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Yeah Zynga really hasn't stopped ever since they hit the scene and while none of their titles really tickle my fancy it's kind of hard to argue with 81 million users.
While some of Zynga's business practises and how they use customer information has been criticised, you can't argue with their massive success in social gaming.
With EA and other developers like PlayFirst making a big push into social gaming, this is going to be a definitive year for Facebook as a vector for playing games.
It will be interesting to see how it all turns out. I'm especially excited to see how Richard Garriot's social gaming platform evolves.
With EA and other developers like PlayFirst making a big push into social gaming, this is going to be a definitive year for Facebook as a vector for playing games.
It will be interesting to see how it all turns out. I'm especially excited to see how Richard Garriot's social gaming platform evolves.
I don't mind paying a bit for a game that I play regularly. I'll admit that I've bought Godfather points for "Mafia Wars". They're making the game available; I play it daily; why shouldn't I pay $5 here and there? They're not making these games out of the kindness of their hearts.
"Farmville", however ... I won't go anywhere near that game if it's anything like "Yoville". Yeesh.
"Farmville", however ... I won't go anywhere near that game if it's anything like "Yoville". Yeesh.
FarmVille is the most utterly pointless and boring waste of time that I've ever seen. My roommate is completely addicted to it, so I gave the game a shot on Facebook at her behest.
I got rid of the application about ten minutes after starting. I have no idea why people are so into it. :/
I'm a big fan of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, but those games actually made me want to keep playing, exploring, and collecting items because the world that you were in was so charming, it felt worthwhile to put in the time needed to make more money and advance in it. If you remove the characters, interactions, and general charm of those game, keeping only the micromanaging, the whole experience gets stale really, really fast.
I got rid of the application about ten minutes after starting. I have no idea why people are so into it. :/
I'm a big fan of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, but those games actually made me want to keep playing, exploring, and collecting items because the world that you were in was so charming, it felt worthwhile to put in the time needed to make more money and advance in it. If you remove the characters, interactions, and general charm of those game, keeping only the micromanaging, the whole experience gets stale really, really fast.
@SWE3tMadness -- Some of the popularity of these games probably stems from a lack of awareness about the alternatives. A lot of people who play Farmville don't know Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing even exist.
In addition, there aren't really a ton of competitive alternatives on Facebook, yet. Once some of the larger publishers get involved in putting out social games on Facebook, you'll probably see other kinds of games becoming successful. Since Farmville and Mafia Wars are the only popular kids on the Facebook block (so to speak), they're the ones that everybody knows. My guess is that is going to change pretty quickly.
In addition, there aren't really a ton of competitive alternatives on Facebook, yet. Once some of the larger publishers get involved in putting out social games on Facebook, you'll probably see other kinds of games becoming successful. Since Farmville and Mafia Wars are the only popular kids on the Facebook block (so to speak), they're the ones that everybody knows. My guess is that is going to change pretty quickly.
Thats the apple style.
1. Search something thats allready available
2. Turn your wonder machine on and pretend it nerver existed.
3. ????? (Make it colored and unnerdy for the tech unaware masses, that never thought about it because such things are only for pimpled nerds)
4. PROFIT
1. Search something thats allready available
2. Turn your wonder machine on and pretend it nerver existed.
3. ????? (Make it colored and unnerdy for the tech unaware masses, that never thought about it because such things are only for pimpled nerds)
4. PROFIT
I think a major selling point is that it's easy to get into. It's simple and has a very slow creep for complexity (only getting slightly more complex as the game goes on), so you still feel like you're learning something and becoming more 'successful' because you learned.
There's nothing you need to buy, no set of controls you need to learn, it's one button and it's free. It lets you visit friends so you sort of have an extension to your friends (but not really). And if you have some free time, why not? Problem is that you become consumed by it. You are penalized if you don't play it 24/7 and forget to check things before they go bad and have to constantly make sure things are working. They do it slow and build it up on you and you learn that, to be effective at it, you need to be on it all day.
Then comes the money for credits. "Oh, for $5, I save myself 5 days of work, look how many credits I get!" Bullshit like that is where these cheap microtransactions sell the players. These small amounts for a big bonus in game (which is stupid because there is no end to it, so it's like getting a speed boost in a race with no finish line) and peer pressure to an extent, where your rank and others are displayed in front of you. Oh you're doing so terrible, look at Joe and Sarah. They're so far ahead of you.
Fuck Farmville.
There's nothing you need to buy, no set of controls you need to learn, it's one button and it's free. It lets you visit friends so you sort of have an extension to your friends (but not really). And if you have some free time, why not? Problem is that you become consumed by it. You are penalized if you don't play it 24/7 and forget to check things before they go bad and have to constantly make sure things are working. They do it slow and build it up on you and you learn that, to be effective at it, you need to be on it all day.
Then comes the money for credits. "Oh, for $5, I save myself 5 days of work, look how many credits I get!" Bullshit like that is where these cheap microtransactions sell the players. These small amounts for a big bonus in game (which is stupid because there is no end to it, so it's like getting a speed boost in a race with no finish line) and peer pressure to an extent, where your rank and others are displayed in front of you. Oh you're doing so terrible, look at Joe and Sarah. They're so far ahead of you.
Fuck Farmville.
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