Inside Social Games

Earlier this month, PlaySpan announced the launch of its virtual goods marketplace. The site will be comprised of items from dozens of different online games, and bring them together all in one place instead of creating separate virtual marketplaces for each specific game.

This new “PlaySpan Virtual Goods Marketplace” will sell the items from games such as EVE Online, Saga, War Rock, Knight Online, and others. Players will be able to visit the new marketplace regardless of the game they play and purchase each game’s virtual currency or the items they desire directly.

PlaySpan also announced recently that it had raised a $16.8 million round of funding. According to PlaySpan chief executive, Karl Mehta, this new site will be simple, secure, and offer plenty of payment methods with a potential customer base of over 100 million users. Furthermore, since the site sells items and currency directly with the permission of the game developers it supports, they can avoid the much of fraud, scams, and theft that can come in ad-hoc secondary markets.

As it stands now, supporting publishers include Aeria, CCP, GamersFirst, InixSoft, NHN, Ntreev, and Saga. A number of these are based in Asia where the virtual goods movement is strongest and most mature, thus making up a large portion of an industry now worth approximately $1.5 billion (based on Strategy Analytics).

[via VentureBeat]

You are all probably aware by now of Playfish’s incorporation of in-game advertisement for their major titles when they starting working with Google back in April. You may also be aware of the integration with PayPal when they launched in-game transactions.

However, marking a new sponsorship model for the company, Playfish just announced the launch of a premium campaign with Procter & Gamble and Herbal Essences via Geo Challenge in the United Kingdom.

This new version of the game has introduced what Playfish dubs, “The Great Escape Edition” which provides players with a brand new source of game play and, as expected, advertises the new Herbal Essences range from Procter and Gamble in a rather unorthodox manner.

The game still utilizes the video ads at the end, but in addition the entire art style of the game has been changed to fully encompass the look and feel that is Herbal Essences. The new Great Escape version is full of different pinks, flowers, exotic plant life, and virtually anything else you might see in your standard Herbal Essences commercial. All of this, however, has been seamlessly integrated into the game play and art work and is 100% unintrusive to the player - unlike so many other forms of advertisement (i.e. flashing banners, pop ups, etc).

Unfortunately, those that are not in the UK are unable to play this version of the game at this time.

[via Playfish Blog]

In the technical sense of the term, one could argue that most Facebook RPGs are MMOs. They are often massive, they are technically multiplayer, and they are online. So wherein lies the difference? Well, in general it is the multiplayer aspect as most RPGs are not live. The world doesn’t change, and that is one of the key elements to any MMO: A living-breathing-world.

Well, unlike its predecessors, a new title to Facebook, Sacred Seasons: Liberty, by Emerald City Games, is meant to go live mid-December, and is heralded to be a true, blue, MMORPG. While not everything has been revealed yet, the game does have some very interesting features to it. Perhaps most enticing of which is the mechanic of “real-time.” That’s right, real time; no asynchronous core, no challenges, and no “I can send you my high score so you can beat it, thus making the game social.” You actually explore (and not just stills, but an actual world you move about in), socialize, and fight with other players, live.

That alone should be enough to create a high expectation on Sacred Seasons’ potential, but there is far more to it than that. The game actually has a very strong premise and interesting story behind it. Unlike other RPGs on Facebook that just have you level and create your own story, this title is claimed to have a rather epic plot line to it.

The game was built with story in mind and the developers wanted the desire to learn what will happen next to be the primary driving force behind game play, rather than the simple desire to become stronger. From what was divulged, the game takes place in a world similar to the Heartlands of North America but on a larger and more extreme scale. To give you an idea, snow fall might as well be a blizzard, mountain ranges challenge the peaks of Everest, and the Mariana Trench might as well make up the United States’ western canyon systems. Furthermore, the game revolves around the four seasons. These seasons are the servants of what is called the “Great Mystery” and are the basis for everything that changes in the world. These forces are seen as spirits by the local populace, and the various playable classes are allied to them.

When you begin the game, you can select from 16 of these classes, and are capable of unlocking up to 80. Each of these classes reflect an elemental aspect, and their capabilities reflect as much, thus an association with Summer would display affinities towards earth, yellows, gold, harvest, and so on. Moreover, many aren’t your typical classes either (i.e. knight, paladin, etc), rather many of them are rather fresh and new such as a hypnotist or a clown (huh?). Of course, there are still some more traditional ones as well, such as a scout or shaman, but with so many, that isn’t to be unexpected. What is interesting though, is that players can switch between classes at any time and begin leveling skills for those classes. The big expectation with so many classes, however, will be whether or not they are distinctly different to play. If so, this would be an incredible feat by the developers, especially because that can add a tremendous amount of depth and possible strategy to battle encounters.

As was mentioned earlier, battles are all live. That in mind, players can join or leave a fight whenever they so choose. While it hasn’t been stated exactly how battles will play out, it has been described as working in a “traditional, Final Fantasy” sort of way. For those of you that haven’t played any Final Fantasy titles, that basically means you select a move and the opponent responds. Unfortunately, this means that the battles are technically turn based, but depending on pacing, is not a bad thing at all. RPG titles such as Knights of the Old Republic were turn based but so much was happening around the player that it felt live. Of course, this is only speculation, as most Final Fantasy games could have turn based (”wait”) battles or live (”active”) ones. Nevertheless, within the battle system, the developers do allude to class specific abilities that can be unlocked via combat that can turn the tide of each fight.

It certainly is a lot to swallow, but then again there aren’t many MMORPGs that are. Fact of the matter is, Sacred Seasons: Liberty looks tremendously interesting. First off, the game is live. That alone should be enough incentive to have a play as it is something that is not seen very often. Secondly, if the game does indeed have an engrossing storyline, this is yet another uncommon feature seen around Facebook. Most RPGs are driven by the desire to level and to become stronger. Rare is the game that encourages game play just to see what happens next (at least as far as social games go). Last, with up to 80 characters, there is enormous potential for depth and strategy in combat. Granted this hinges, on the need for each of these classes to be distinctly different and fun to play, but if it is pulled off, then there is little doubt that Sacred Seasons will be a major hit in the near future.

There are a lot of applications on Facebook that it’s “questionable” whether or not they’re really games. Sure, many of them have some familiar features, but they just don’t feel like a fully featured game. One of the more recent, and popular, applications to be added to this list is Kidnap, created by Context Optional for the Travel Channel.

In Kidnap, you start out in your “hideout” city and use various methods of kidnapping your friends and whisking them away to wherever this city is in the world. The more friends you kidnap, the higher “level” you become, but the thing is, you don’t really get much from leveling up.

There are ten levels to reach, and each one grants you another four ways to kidnap people. However, the different methods of kidnapping is purely cosmetic and has no actual bearing on game play. Basically, no matter which buttons you click, the result is the same.

The only actual game play occurs when someone is actually kidnapped and it’s time to escape and earn some points. In order to escape, a kidnapped player must answer multiple choice questions about the city in which they are being held (i.e. questions about Athens, Montreal, Moscow, etc). Answer enough and you go free, or if you so choose, you can use a “body double” and avoid the questions all together (like a ‘Get Out of Jail Free’ card that you receive every time you level up).

If you answer a question right the first try, you earn 100% of the points from that question, 50% on the 2^nd try, and 0% on the 3^rd. As for the kidnapper, they receive points in the reverse order when you answer a question incorrectly. The points are a tool meant to track a player’s ranking.

Overall, Kidnap is not “bad,” it’s just unclear whether this is an actual game or just a glorified quiz. Regardless, it does have a fun idea that is very reminiscent of the old Carmen San Diego games, but now it’s a friend who is being stolen and not the Statue of Liberty. Kidnap could benefit a great deal from looking at these old titles and if it were to emulate them, if even a little, this application could turn into a great mystery game. For a sponsored game, it’s one of the better directions we’ve seen.

AppData for Kidnap:

Google AdSense has become one of the most widely used ad networks on the web, because it makes it really quick and easy for both advertisers and developers to begin building an ad-based business model for their web sites. Now, after months of testing and development, Google is  launching the public beta version of its AdSense for Games software.

The ad market for games is predicted by the Yankee Group to be worth $971.3 million by 2011, so it is no surprise that Google is interested in the market.

In response to the announcement, Jameson Hsu, chief executive of in-game Flash ad company Mochi Media, said, “It’s a huge stamp of approval for a major company to come in and say they believe in the online game market.” It really is a huge deal, as now it is highly likely for other major media companies to begin making a move into this market.

The new Google AdSense for Games software will be targeting Flash based games and will incorporate the ability to include ads both during and after game play. The casual Flash games space alone averages around 200 million games played per month, which creates ample opportunity for ad integration.

Google is also tauting the usability of its ad software. According to Christian Oestlien, senior product manager at Google, Google’s advertisers will be able to insert ads into games where there is an “ad request.” This request comes from the developers of a game who will be able to utilize a Flash software development kit that allows them to simply designate any point in their game where they want to place advertisements. Then once the game is live, the ads uploaded by advertisers appear where a “request” is found.

In addition to everything else, Google has partnered with a number of developers as well. One of these is Playfish, a major Flash developer within Facebook. At the end of a game session for one of their games, players will actually see one of the game characters presenting the ad as a sponsor.

However, Playfish is not alone in supporting Google’s endeavors. Other major players include Zynga, another major social game developer, and Konami, one of the largest mainstream game companies in Japan. Over a dozen other companies will include Google AdSense for Games at release, and with the millions of users that play casual games online, the number of ad impressions available quickly compounds to several hundred million.

At this time, we do not know whether Google will incorporate their ad network beyond Flash games. However, with competitors such as Microsoft’s Massive working its way deeper into this market as well, it is likely to see some significant competition in the future.

In today’s market, we see advertisements everywhere and on everything. Marketers are always looking for new, different, and effective ways to pitch their products to the right audience, but that begs the question: given the banner blindness that exists today on the web, what does it take to stand out amongst the crowd?

One engaging approach that’s been used in the past is the creation of games that revolve around a product or service (we’ve seen Burger King do it a couple of times all ready). Marketers attempt to make free, entertaining mini-games that interest as much of the population as possible in hopes to get click-through traffic to their website or purchases of their product. This is exactly what New Balance has done with their Zip running sneaker and the Facebook mini-game “New Balance RUN-Dezvous” by Buddy Media.

The game itself is nothing earth-shattering, and it doesn’t bring anything new to the gaming world, but it is an amusing mini-game meant to drive sales for New Balance shoes. The game itself plays a lot like the old-school, Nintendo title Paperboy. You’re out for a run, and you have to dodge things like falling plants, open man holes, street barricades, and so on. It actually looks pretty good too, utilizing an interesting, surreal style of art with a strange isometric point of view. Basically, you progress through the game by running forward and avoiding obstacles until you either finish all the levels or run out of lives.

In a nut-shell there is nothing wrong nor bad about the game, it’s just been done before, and it gets repetitive rather quickly. However, it does allow for a few minutes of amusement, which seems to be all it is really meant for. It does, nonetheless, gain some longevity due to integration with AceBucks, a Facebook loyalty program that lets you purchase everything from hair gel to iPods. Not only this, but there is also a challenge mode that helps to lengthen appeal as well.

As you may have guessed, RUN-Dezvous allows you to directly challenge others to races. However, unlike many Facebook games, you can challenge not only your friends, but other random players as well, thus greatly increasing the level of competition. Unfortunately, the races are not simultaneous. As with most Facebook games, the social aspect is turn based, but the one challenged can race at any time they please. Essentially it is a “race” to see who can get the highest score and/or the farthest in the game.

Sending challenges from a Facebook game is enough to make a game social to some degree. I will admit, I am competitive, and would probably accept such a thing and get a few minutes of satisfaction from it. However, with the popularity of social networks, the potential of social and multiplayer game play is so much greater. The current model of “beat your friend’s high score” does work, but I think it’s too conservative.

In the end, RUN-Dezvous is meant to be a short mini-game whose primary purpose is to drive traffic and thus sales for their Zip sneaker. With that in mind, they have done a decent job with their Facebook game. It looks clean, has an attractive style, it’s simple to learn and play, and provides excellent amusement, if only for a short while. Furthermore, they took the time to implement the capability of challenging other players rather than only your friends, and have included ways of earning AceBucks (considering how many you need to buy stuff, any way to earn more of these is useful).

RUN-Dezvous won’t change the face of social games, but for what it’s worth, the game is well done.