Supreme Court justices appear to favor video game industry in violence case [Venture Beat]
Casual Games Start-Up OMGPOP Raising a Serious Funding Round [AllThingsD]
Inside Virtual Goods: The Future of Social Gaming 2011 [Inside Social]
Amazon Now Allows You To Send Gift Cards To Friends On Facebook [TechCrunch]
Pure Bang Games: Baltimore startup targets Facebook gaming [Baltimore Sun]
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 Năm, 2 tháng 2, 2012
Thứ Ba, 10 tháng 1, 2012
Meteor Games wants to be the Nintendo of Facebook games, not just "for moms"
While Meteor Games may be a name that's foreign to most Facebook gamers, with just 1.1 million monthly active users across their entire catalog of Facebook games, that doesn't mean their games aren't successful. Just ask CEO Zac Brandenburg. According to Forbes, Meteor finds success in their Facebook games (including their most popular - Island Paradise) because they're more focused on the long-term when designing a game, rather than on instant success.
"The feature set is much more than a simple compulsion loop," says Brandenberg, "You need to have different things for players to do, centered around what the plot is going to be." In an upcoming branded game, released with Viacom, we'll apparently see that ideology in full effect. Meteor is currently working on three games that are "close to launch," but Brandenburg didn't reveal specific details about any of them, other than the fact that they may be "fantasy-themed."
We do know the company's end goal, however: to focus on the middle section of gamers. "We don't think like Kabam with hard core games and we are also not just casual games for moms. There is a middle ground - like with Nintendo. There's a huge audience in the middle. We're going to draw from the hard core elements and the super casual side." Brandenburg says that games don't need massive audiences to be successful, so long as you've given players a high quality experience that engages them over the long term. Of course, high-paying users don't hurt either.
While Brandenburg refrained from using the term "whales," Meteor apparently does have them, and in droves. In Meteor's case, whales are gamers that spend over $1,000 a year on their games, while a handful of Super Whales in each game spend over $10,000 - that's a lot of premium currency!
Even with all of that being said, Brandenburg made it clear that the company's focus isn't so much on a game's social aspects, but on making an individual user want to come back to the experience just to play the game. "You only play if you actually want to not because your friends want you to. Then you have a smaller audience but the audience may spend 50 times what another gamer (on a different game) spends. You can have a lot of success there."
When Meteor Games announces more details about their three upcoming titles (including the branded game with Viacom), we'll make sure to let you know.
"The feature set is much more than a simple compulsion loop," says Brandenberg, "You need to have different things for players to do, centered around what the plot is going to be." In an upcoming branded game, released with Viacom, we'll apparently see that ideology in full effect. Meteor is currently working on three games that are "close to launch," but Brandenburg didn't reveal specific details about any of them, other than the fact that they may be "fantasy-themed."
We do know the company's end goal, however: to focus on the middle section of gamers. "We don't think like Kabam with hard core games and we are also not just casual games for moms. There is a middle ground - like with Nintendo. There's a huge audience in the middle. We're going to draw from the hard core elements and the super casual side." Brandenburg says that games don't need massive audiences to be successful, so long as you've given players a high quality experience that engages them over the long term. Of course, high-paying users don't hurt either.
While Brandenburg refrained from using the term "whales," Meteor apparently does have them, and in droves. In Meteor's case, whales are gamers that spend over $1,000 a year on their games, while a handful of Super Whales in each game spend over $10,000 - that's a lot of premium currency!
Even with all of that being said, Brandenburg made it clear that the company's focus isn't so much on a game's social aspects, but on making an individual user want to come back to the experience just to play the game. "You only play if you actually want to not because your friends want you to. Then you have a smaller audience but the audience may spend 50 times what another gamer (on a different game) spends. You can have a lot of success there."
When Meteor Games announces more details about their three upcoming titles (including the branded game with Viacom), we'll make sure to let you know.
Thứ Bảy, 7 tháng 1, 2012
UFC Undisputed Fight Nation on Facebook: A loss by decision
The number one thing that makes or breaks a sports-based Facebook game is its faithfulness to the sport. And the recently released UFC Undisputed Fight Nation by THQ teeters on that very line. There are some parts of UFC that make for an engaging, original experience. However, it can't be helped to notice how this game is just like all the rest after seeing the big picture.
So, does UFC Undisputed Fight Nation survive the Octagon? Find out after the break.
Kickboxing
Logging into the game marks one of its more original concepts. You must choose between two camps, or a fighting styles, kick boxing and wrestling. Each school has its own advantages that actually effect the outcome of fights. Wrestlers focus on pinning opponents to the ground while kick boxers rely on hard-hitting strikes. All in all, it makes for a good balance when in the Octagon.
After choosing from one of several ridiculous nicknames like Pseudonym, Big Papi and The Saint, you'll be guided to the Training Screen by Dana White, president of the UFC. This is where you will train moves to use in fights much like Jobs in Mafia Wars. However, these directly effect your performance in fights. Training, of course, consumes Energy that refills over time or can be refilled using paid currency, or UFC Points (sound familiar?). There are four types of moves: Strike, Submission, Transition and Buff. These moves can be mastered for increased effect and extra bonuses like more damage or Stamina recovery. Not to mention that training contributes to your experience gain too.
But so do fights, the core of UFC. Go in untrained, and the game's randomly chosen opponents-which happen to be real players--will mop the floor with you. Enter the Octagon prepared and you might have a chance. While you are fighting real players, it all happens asynchronously. Much similar to how you wouldn't know if a player iced you in Mafia Wars until your next log-in, you would not be aware of being KO'ed by an opponent until doing the same in UFC. And while the preparation for fights and the camp distinctions are certainly unique, the excitement stops there.
Fights are turn-based events in which each player is given five moves per round, which are chosen at random from a deck of move cards. The cards will fling themselves toward the opponents deck in a flourish of red and white depending on whether the attack landed. This automated process goes on until either a player is knocked out or players run out of Stamina. Each move drawn consumes a certain amount of the stat and when it's all gone, players get "gassed," meaning they're all out of oomph for attacks. From here, the player with the most health wins. In fact, this whole process can be skipped just to see the results immediately. It's as if THQ knew that players would get bored to tears of it.
Training
The standard Facebook game tropes are all present. There is a store in which players can buy performance boosts for either UFC Points or standard credits. You can even fight your friends every once in a while, but what's to stop you from just skipping straight to the results? There is also a Career section that provides players with goals to achieve--a feature similar to Goals in FarmVille. Finally, players can fight the pros after reaching certain landmarks in the game. Beating them down provides huge amounts of experience points and other rewards, but we bet you'll just skip to results in those fights too.
UFC for Facebook gives players purpose to otherwise mundane tasks like training and interesting decisions to make like fighting camps and which moves to improve first. However, the fight portion of the game, like so many sports or action-based social games, fails to come off as even close as exciting to the source material. Even being able to choose which moves to employ during fights would have been enough for an engaging, skill-driven fight system. But what we get is a Facebook game backed by an enormous brand that, sadly, isn't terribly different than the rest.
So, does UFC Undisputed Fight Nation survive the Octagon? Find out after the break.
Kickboxing
Logging into the game marks one of its more original concepts. You must choose between two camps, or a fighting styles, kick boxing and wrestling. Each school has its own advantages that actually effect the outcome of fights. Wrestlers focus on pinning opponents to the ground while kick boxers rely on hard-hitting strikes. All in all, it makes for a good balance when in the Octagon.
After choosing from one of several ridiculous nicknames like Pseudonym, Big Papi and The Saint, you'll be guided to the Training Screen by Dana White, president of the UFC. This is where you will train moves to use in fights much like Jobs in Mafia Wars. However, these directly effect your performance in fights. Training, of course, consumes Energy that refills over time or can be refilled using paid currency, or UFC Points (sound familiar?). There are four types of moves: Strike, Submission, Transition and Buff. These moves can be mastered for increased effect and extra bonuses like more damage or Stamina recovery. Not to mention that training contributes to your experience gain too.
But so do fights, the core of UFC. Go in untrained, and the game's randomly chosen opponents-which happen to be real players--will mop the floor with you. Enter the Octagon prepared and you might have a chance. While you are fighting real players, it all happens asynchronously. Much similar to how you wouldn't know if a player iced you in Mafia Wars until your next log-in, you would not be aware of being KO'ed by an opponent until doing the same in UFC. And while the preparation for fights and the camp distinctions are certainly unique, the excitement stops there.
Fights are turn-based events in which each player is given five moves per round, which are chosen at random from a deck of move cards. The cards will fling themselves toward the opponents deck in a flourish of red and white depending on whether the attack landed. This automated process goes on until either a player is knocked out or players run out of Stamina. Each move drawn consumes a certain amount of the stat and when it's all gone, players get "gassed," meaning they're all out of oomph for attacks. From here, the player with the most health wins. In fact, this whole process can be skipped just to see the results immediately. It's as if THQ knew that players would get bored to tears of it.
Training
The standard Facebook game tropes are all present. There is a store in which players can buy performance boosts for either UFC Points or standard credits. You can even fight your friends every once in a while, but what's to stop you from just skipping straight to the results? There is also a Career section that provides players with goals to achieve--a feature similar to Goals in FarmVille. Finally, players can fight the pros after reaching certain landmarks in the game. Beating them down provides huge amounts of experience points and other rewards, but we bet you'll just skip to results in those fights too.
UFC for Facebook gives players purpose to otherwise mundane tasks like training and interesting decisions to make like fighting camps and which moves to improve first. However, the fight portion of the game, like so many sports or action-based social games, fails to come off as even close as exciting to the source material. Even being able to choose which moves to employ during fights would have been enough for an engaging, skill-driven fight system. But what we get is a Facebook game backed by an enormous brand that, sadly, isn't terribly different than the rest.
Thứ Sáu, 30 tháng 12, 2011
BattleBall on Facebook: Explosive graphics, but where's the game?
"Boy, that sure is a nice tech demo," I thought to myself as I watched lithe street ballers destroy backboards with shattering force in BattleBall's preliminary matches. Standing as one of the few basketball games on Facebook, BattleBall was developed by Schell Games and backed by Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks. While the game makes impressive use of the Unity 3D graphics engine, BattleBall sadly does nothing to explore the power of three dimensions. In fact, this game could have easily been presented in Flash-based 2D and absolutely nothing would have been different. Well, the explosions would be less prominent.
But should that be the basis for the quality of a game? Absolutely not. There are plenty of games on Facebook that make effective use of the Unity engine like Milmo and EA Sports PGA Golf. They do this by allowing players to navigate the space and interact with objects in that space. BattleBall does none of that, yet presents its scenarios in flashy 3D graphics and animation.
BattleBall in action
Now, that isn't to say that it looks bad. In fact, this game looks amazing on Facebook. The amount of depth on the court and the details of its surroundings is certainly an accomplishment. (Especially considering its on a platform not even meant for gaming.) But as soon as you begin a shoot-out with an opponent, it's completely out of your hands. Your customized avatar, based on the equipment you provide him through the in-game store, will simply go through the motions. Whether or not your player thwarts your opponents' attempts or sneaks past the opposition to make a reverse dunk--and deplete its health bar--is entirely up to his level and whatever special equipment he has on.
I use the words "your player" because, in reality, you're not an active participant in the explosive dunk mongering. Even correctly timing certain abilities like "Dunk" or "Swat" during the sequences would have introduced some engaging gameplay. It's strikingly odd that the game includes achievements considering none of them would be the result of your skill. Rather, the achievements are more like milestones or tallies of inevitable happenings. As you increase in level, you will gain access to new environments, which are surely a treat to look at, but don't touch!
BattleBall dunk
Well, you can't anyway, so don't worry about it. Aside from the ability to play with your friends asynchronously every few hours and the impressive graphics, BattleBall simply doesn't bring anything new to the table where it counts most in games that revolve around the thrill of competition: gameplay. With such slick animation, BattleBall could be the ultimate basketball game on Facebook, if it introduced deeper interactivity. If you want to help ensure that happens by sticking around, give BattleBall a shot--it has potential in the truckloads.
Click here to play BattleBall on Facebook Now>
Have you tried BattleBall yet on Facebook? What type of gameplay do you want from a sports game on Facebook?
But should that be the basis for the quality of a game? Absolutely not. There are plenty of games on Facebook that make effective use of the Unity engine like Milmo and EA Sports PGA Golf. They do this by allowing players to navigate the space and interact with objects in that space. BattleBall does none of that, yet presents its scenarios in flashy 3D graphics and animation.
BattleBall in action
Now, that isn't to say that it looks bad. In fact, this game looks amazing on Facebook. The amount of depth on the court and the details of its surroundings is certainly an accomplishment. (Especially considering its on a platform not even meant for gaming.) But as soon as you begin a shoot-out with an opponent, it's completely out of your hands. Your customized avatar, based on the equipment you provide him through the in-game store, will simply go through the motions. Whether or not your player thwarts your opponents' attempts or sneaks past the opposition to make a reverse dunk--and deplete its health bar--is entirely up to his level and whatever special equipment he has on.
I use the words "your player" because, in reality, you're not an active participant in the explosive dunk mongering. Even correctly timing certain abilities like "Dunk" or "Swat" during the sequences would have introduced some engaging gameplay. It's strikingly odd that the game includes achievements considering none of them would be the result of your skill. Rather, the achievements are more like milestones or tallies of inevitable happenings. As you increase in level, you will gain access to new environments, which are surely a treat to look at, but don't touch!
BattleBall dunk
Well, you can't anyway, so don't worry about it. Aside from the ability to play with your friends asynchronously every few hours and the impressive graphics, BattleBall simply doesn't bring anything new to the table where it counts most in games that revolve around the thrill of competition: gameplay. With such slick animation, BattleBall could be the ultimate basketball game on Facebook, if it introduced deeper interactivity. If you want to help ensure that happens by sticking around, give BattleBall a shot--it has potential in the truckloads.
Click here to play BattleBall on Facebook Now>
Have you tried BattleBall yet on Facebook? What type of gameplay do you want from a sports game on Facebook?
Thứ Tư, 14 tháng 12, 2011
Survey: Nearly 20 percent of social game fans are brand new gamers
And you claim to "dabble" in FarmVille and the like--we're onto you. A new survey by Bejeweled Blitz maker PopCap and Information Solutions Group found that 68 percent of social gamers play said games at least once daily. That amounts to 81 million players, while a still-impressive 49 million (41 percent) report playing social games multiple times daily.
The survey was completed by 1,201 people (801 in the U.S. and 400 in the UK) who reported playing social games more than 15 minutes a week. All in all, according to this survey, social games are on the rise, but you already knew that. What's important to note is that 17 percent of all social gamers have never played a video game before. (According to the survey, they're mostly 50 plus women.) While much smaller than you might have imagined, it's without a doubt that the genre has literally created a new breed of gamer.
As these new social gamers continue to invest themselves in their favorite Facebook games more traditional companies will undoubtedly attempt to garner their attention. Of course, these folks will have different expectations of what a video game actually is, and therefore change how games are made ... perhaps across the board.
And, according to the survey, more folks between 18 and 29 years old are playing social games, who have more likely than not played video games before. When new demographics crop up in any industry, they're almost immediately targeted. The social games movement will be no different, and color us intrigued to see the results. Click here to see the full survey.
Do you consider yourself a new breed of gamer, or one that's simply taken an interest to social games? How do you think social games will continue to change video games across the board?
The survey was completed by 1,201 people (801 in the U.S. and 400 in the UK) who reported playing social games more than 15 minutes a week. All in all, according to this survey, social games are on the rise, but you already knew that. What's important to note is that 17 percent of all social gamers have never played a video game before. (According to the survey, they're mostly 50 plus women.) While much smaller than you might have imagined, it's without a doubt that the genre has literally created a new breed of gamer.
As these new social gamers continue to invest themselves in their favorite Facebook games more traditional companies will undoubtedly attempt to garner their attention. Of course, these folks will have different expectations of what a video game actually is, and therefore change how games are made ... perhaps across the board.
And, according to the survey, more folks between 18 and 29 years old are playing social games, who have more likely than not played video games before. When new demographics crop up in any industry, they're almost immediately targeted. The social games movement will be no different, and color us intrigued to see the results. Click here to see the full survey.
Do you consider yourself a new breed of gamer, or one that's simply taken an interest to social games? How do you think social games will continue to change video games across the board?
You'll only find Ford's 2013 Escape through a sweet triple-word score
The next thing we think of when thinking SUVs certainly isn't word games, but we'll bite. Zynga has announced that Ford Motor Company will reveal its 2013 Ford Escape through Words With Friends starting tomorrow, Nov. 15, on Facebook. Social wordsmiths in the U.S. will get to play a larger version of the game along with actress Jenny McCarthy live.
Again, not seeing the connection, but we'll humor it. From what's gathered in the announcement, Jenny will play Words With Friends on a giant game board in Los Angeles tomorrow from 8 to 9 p.m. EST at the Hollywood & Highland Center. Players from around the country can tune into the live game as an online broadcast through the Ford Escape Facebook page and Ford's Livestream page, and submit their own word choices to Jenny.
"We're always looking for fun ways to celebrate and give back to our players," Zynga With Friends GM Paul Bettner said in a release. "Creating a huge, live game, and pitting our players against Jenny on a single day is going to be a lot of fun, and we're excited Ford has helped put our game up in lights."
The whole promotion is reminiscent of Toyota's recent Social Network Racer, which was designed to unveil the company's new concept car. It's still unclear how exactly playing Words With Friends will ultimately reveal the brand new compact SUV in just an hour (not to mention what Jenny McCarthy has to do with it), but you'll just have to play along tomorrow to find out.
Do you plan on tuning in to the see the brand new 2013 Ford Escape through a life-sized Words With Friends session? What do you think of Zynga and Ford's method of revealing the car?
Again, not seeing the connection, but we'll humor it. From what's gathered in the announcement, Jenny will play Words With Friends on a giant game board in Los Angeles tomorrow from 8 to 9 p.m. EST at the Hollywood & Highland Center. Players from around the country can tune into the live game as an online broadcast through the Ford Escape Facebook page and Ford's Livestream page, and submit their own word choices to Jenny.
"We're always looking for fun ways to celebrate and give back to our players," Zynga With Friends GM Paul Bettner said in a release. "Creating a huge, live game, and pitting our players against Jenny on a single day is going to be a lot of fun, and we're excited Ford has helped put our game up in lights."
The whole promotion is reminiscent of Toyota's recent Social Network Racer, which was designed to unveil the company's new concept car. It's still unclear how exactly playing Words With Friends will ultimately reveal the brand new compact SUV in just an hour (not to mention what Jenny McCarthy has to do with it), but you'll just have to play along tomorrow to find out.
Do you plan on tuning in to the see the brand new 2013 Ford Escape through a life-sized Words With Friends session? What do you think of Zynga and Ford's method of revealing the car?
Could games like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft work on Facebook?
Who knows (and definitely not at the moment), but Facebook's European head of gaming partnerships Julien Codorniou hopes "every successful game that exists on PC, consoles, should come on the Facebook platform at some point." According to PocketGamer.biz, Codorniou made the forward-looking remark during this year's Social Gaming Summit in London.
The European mirror to Facebook's Sean Ryan did, however, point out what's keeping the industry from getting to that point. Simply put, the rampant copycatting needs to stop. As PocketGamer.biz's Will Wilson put it: 'Please stop making FarmVille-style games, we've already got enough, thanks.' Codorniou went on to praise games like Social Point's Social Empires for sourcing its inspirations elsewhere, like the popular Age of Empires PC strategy franchise.
And while Codorniou wishes for the best games on consoles to also hit Facebook, he knows where the immediate future is. "We believe the mobile web platform is the future for the gaming industry," Codorniou concluded. "Bet on mobile, HTML5. This is really the future of gaming for us."
Alright, so you know that already. But let's stop and think for a second: Could the best of traditional gaming really make it to Facebook? Well, we're certainly getting there. From advancements in the Unity Player and Flash Player (the primary tool for making Facebook games) to the Unreal Engine arriving on Facebook, we're inching ever closer to that reality. These types of games on the web are simply an eventuality--the audience for them, however, is far from that.
Do you agree that mobile is the future of social gaming? Will hardcore or traditional games ever have a place on Facebook?
The European mirror to Facebook's Sean Ryan did, however, point out what's keeping the industry from getting to that point. Simply put, the rampant copycatting needs to stop. As PocketGamer.biz's Will Wilson put it: 'Please stop making FarmVille-style games, we've already got enough, thanks.' Codorniou went on to praise games like Social Point's Social Empires for sourcing its inspirations elsewhere, like the popular Age of Empires PC strategy franchise.
And while Codorniou wishes for the best games on consoles to also hit Facebook, he knows where the immediate future is. "We believe the mobile web platform is the future for the gaming industry," Codorniou concluded. "Bet on mobile, HTML5. This is really the future of gaming for us."
Alright, so you know that already. But let's stop and think for a second: Could the best of traditional gaming really make it to Facebook? Well, we're certainly getting there. From advancements in the Unity Player and Flash Player (the primary tool for making Facebook games) to the Unreal Engine arriving on Facebook, we're inching ever closer to that reality. These types of games on the web are simply an eventuality--the audience for them, however, is far from that.
Do you agree that mobile is the future of social gaming? Will hardcore or traditional games ever have a place on Facebook?
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?
Click here to play Storage Wars on Facebook Now >
Are you a fan of Storage Wars on A&E? What do you think of the rampant growth of branded games 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?
Click here to play Storage Wars on Facebook Now >
Are you a fan of Storage Wars on A&E? What do you think of the rampant growth of branded games 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.
Click here to play both ArtFit and Wild West Solitaire on Facebook Now >
What do you think of the growing movement toward HTML5 games? Are you the type of gamer that wants to have their favorite games 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.
Click here to play both ArtFit and Wild West Solitaire on Facebook Now >
What do you think of the growing movement toward HTML5 games? Are you the type of gamer that wants to have their favorite games wherever they are?
Facebook strategy games match PC quality ... from back in the day
"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.
[Via IndustryGamers]
Do you think strategy games on Facebook come close to the classics? What other niches do you think Facebook games could cater to?
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.
[Via IndustryGamers]
Do you think strategy games on Facebook come close to the classics? What other niches do you think Facebook games could cater to?
Thứ Năm, 6 tháng 10, 2011
Half of all U.S. social gamers own a game console, RockYou study says
As if we already didn't know: Some social gamers are more "hardcore" than we thought. But the next study released that attempts to drive this point home is courtesy of Zoo World creator RockYou and conducted by Interpret, a media research firm. Titled the "Social Gamer Thought Leadership Research Study," it finds that 50 percent of U.S. social gamers own a traditional gaming console.
The study, which polled over 2,00 social game fans living in the U.S. aged 18 and older with a 60-40 women to men split, also found that social gamers are more "sophisticated." To back up the claim, the study reports a quarter of social gamers prefer games with quests, and that 22 percent admit that score-sharing drives their urge to play more. Oh, and these players also spend quite a bit of time with the games.
Of the over 2,000 people polled, RockYou and Interpret found that the average social gamer spends an average of 9.5 hours playing out of the 13 average hours they spend on networks like Facebook. The average social game player, according to the study, has just over 16 real-life frieds playing these games with them and has made 20 new friends through social games. Of course, the study doesn't get into how deep said friendships are, but how could you?
The study also reports that 42 percent of social gamers would play a social game more, if offered real world rewards like coupons or gift cards. (But isn't the idea to get them to pay up?) It was just recently that Raptr discovered that a number of Zynga fans may be Halo and Grand Theft Auto fans, too. And before that, Kabam found in its own study that the hardcore crowd on Facebook is growing.
What should you take away from this influx of studies and reports? Regardless of whether you still dig tending to virtual crops or running a shanty town, many developers--even the "casual" ones--seem all but done with your farms and cities of yore.
What do you think of the numerous reports on the growing hardcore crowd in social games? How do you think this will change the industry in the long run? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
The study, which polled over 2,00 social game fans living in the U.S. aged 18 and older with a 60-40 women to men split, also found that social gamers are more "sophisticated." To back up the claim, the study reports a quarter of social gamers prefer games with quests, and that 22 percent admit that score-sharing drives their urge to play more. Oh, and these players also spend quite a bit of time with the games.
Of the over 2,000 people polled, RockYou and Interpret found that the average social gamer spends an average of 9.5 hours playing out of the 13 average hours they spend on networks like Facebook. The average social game player, according to the study, has just over 16 real-life frieds playing these games with them and has made 20 new friends through social games. Of course, the study doesn't get into how deep said friendships are, but how could you?
The study also reports that 42 percent of social gamers would play a social game more, if offered real world rewards like coupons or gift cards. (But isn't the idea to get them to pay up?) It was just recently that Raptr discovered that a number of Zynga fans may be Halo and Grand Theft Auto fans, too. And before that, Kabam found in its own study that the hardcore crowd on Facebook is growing.
What should you take away from this influx of studies and reports? Regardless of whether you still dig tending to virtual crops or running a shanty town, many developers--even the "casual" ones--seem all but done with your farms and cities of yore.
What do you think of the numerous reports on the growing hardcore crowd in social games? How do you think this will change the industry in the long run? Sound off in the comments. Add Comment
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