Archive for January, 2009
Giving Players a Chance to Socialize
Raph Koster is a designer who’s blog posts are always worth reading. His thoughts on the future of single-player were a big inspiration on my decision to focus on Social Games.
He’s just dropped a big post on ways to make virtual spaces more social, and there’s plenty of good stuff in there to mull over, [...]
Game Retail is becoming a Social Platform
Hardcore PC gaming may be dead at retail, but the potential of the market is opening up online as more and more of hardcore PC games become available as direct digital downloads. And while they may be a specialized group the players who show up on to buy a hardcore PC game have some distinct [...]
Ten Reasons that Social Games may eat the Casual market
With relatively low production costs and a business model of “Free to try and cheap to buy”, there seemed to be no way that Casual Games couldn’t succeed.
But Casual Games haven’t become the all-encompassing juggernaut that some people were predicted they would be a few years ago. Meanwhile, Social Games are quickly expanding into exactly the same market.
How Social Games Saved the PC Gaming Market
Although there have been good times and bad times, the PC gaming market has always been a bit of a lurching monster. Since the early eighties, when some of the best games came in Ziploc bags with photocopied cover sheets, up through today where some of the most popular titles are fee social games that [...]
Video Game Violence Has a Purpose
There’s a recent study that that points out that it isn’t the violence in video games that motivate players to continue playing. That’s something that casual games have already proven pretty effectively. But there’s an inherent attitude of disdain and superiority in the tone of the report that seems to dismisses violence without recognizing that [...]
You’re Still Inside a Web Browser
One major aspect of Social Platform Games that people tend to ignore is that they are all still played in a web browser.
Successful Social Games are all about Status
Traditional games are primarily focused on the experience of play. It’s the old “gameplay is everything” model, and while that’s still important, the equation has changed a bit. What a social player is most concerned about is status.
Social Platform Games aren’t (necessarily) Social Games
I love PopCap. Not only are their games built around perfect nuggets of gameplay, but they understand what they’re making so well that even the strange and quirky art for Peggle manages to become an integral part of how game transcends its simple, pachinko-style dynamic.
And Bejeweled Blitz, PopCap’s first official Facebook offering is no exception. [...]
Social Platform Games Enter Into the "Frog Kissing Contest" Phase
While there’s currently a lot of excitement based on the massive amounts of investment that poured into the Social Platform Games market in the last half of 2008, it’s fairly clear that the bloom is off the rose in terms of the rocketing growth that initially spurred the industry.
Unfortunately for any young industry, the really [...]
Social Games make actual Money.
While Social Games are in some ways a subset of the wider world of Social Media it’s important to remember that there is a fundamental difference between the two that goes beyond just a "form follows function" argument.
Social Media is a means to an end while Social Games are an end to themselves.
That’s not to [...]