consoles as of Sept. 30, while Sony sold nearly 52 million PlayStation 3 rigs as of July 31.
Social games have no doubt garnered more players in such a short amount of time than any gaming platform to date. But, if you look at the amount of consoles shipped and sold by all three major manufacturers, Beard's claim appears to fall a bit short. That is, unless Beard is talking online gamers. Then Facebook just might have the big three beat, to which Beard said, "These aren't games with friends sprinkled on top; it's more about social interactions with gaming on top."
Do you think there are more Facebook gamers than there are of all three major game consoles combined? Will there be a time when social gaming is bigger than traditional gaming across the board?
"Social design inside social gaming has driven fantastic growth," Beard told F8 conference-goers. "It's revolutionising gaming. We have over 200 million social gamers on Facebook every month; that's more Facebook gamers than the Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo combined."
But after looking at the number of units sold by each company, compared to Facebook's reported 200 million monthly players, we're not 100 percent on board with that call. Nintendo has shipped over 87 million Wii units and over 147 million Nintendo DS systems to date, as of June 30. And Microsoft has sold over 57 million Xbox 360 consoles as of Sept. 30, while Sony sold nearly 52 million PlayStation 3 rigs as of July 31.
Social games have no doubt garnered more players in such a short amount of time than any gaming platform to date. But, if you look at the amount of consoles shipped and sold by all three major manufacturers, Beard's claim appears to fall a bit short. That is, unless Beard is talking online gamers. Then Facebook just might have the big three beat, to which Beard said, "These aren't games with friends sprinkled on top; it's more about social interactions with gaming on top."
Do you think there are more Facebook gamers than there are of all three major game consoles combined? Will there be a time when social gaming is bigger than traditional gaming across the board?
With PlayJam, Flash-based social games could hit your HDTV in 2012
Games like Zynga's Adventure World and Vostu's GolMania sure look nice in full screen, but how about in a really full screen? That's what London, England-based PlayJam looks to make possible. The company just announced an agreement with Adobe, the creator of Flash (the most common technology behind social games), to bring Flash-based social games to Internet-connected HDTVs.
PlayJam, which works with social game developers to bring social games to HDTVs from Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Sony, will bring both 2D and 3D-based Flash games to said flat screens. "Features such as billing, leader-boards, tournaments and integration with third party social networks and TV programming can be seamlessly integrated via PlayJam's SDK," PlayJam said in a release.
The developer tools are said to release in the second quarter of 2012, so between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2012. PlayJam currently has deals with developers like Relentless--the studio behind console quiz game series Buzz--but these tools will be up for grabs from any developer. And the fact that the company just scored another $5 million funding from investors like GameStop Digital Ventures and Adobe Ventures should nudge social game makers along.
With social game makers including Zynga looking to branch off of Facebook and onto new platforms, it's easy to see a day when we could manage our metropolises in CityVille on the old 55-inch plasma. And when you consider the imminent advent of 3D graphics through Flash, thanks to Unreal, (in theory) PlayJam offers an intriguing prospect. Well, at least the potential end of click-and-drag navigation.
Would you play your social games on the big screen in the living room? What Facebook game would you want to play on a 55-inch screen the most?
PlayJam, which works with social game developers to bring social games to HDTVs from Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Sony, will bring both 2D and 3D-based Flash games to said flat screens. "Features such as billing, leader-boards, tournaments and integration with third party social networks and TV programming can be seamlessly integrated via PlayJam's SDK," PlayJam said in a release.
The developer tools are said to release in the second quarter of 2012, so between Jan. 1 and March 31, 2012. PlayJam currently has deals with developers like Relentless--the studio behind console quiz game series Buzz--but these tools will be up for grabs from any developer. And the fact that the company just scored another $5 million funding from investors like GameStop Digital Ventures and Adobe Ventures should nudge social game makers along.
With social game makers including Zynga looking to branch off of Facebook and onto new platforms, it's easy to see a day when we could manage our metropolises in CityVille on the old 55-inch plasma. And when you consider the imminent advent of 3D graphics through Flash, thanks to Unreal, (in theory) PlayJam offers an intriguing prospect. Well, at least the potential end of click-and-drag navigation.
Would you play your social games on the big screen in the living room? What Facebook game would you want to play on a 55-inch screen the most?
Free Team Fortress 2 turns 20 to 30 percent of players into payers
Show me the mon--wait, scratch that. Valve has already seen it, and co-founder Gabe Newell is interested. During a conference in Seattle, the overseer of hit hardcore game franchises like Portal said that Team Fortress 2--its popular multilplayer shooter that recently went free-to-play--has seen incredible results in how many paying customers it has created.
"And then the conversion rate, when we talk to partners who do free-to-play, a lot of people see about a 2 to 3 percent conversion rate of the people in their audience who actually buy something, and then with Team Fortress 2, which looks more like Arkham Asylum in terms of the user profile and the content, we see about a 20 to 30 percent conversion rate of people who are playing those games who buy something," Newell revealed, according to Geekwire.
Newell alluded to the average number of social gamers that pay for in-game items and boosts. Calling it a fairly recent statistic, the Valve CEO said that's far larger than games like, say, FarmVille experience. "We don't understand what's going on," Newell said. "All we know is we're going to keep running these experiments to try and understand better what it is that our customers are telling us."
So, expect more of Valve's game franchises to go free-to-play for its 35 million plus Steam (its popular games distribution service) users. But consider the ripple effect Newell's words might have on other traditional game companies. Other than Valve's games, more hardcore games will undoubtedly go free-to-play. And they'll all have those blasted social games to thank.
[Via Develop]
Will Newell's words inspire even more traditional game companies to go free-to-play? Is this where gaming is headed across the board?
"And then the conversion rate, when we talk to partners who do free-to-play, a lot of people see about a 2 to 3 percent conversion rate of the people in their audience who actually buy something, and then with Team Fortress 2, which looks more like Arkham Asylum in terms of the user profile and the content, we see about a 20 to 30 percent conversion rate of people who are playing those games who buy something," Newell revealed, according to Geekwire.
Newell alluded to the average number of social gamers that pay for in-game items and boosts. Calling it a fairly recent statistic, the Valve CEO said that's far larger than games like, say, FarmVille experience. "We don't understand what's going on," Newell said. "All we know is we're going to keep running these experiments to try and understand better what it is that our customers are telling us."
So, expect more of Valve's game franchises to go free-to-play for its 35 million plus Steam (its popular games distribution service) users. But consider the ripple effect Newell's words might have on other traditional game companies. Other than Valve's games, more hardcore games will undoubtedly go free-to-play. And they'll all have those blasted social games to thank.
[Via Develop]
Will Newell's words inspire even more traditional game companies to go free-to-play? Is this where gaming is headed across the board?
Thứ Sáu, 9 tháng 12, 2011
WeTopia on Facebook: Spreading joy to the globe that you can see
Shortly after the dawn of social games, their capacity for doing good has been tested ever since. The bigger companies simply run charity events that donate a couple hundred thousand dollars to Cause A or B, never really displaying their impact. Smaller companies have built entire games around the concept, some of which more successful than others. New York-based Sojo Studios hopes to have cracked the code to social games for good that both make a difference and are fun to play.
This is WeTopia, the developer's first game designed to get players to do good, see that good in action and enjoy themselves while doing it. While the game touts some impressive artwork, it doesn't look like much more than your standard city-building game in vein of CityVille. Players are tasked with turning a sad excuse for a city of children into a thriving metropolis with homes, shops, playgrounds, schools and more. Of course, players are guided through quests and governed by energy.
WeTopia in action
Again, this is typical social game stuff. But consider the gameplay a shiny set piece to WeTopia's real goal: helping children. Nearly everything players do in the game produces Joy, a resource that can only be used in the Joy Central located in every player's WeTopia. You can (and should) then use this resource to "Give Joy" to any one of three charities through Joy Central. (We're told that Sojo Studios has already partnered with 12 charities vetted through a 20-criteria process.)
When spread to these charities, Joy increases the actual funding those charities receive through what WeTopia earns via a combination of advertising dollars and direct profits from in-game purchases using Facebook Credits. Through this, Sojo Studios will give away 50 percent of all profits (and no less than 20 percent of its revenue) to the charities it partners with. Once a charity or cause receives 100 percent Joy, that effort is fully funded. While that number will be smaller at the start, as this is a new venture for CEO Lincoln Brown, it's unprecedented nevertheless. Of course, friends can send extra Joy to one another.
Gallery: WeTopia on Facebook
"We really studied the psychological triggers for how people relate to giving in a way and in an interface that they can relate to and want to engage with," Brown tells us. "And you don't ever want to overwhelm people with it. It hit me at that point that [players] want the fantasy, to be able to escape and have fun while still doing good. So, the idea for WeTopia hit me, which is we come together to build a better world for children. But it's children of all backgrounds. If you've ever been to Disney World and been on the ride It's a Small World, it's kind of similar to that."
That said, WeTopia does allow players to directly purchase in-game items and boosts to energy, but they'll all soon be attached to real world items that will be given to children. For instance, if you purchase a special tree or a pair of glasses in the game with Facebook Credits, perhaps a school will have a tree planted or a child will receive a new pair of glasses, respectively. The first instance of which is similar to the Tom's Shoes movement: Players can buy a Sole Square decoration for 4 Facebook Credits, and Soles for Souls will provide one pair of shoes to a child in need.
WeTopia Joy Central
WeTopia also addresses the common disconnect between doing good and seeing the good you do take effect. At any point, players can access a world map that will, in time, show the progress of every charity WeTopia is attached to and its progress. Better yet, every charity has its own Facebook fan page that players can interact with as teams on site in locations throughout the US, Haiti and soon Africa update said pages with photos, videos and blogs detailing their progress. WeTopia has even garnered support from the celebrity world: Ellen Degeneres is on board.
"I am so proud to be involved with WeTopia," said DeGeneres in a release. "You know when you hear about an idea and you instantly fall in love with it? That's how I felt when I heard about WeTopia spreading joy to people around the world. It's kinda the same way I felt about Pajama Jeans, only more so."
Based on an early look at the game with Brown as our guide, WeTopia looks like it might just have cracked the code to social games for good that are actually fun to play. But more importantly, this social game increases the connection between the donators and those in need, displaying their impact for all to see and share. Here's to hoping WeTopia succeeds where many have failed on Facebook.
Click here to play WeTopia on Facebook Now >
Have you ever donated to charity through a social game? Do you think WeTopia looks like a sound answer to failed social games for good?
This is WeTopia, the developer's first game designed to get players to do good, see that good in action and enjoy themselves while doing it. While the game touts some impressive artwork, it doesn't look like much more than your standard city-building game in vein of CityVille. Players are tasked with turning a sad excuse for a city of children into a thriving metropolis with homes, shops, playgrounds, schools and more. Of course, players are guided through quests and governed by energy.
WeTopia in action
Again, this is typical social game stuff. But consider the gameplay a shiny set piece to WeTopia's real goal: helping children. Nearly everything players do in the game produces Joy, a resource that can only be used in the Joy Central located in every player's WeTopia. You can (and should) then use this resource to "Give Joy" to any one of three charities through Joy Central. (We're told that Sojo Studios has already partnered with 12 charities vetted through a 20-criteria process.)
When spread to these charities, Joy increases the actual funding those charities receive through what WeTopia earns via a combination of advertising dollars and direct profits from in-game purchases using Facebook Credits. Through this, Sojo Studios will give away 50 percent of all profits (and no less than 20 percent of its revenue) to the charities it partners with. Once a charity or cause receives 100 percent Joy, that effort is fully funded. While that number will be smaller at the start, as this is a new venture for CEO Lincoln Brown, it's unprecedented nevertheless. Of course, friends can send extra Joy to one another.
Gallery: WeTopia on Facebook
"We really studied the psychological triggers for how people relate to giving in a way and in an interface that they can relate to and want to engage with," Brown tells us. "And you don't ever want to overwhelm people with it. It hit me at that point that [players] want the fantasy, to be able to escape and have fun while still doing good. So, the idea for WeTopia hit me, which is we come together to build a better world for children. But it's children of all backgrounds. If you've ever been to Disney World and been on the ride It's a Small World, it's kind of similar to that."
That said, WeTopia does allow players to directly purchase in-game items and boosts to energy, but they'll all soon be attached to real world items that will be given to children. For instance, if you purchase a special tree or a pair of glasses in the game with Facebook Credits, perhaps a school will have a tree planted or a child will receive a new pair of glasses, respectively. The first instance of which is similar to the Tom's Shoes movement: Players can buy a Sole Square decoration for 4 Facebook Credits, and Soles for Souls will provide one pair of shoes to a child in need.
WeTopia Joy Central
WeTopia also addresses the common disconnect between doing good and seeing the good you do take effect. At any point, players can access a world map that will, in time, show the progress of every charity WeTopia is attached to and its progress. Better yet, every charity has its own Facebook fan page that players can interact with as teams on site in locations throughout the US, Haiti and soon Africa update said pages with photos, videos and blogs detailing their progress. WeTopia has even garnered support from the celebrity world: Ellen Degeneres is on board.
"I am so proud to be involved with WeTopia," said DeGeneres in a release. "You know when you hear about an idea and you instantly fall in love with it? That's how I felt when I heard about WeTopia spreading joy to people around the world. It's kinda the same way I felt about Pajama Jeans, only more so."
Based on an early look at the game with Brown as our guide, WeTopia looks like it might just have cracked the code to social games for good that are actually fun to play. But more importantly, this social game increases the connection between the donators and those in need, displaying their impact for all to see and share. Here's to hoping WeTopia succeeds where many have failed on Facebook.
Click here to play WeTopia on Facebook Now >
Have you ever donated to charity through a social game? Do you think WeTopia looks like a sound answer to failed social games for good?
Zynga CEO Mark Pincus doesn't like it when fans play for too long
Right. During an interview with MIT's Technology Review, FarmVille creator Zynga's CEO Mark Pincus said, "I don't like it when I find out that people are averaging long session times in any of our games. All of the newer games that we bring out are trying to reduce those session times. Because one of the biggest reasons people don't play games is they say that they don't have the time."
According to Technology Review, this comment was made before the CityVille maker agreed to a quiet period prior to its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). The butt of that quote may be true, but Pincus's words strike us as odd. They're especially odd considering the not-so-tiny 5 percent of paying players--about 54 million people--is likely the crop of players that spend the most time in games like Adventure World and CastleVille.
Technology Review says that the burst-style gameplay of its games can spur players to eventually pay up, quoting one player in particular that plays up to four hours daily in short 15-minute spurts. "You start spending time playing a game, and you find that you care about it for any host of reasons, if we [design] it well," Pincus told Technology Review, "and at some point you may see that by spending some money you can save yourself a bunch of time [or] get something that has status or changes your friends' view of you."
Sure, these in-game boosts can save players time, but they can also serve to keep players in-game for longer. The more virtual items bought outright, the less energy spent on procuring them, and thus more time spent doing other things in the game. This writer is willing to bet that the average whale, a casino term used to describe social gamers that spend large amounts of money, spends way more time than the average player that throws up maybe a few bucks a week. And we're sure Zynga likes them just teeny, tiny bit more.
Would you consider yourself a "whale" or know someone that might be a whale? How much time do you or they spend playing Facebook games daily
According to Technology Review, this comment was made before the CityVille maker agreed to a quiet period prior to its upcoming initial public offering (IPO). The butt of that quote may be true, but Pincus's words strike us as odd. They're especially odd considering the not-so-tiny 5 percent of paying players--about 54 million people--is likely the crop of players that spend the most time in games like Adventure World and CastleVille.
Technology Review says that the burst-style gameplay of its games can spur players to eventually pay up, quoting one player in particular that plays up to four hours daily in short 15-minute spurts. "You start spending time playing a game, and you find that you care about it for any host of reasons, if we [design] it well," Pincus told Technology Review, "and at some point you may see that by spending some money you can save yourself a bunch of time [or] get something that has status or changes your friends' view of you."
Sure, these in-game boosts can save players time, but they can also serve to keep players in-game for longer. The more virtual items bought outright, the less energy spent on procuring them, and thus more time spent doing other things in the game. This writer is willing to bet that the average whale, a casino term used to describe social gamers that spend large amounts of money, spends way more time than the average player that throws up maybe a few bucks a week. And we're sure Zynga likes them just teeny, tiny bit more.
Would you consider yourself a "whale" or know someone that might be a whale? How much time do you or they spend playing Facebook games daily
Thứ Tư, 26 tháng 10, 2011
Asura's Wrath maker says mobile social games are 'all rubbish'
However, don't think that Matsuyama's ire for social games is uninformed--the guy has reached Level 250 in DeNA's Kaito Royale for smartphones. "They're not fun at all. But, I have to play it," Matsuyama told Gamasutra. "The reality is that it has over 3 million users, and it's true that they're making money. I need to be aware of those businesses, so of course I play them. GREE's Dragon Collection. I've played that, too. [Matsuyama pulls out two smartphones] This is my iPhone, and this is my Android phone, and I play these games on both of these phones -- but they're all rubbish
Thứ Sáu, 30 tháng 9, 2011
Kabam study suggests hardcore gamers are flocking to Facebook
hardcore gamers
Have the tables finally turned? Not quite just yet, but slowly and surely they are, a study released by Kabam suggests. The Redwood City-Calif.-based creator of Facebook games like Dragons of Atlantis and Edgeworld recently commissioned a survey of 1,412 "hardcore" gamers to find just how their behavior has changed since the dawn of Facebook games.
Dubbed the "Social Gamer Study," Kabam found that the demographics of the average social game fan are slowly changing--more young to middle-aged men are playing Facebook games. And a whopping 82 percent of them come from the console game space, which is terribly important. This is because 27 percent of those surveyed report playing console games less often.
And perhaps more importantly to those looking to make cash from hardcore games, those surveyed reported spending 50 percent less on console games. Of course, Kabam threw in that players of its games are even more dedicated to Facebook games than console games: 55 percent reported playing console games less and spending 65 percent on the games.
Social Gamer Study findings
According to the study conducted by Information Solutions Group, 72 percent of these hardcore social gamers are playing two or more games at once, and 47 percent are playing three or more. If you've ever played a game like Kingdoms of Camelot or Kixeye's Backyard Monsters, you know that this is quite a lot to keep up with--much more so than, say, FarmVille.
Not to mention that this growing sub culture of Facebook gamers plays far longer game sessions than the 30 minutes or so your average Bejeweled Blitz player sits down for on lunch break. A massive 68 percent reported playing social strategy games for three hours or longer a day, and 30 percent said they play for longer than an hour per session.
Of course, it's important to keep in mind who commissioned this study: a developer and publisher of hardcore Facebook games. Vested interests aside, it's undeniable that a new breed of Facebook game fan is emerging, and fast. And you have to assume, with advances like download-free 3D gaming on the horizon, these numbers will only grow. Check out the study in full here.
Are you part of this growing portion of Facebook gamers? Do you think social game creators like Zynga, EA and wooga have anything to worry about? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Have the tables finally turned? Not quite just yet, but slowly and surely they are, a study released by Kabam suggests. The Redwood City-Calif.-based creator of Facebook games like Dragons of Atlantis and Edgeworld recently commissioned a survey of 1,412 "hardcore" gamers to find just how their behavior has changed since the dawn of Facebook games.
Dubbed the "Social Gamer Study," Kabam found that the demographics of the average social game fan are slowly changing--more young to middle-aged men are playing Facebook games. And a whopping 82 percent of them come from the console game space, which is terribly important. This is because 27 percent of those surveyed report playing console games less often.
And perhaps more importantly to those looking to make cash from hardcore games, those surveyed reported spending 50 percent less on console games. Of course, Kabam threw in that players of its games are even more dedicated to Facebook games than console games: 55 percent reported playing console games less and spending 65 percent on the games.
Social Gamer Study findings
According to the study conducted by Information Solutions Group, 72 percent of these hardcore social gamers are playing two or more games at once, and 47 percent are playing three or more. If you've ever played a game like Kingdoms of Camelot or Kixeye's Backyard Monsters, you know that this is quite a lot to keep up with--much more so than, say, FarmVille.
Not to mention that this growing sub culture of Facebook gamers plays far longer game sessions than the 30 minutes or so your average Bejeweled Blitz player sits down for on lunch break. A massive 68 percent reported playing social strategy games for three hours or longer a day, and 30 percent said they play for longer than an hour per session.
Of course, it's important to keep in mind who commissioned this study: a developer and publisher of hardcore Facebook games. Vested interests aside, it's undeniable that a new breed of Facebook game fan is emerging, and fast. And you have to assume, with advances like download-free 3D gaming on the horizon, these numbers will only grow. Check out the study in full here.
Are you part of this growing portion of Facebook gamers? Do you think social game creators like Zynga, EA and wooga have anything to worry about? Sound off in the comments. 1 Comment
Đăng ký:
Bài đăng (Atom)