Five Things Social Games Aren’t
1) Social Games aren’t old wine in new bottles
When rolling out a new platform, website, or service your first instinct to create some easy content is to go back and mine the history of games for something that can be exploited for a quick clone or sequel. But socializing games is about more than just slapping a new coat of pixel paint onto Bejeweled. You can add social features to classic games, but to succeed with a savvy audience those elements will need to wound directly into the game’s DNA.
2) Social Games aren’t only for a specific audience
In a world where you have crossover success stories like World of Warcraft, Habbo Hotel, Pogo, and Maple Story it’s pretty clear that you have to decide to carve out a single demographic, psychographic, or cohort, and decide that’s the place where Social Games are going to be big. Something as innately viral as social gaming is all about breaking down the walls that have kept players apart for far too long.
3) Social Games aren’t the new Casual Games
The rise of Casual Games over the last half decade has been about defining a new model of game designed to appeal and broaden a specific group of players. And while adding social elements to a game can increase the potential pool of players, that doesn’t mean it’s a label that defines a specific "genre". Social gaming is medium, not a message. And anything that dives into the social pool is going to end up getting wet.
4) Social Games aren’t all about Gameplay
It used to be that for game to be a good game it had to have good gameplay. Social gaming breaks that old rules and makes up a new one: For a social game to be good it has to be a good experience.
5) Social Games aren’t always part of a Social Platform
In case you hadn’t noticed it, one of the most cutting edge social titles to come out this year didn’t appear on MySpace or Facebook. It was called "Left 4 Dead" and it appeared on the Xbox. All types of games are going to get more social in the months and years ahead, and you may end up learning just as much from a big budget title as the next X-Wars game.
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