Inside Social Games

Santa Clara, California - based PlaySpan, founded in 2006, has just raised $16.8 million via Easton Capital Group, Menlo Mentures, Novel TMT Ventures, STIC and others, VentureBeat reports. The company plans to use the money to build out its virtual goods payment platform and transaction system for online games.

Many new free-to-play games that have little or no advertisers or subscription are making their income by selling various items and in-game upgrades to players as they need them. The cost is generally very cheap, but since the cost is so low, the volume of those transactions adds up very quickly. The trick is, online games need to have the infrastructure in order to do this, and that is where PlaySpan comes into the picture.

When it comes to virtual goods in games, there are two types of markets: Primary market and Secondary market. The more “common” market seen online today is the secondary markets where players sell goods to other players for real currency. However, a number of these sellers operate without the game developer’s permission. These are generally prevalent in places like China and Korea and consist of services such as the sale of virtual gold in World of Warcraft.

The problem, as you can surmise, is that it leaves the developer out of the picture, and creates a lot of opportunity for fraud, theft, and a general breakdown of in game economy. Of course, that isn’t to say that all secondary markets are bad. There are in fact companies that do acquire permission and work with game developers to mediate player to player transactions (i.e. LiveGamer) without any of the negative drawbacks.

Similarly, PlaySpan operates with permissions from developers, but instead of moderating a secondary market, they choose to focus on a primary market in which items are sold directly to the players themselves. In order to best do so, PlaySpan focuses on the needs of a player and tailors items to them based on what they need most in game. This can be based on any number prospects such as level, in-game wealth, current quests, etc. Whenever the situation arises, a player receives a prompt with the offer and can purchase it immediately by whatever means they desire. For every purchase made, PlaySpan receives about 10%.

Their payment method is fairly simple too. By acquiring the online payment company, PayByCash, PlaySpan offers users use up to 70 different ways to make purchases in 180 different countries. This includes money orders, game cards, and even cash. They even have their own pre-paid game card now that is accepted by over 200 online games.

With such a robust infrastructure, PlaySpan has gotten the attention of a number of different companies now (Aeria Games, Eve Online, Gala-Net, etc) and serves as a platform for over 60 unique online games. This equates to over 70 million gamers world wide.

[via VentureBeat]

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The console wars have been a raging battle for years now, with each major competitor keeping pace with their opponents. However, with the release of the latest generation consoles, Sony has begun to fall behind Microsoft and Nintendo with its coveted PlayStation 3, VentureBeat reports.

The console itself is more powerful than the others, and it can play Blu Ray, but the bottom line is that the price tag is far too high. Furthermore, the PS3 focuses more on the traditional, hardcore gamer rather than encompass a broader audience like Nintendo’s Wii, which is a mistake Sony seems to be looking to correct.

In a last ditch effort to meet the competition head on, Sony has spent the last 18 months developing its “Home” virtual world for the PlayStation Network (the Sony version of Xbox Live). Based on the staggering success of current social networks and virtual worlds, Sony want to give players their own virtual network on top of the games they play. However, unlike their Nintendo and Microsoft counterparts (Miis and the new Xbox Experience), Home will go beyond just avatars and encompass an entire online, virtual space with the beautiful and realistic look that PS3 is known for.

The space is made specifically for gamers, and it is Sony’s hope that Home will be engaging enough that they will take time away from playing their normal games for it. Considering that the chief demographic on the PS3 are core gamers, it will have to be, but since the Home is going to be free for all PS3 owners, there is a strong possibility it will (at least at first).

As the current numbers stand, there are approximately 13 million registered PS3 and PlayStation Portable users registered on the PlayStation Network; all of which will be integrated with Home. As one might expect, it is also a pretty heft piece of software in that it is not only a virtual space, but one that remembers everything pertaining to the geography, thus if Y building is placed in X location, it will always be in X location.

Of course, this gives the idea of a virtual “world” and it needs to be clarified that Home is not that. A world would allow you to walk to the bar from your apartment, but Sony has designed the network to be a series of virtual spaces, allowing users to basically teleport from place to place. By doing so, they have allowed a means to create multiple renditions of each space so that no single one is overcrowded.

Home is pretty extensive too. Not only do you have your own apartment that only those you permit can visit, but you can decorate it any way you want, which past games have taught us, is a rather successful feature. However, there is more to it than just this: Players can visit a bowling alley to bowl with friends, use the arcade to play classic games, or play a rather realistic round of pool. If that doesn’t suit your fancy, you can head to a virtual movie theater and watch whatever’s playing, or as expected, you can always just hang out and talk with anyone within your current space using either a Bluetooth headset or universal serial bus keyboard. If talking gets a little dull, you can always start up one of your multiplayer favorites right then and there.

The network is still in closed beta at the moment, but it is expected to move into open beta rather soon. This will go a long way in testing the product further as any social network requires multitudes of users to survive, and by allowing more people into the test, Sony will be able to get a better idea of how Home is going to do once it is live. Nonetheless, once it is live, don’t expect it to stay the way it is on release. A number of developers and publishers are working on creating and adding their own spaces to Home, such as Electronic Art’s “EA Sports Fan” space. In addition to that, Sony fully intends to adjust the network based on the user’s feedback: Jack Buser, director of Home for the US game division, describes home as a “living, breathing space.”

[Images via VentureBeat]

So in recent months, SGN has been pumping out iPhone titles that emulate the basics of various sports. Through the exploitation of platform’s built in accelerometer, they have produced Wii-like titles that allowed users to golf, bowl, and play baseball. Now, the latest to come off the line is iBasketball, coinciding with the start of the basketball season.

The title, once again mimics the real thing (though slightly more awkward feeling than earlier titles), and allows players to participate in games akin to “Around the World” and “HORSE.” Using the accelerometer technology, players are capable of taking shots from five different positions. Each shot is worth one point and they are able to not only challenge their friends, but can enter an “Open Challenge” and join the global leader board. Furthermore, if desired, players can even receive email notifications whenever someone is challenging them.

The game also contains a rather life-like spectator feature, and great presentation complete with simulated sounds such as ball bounces and net swishes. However, despite the quality presentation, one begs the question, are the developers taking this Wii novelty a little too far? At first it was refreshing, but with iBasketball, it is starting to feel like a stretch.

SGN has done a great job in expanding the social graph to the mobile market. Considering that the iPhone is mobile, many people are going to play games on in public areas that are often confined (waiting in a restaurant, on the bus, etc) and these large motion based games aren’t the kind of things that will be able to be played anywhere. However, iTennis, iHockey, and iCurling are already most likely in the pipeline!

$2 billion US dollars: That is the virtual goods market on free-to-play games. In light of that hefty chunk of change, Live Gamer recently announced its partnership with Acclaim, GoPets, and IAC’s InstantAction.com to create player-to-player, virtual marketplaces. These markets will play host to the transaction of real currency for virtual goods.

Of the three partners, GoPets took the first step with the launch of its closed beta on November 20^th. Following suit will be InstantAction with its games coming soon in December, and Acclaim launching the beta of its title “9Dragons” sometime during the first quarter of 2009.

An article from Virtual World News quotes Symbiosis Games (developers of GoPets) CEO, Erik Bethke, “We’re excited to fully realize our partnership with Live Gamer and offer our users the safest way to exchange virtual goods for real money online.” He goes on to state, “The added consumer confidence provided by the first truly legitimate online goods exchange is a tremendous asset to our international GoPets economy.”

This statement couldn’t be more accurate. One of the biggest concerns a vast number of people have when purchasing anything online is security; especially when dealing with something that isn’t exactly tangible. Moreover, there are countless virtual currency sellers in places such as China that offer exchange for real money, and anything helps broker international work in addition to better security is a god-send.

The system should be reliable too; based on an upgraded version of Live Gamer Exchange. Features affecting both the publisher and the consumer have been given a facelift with improved search capabilities and listings as well as (and possibly most important) a new multi-factor fraud screening engine.

Considering that Live Gamer has faceted hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of transactions and has the experience of managing an always on virtual economy, these new features are well founded. Andrew Schneider, president and co-founder of Live Gamer, states, “We’ve been able to address opportunities in the live economy and incorporate those learnings… Continued innovation on behalf of our clients and their end-users will always be our focus.”

That said, Live Gamer could very well turn out to be a great service. It’s impossible to say for sure how it will do, but good or bad, it will be interesting to see it unfold.

[via Virtual World News]

Oh alcohol, you are the bane and the savior of entertainment - you are the cause and solution to all of life’s problems. Okay, maybe not, but surely most of you have heard sayings like this before; and with the plethora of college humor, movies, and ads surrounding alcohol, it is no surprise that some form of drinking game would come about.

Pass a Drink is one such “game.” However, the term “game” is not entirely accurate, as there really isn’t any game play involved. This application is more intended to be a social drinking simulation. You start out with a couple of classic drinks that range from beers to shots to those colorful “girly” drinks most men are too “macho” to even touch, and you pass them around to your Facebook friends as gifts.

As you receive these so-called “gifts,” you begin to get “drunk” as your “drunk-o-meter” rises with each drink you… well, drink. That’s really all there is too it as far as functionality goes. All Pass a Drink really is, is a means to socially interact with your virtual friends using a form of virtual goods. Considering that drinking tends to be a social activity anyway, it makes for a rather synergistic marriage.

In light of the social goals of this application, you can add it to your profile directly in order to show the world just how much of a virtual alcoholic you really are as it displays the drinks your friends send to you and just how drunk you are getting.

The application is by no means some earth-shattering discovery that is going to change the course of human history, but for what it is meant to be, it’s a nice addition to Facebook. The graphical representations of each drink are pleasant to look at, and there is always a fun and entertaining blurb about the drink to check out as you buy and unlock new beverages using a finite amount of points and improve your alcohol mastery.

Sadly, there are still many favorite drinks missing from the 40 that are currently available (though it wouldn’t be surprising to see them added at some point). With around 2.6 million monthly users, one can see that people do enjoy using this app. It’s not some amazing game or thought invoking quiz, nor is it trying to be. Pass a Drink is merely a simple virtual gift sharing application among Facebook friends that has included a few extra features, and is certainly worth adding to your profile if you are into this sort of thing. Just remember, be it virtual or real, always drink responsibly, but if you are going to do it irresponsibly, please do it here.

We all know China has a lot of people - 1.25 billion approximately. Of that 1.25 billion citizens, about 40 million play online games, and 80% of those have purchased virtual goods. According to 5173.com, this market has grown to about 9.36 billion yuan annually, which is about $1.37 billion in US currency. And that was just last year - a pretty impressive number by anyone’s standards.

Virtual World News recently posted that the Chinese government had imposed a 20% tax on any income generated through the trading of virtual currencies earlier this month. Apparently, this latest came about after the failed attempt two years ago to simply ban people from profiting off of virtual transactions. Of course, details on how this type of levy will be enforced are unclear.

For those that may not know, this all refers to the concept of virtual goods which are generally inexpensive, non-tangible items sold on the web. They range from avatars, virtual game items, animated gifs, game currency (i.e. gold), music themes, etc. They are often used by people to add personality, or an edge to the games and social networks they are a part of, and have skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years.

However, this new tax is affecting an enormous number of users. For example, any seller of a virtual currency (a subset of virtual goods) transaction must report to the Chinese tax agency and pay income taxes within seven days of the sale. However, based on the most recent post on Virtual World News, “officials are still unsure of what exactly should be taxed or how….”

Regardless, the platform providers seem to be loving the idea, as it discourages the sale of goods within their virtual worlds by third parties (such as reselling virtual currency in an MMO). The players, on the other hand, are not as pleased with the result (increased costs).

One of the major titles in which virtual currency is sold is Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft. There are a number of gold selling companies that do nothing but acquire large sums of gold and sell it to players for profit. How are the WoW markets being affected? In a recent article in the Shaighai Daily, one WoW player states, “The price of gold has surged recently and its difficult to purchase enough gold even if you have the money sometimes.”

So you want a bigger brain, do you? With people scoring well over 5,000 or even 7,000, one has to wonder how they do it. How did they get so good? How can you get better?

As most of you know, the game is made up of various mini-games that are meant to test different aspects of your brain, and the scores from each make up your “brain size.” As such, in order to get better, you have to practice all these different games, but if you play the classic version, you get them at random, which leads to a very basic tip.

Most of the top scorers have the Pro version of Who Has The Biggest Brain?, which allows them to select the mini-games they are best at, thus automatically improving their score. Of course, it’s not quite that simple. There are, in fact specific tricks you can employ for each mini-game.

The first category is for analytical ability. One of the possible mini-games you might come across here is “scales.” In this game you have to identify which object is the heaviest in a group. It starts simple enough with only one scale, but that number begins to grow as the rounds pass. However, there are some basic rules you can follow to speed up you analysis. Spend little time in the first rounds, if the object is on the bottom of the scale or at equilibrium with multiple objects, it is heavier. That alone will get you to the later rounds in 10 or so seconds.

Once you get multiple scales, though, you have to look at the image as a whole and not each individual one. Scan over the objects on the screen using your peripheral vision and if you see two of the same one at the top, they are not the heaviest, but if you see two or more on the bottom, then they most certainly are. This should get you at least 600′ish points if you practice, but if you’re looking for 1000+, you’ll have to get faster at the end rounds, in which case you can follow one rule: While not 100% accurate, the heaviest item will either be the most common item on the bottom scales or the least common, with only one or two objects on the bottom.

After you’ve gotten past the analytical game, it’s time to calculate (ugh… math…). Sorry folks, but there aren’t many “rules” here that can help you get around math. However, there are a few tricks beyond simply memorizing your multiplication tables all over again. So one of the games is “missing number” in which you do basic math: First and foremost, use the number pad, don’t use the mouse. Not only is it faster, but there’s a neat little trick for the game.

You see, if you have the right answer, it will check off instantly, but if it is wrong, you have a second or so to fix it. If you use the number pad, you can type in a number, and if the check mark doesn’t appear, you can press “delete” to change the number until you get it right. For example, if you have “12×7=” (which is 84), you can type the ‘8′ then 1, hit delete, 2, hit delete, etc. until it checks as correct. If you are quick enough you won’t get it wrong. Nevertheless, spending too much time on this trick eats up precious seconds that you will need for your score. Also, most of the answers are fairly similar, but presented in different ways (i.e. 3×5 is the same as (2+1)x5) so once you recognize those patterns, you will get even faster.

Next up is memory, and this one can be tough. One game that you might come up against is “shape order” which consists of being shown an order of shapes, and then having to emulate said order from memory. Basic memory techniques are what most use here. Consider when you would study for tests in high school (assuming you did). Was it not easier to remember things you said aloud? The same concept applies to this game.

Your brain processes audio data far faster and efficiently than the visual counterpart, and this habit alone will do wonders for your score. Also consider short one-syllable words, or familiar phrases common to you. The average human brain cannot hold many things within its short term memory for long, but by shortening the words or relating them to something familiar, the chances of retention are exponentially greater. As for the later levels, you will need to do the same thing, but apply the idea to sets of two or three. Once you get used to it, you will find it is much faster to remember three sets of two than it is recalling six individual images.

Now that you’ve made it this far, its time for some fun visual processing. “Asteroids” is one of the cooler mini-games in this section, where the game play is simply removing asteroids from play based on the numbers or letters printed on them. The object is to remove them from the least value to the greatest value. It’s pretty simple to do this one: All you need to do is create groups in your mind.

For numbers, group negatives and group positives. For letters, break the alphabet into sections (i.e. A - L). This creates a hierarchy in your brain and gives your thoughts a clear path to follow automatically rather than you having to think about it. Remove the asteroids that fall into the lesser sections, then move to the next section. Also, a number of players on this Facebook discussion thread found it useful to zoom out while in this game, making it easier to see everything on the screen and allowing for less mouse movement and greater accuracy.

That should give you at least a little bit of ammunition for you next crack at Who Has The Biggest Brain? There are a total of 12 different mini-games, so there are a lot more tricks to be learned. Nevertheless, these tips won’t get you that high score right away. Those people that have the 7000cm brains have put in a lot of time and practice, but most of them have probably used methods like these to get better. Of course, is you want to learn a little more, you can always check out the WHTBB Discussion Board or this handy site and mingle amongst your fellow brains. Good luck.

So how much were you or are you into school? How about school spirit? Well, while some could care less, there is a large portion of people that glow with spirit, and that has been a basis of any number of Hollywood productions. Football games, pep rallies, extra credit, even vandalizing rival schools have all been means of showing school pride (okay, maybe not the extra credit so much). The point is that these kinds of people participate, fervently, in the activities of their schools, and this participation has extended itself now into the Facebook space.

The game is called School Vandals, and you can probably guess what it is about. The app is like a team-based RPG (though you can play solo) in which you create or join an existing school and perform various tasks to earn school spirit and, in turn, level up your school. The primary objective of School Vandals is to go out and vandalize other schools while keeping your own clean. The longer a school remains vandalized, the more spirit the culprit earns.

Tagging other schools is fairly simple too. Simply by clicking on “attack” you are presented with a list of schools on your level (vandalizing schools that are lower level is less effective) and how clean they are. All you have to do is visit one and enter one of the classrooms via the directory on the left hand of the screen upon attacking. The player is presented with blank boxes (assuming they are clean) in which they can choose to tag using an item they select (i.e. crayon) and a design to place there. That’s all there is too it. Of course, if you are the victim of vandalism, you can clean the design off your school in exactly the same way. However, doing so causes you to become fatigued so you can only clean so often. As such, it is best to stay on top of it. Regardless, whether you vandalize or clean, both earn you spirit points towards your school.

Since the game is a Facebook RPG, it has the limiting factor of currency (in this case, “lunch money”). This is used to limit the amount of play you can do at any given time as you have to purchase the tools to clean and attack. It is a little disappointing to see the same mechanic that has been used dozens of times before, however. However, the game does allows you to level not only your school (hence the team premise), but you as well as you periodically receive “report cards” that grade objectives such as your vandalizing and cleaning capabilities. While still similar to other RPGs, this dual leveling element differentiates the app from your standard, run-of-the-mill, game.

Vandals also has a slightly stronger visual element. Granted, there are other games that have nice visuals (as opposed to text) as well, but there is something gratifying about physically putting a design up on a rival school. The game also includes achievements that appear when you do certain actions, which is also a nice addition that is less common to the RPG genre (at least on Facebook).

Nevertheless, this whole concept of graffiti has great potential, but one should let the players use their own graffiti in addition to the premade designs. There are plenty of games in which users can create their own content, so why not here? Yes, there would be the risk of vulgar tags, but by creating specific tools that limit capabilities; you can circumvent such a risk and still keep a creative flair. Give the different vandalizing items more capabilities as creation tools rather than just allow more premade designs. Of course, keeping those designs is fine, since not everyone likes creating their own stuff, but having the option to create would add a whole other level of depth to this game.

All in all, School Vandals feels slightly above average. It’s not bad at all, and it has some decent features, but it doesn’t have anything that will really make you go “wow.” However, it is still well made and designed, and if only the player had some more creative control, the game would instantly go from average to great. Nevertheless, if you are a person that loves things like school spirit or just wants to have some have some fun vandalizing school property, give School Vandals a shot, rally your friends, cheer those teams and go team go.

Yes, yes, so many games on Facebook let you share gifts, but some are far more fun than others for whatever reason. The range is pretty broad - ranging from things you can do to them, send to them, ask of them, or anything that is just way too funny..

So, how do you want to mess with your friends? What kind of gifts do you want to give? Seeing as how there are thousands of different apps with thousands more gifts and social capabilities, it is impossible to find everything, but here are our Top 10 favorites, but by all means post yours too.

10. Send Kawaii-ness! - That’s Japanese for “cute”
Okay, okay, yes, it is a standard gift sharing program, but the gifts are so incredibly cute. Definitely stemming from the anime style from Japan, these adorable critters…err food… ah…what exactly are some of these?

Anyway, these are great gifts for your female friends, if they like the cute sort of thing. Of course, if you know anyone into anime and what not, they would get a kick out of this as well. Leave it to the Japanese to make ninja nigiri (that’s raw fish on top of rice for those of you with less exotic food tastes) and to make it cute on top of that.

9. Bumper Sticker - Just Plain Funny
This repository of user created bumper stickers is a fantastic gift that just makes people laugh. Granted, you can’t really “mess” with your friends in this app: Or can you? There are so many bumper stickers to browse and send that there is almost always something that applies to one of their habits, nuances, or quirks. Of course, even if you don’t find something perfect for them, you’ll get a good laugh looking for one.

8. LOLcats - Silly kitties
Based on the popular blog, I Can Haz Cheezburger, this little app lets you send some of the most viral images you have ever seen. For those unfamiliar with the blog, LOLcats are pictures of cats and other various animals in the strangest situations with super imposed captions on them. Of course, you need to earn “cat points” to send them, but that’s neither here nor there.

If you don’t know what a LOLcat is, then it is a morale imperative you click one of these two links now. Go on, do it… now. Assuming you came back, these may not constitute as messing with your friends, but the are fun gifts nonetheless.

7. Pass a Drink - I’m not as think as you drunk I am…
Sending drinks may not seem like much (unless you’re a closet alcoholic), but what makes this game great is the fact that it links to a “Drunk-o-Meter” on your profile. Sending your friends drinks gets them…. well… drunk, and if they keep drinking, they eventually “blackout.” No, you’re not going to find out what that means here, you’ll have to try the game. Oh, and the sake bomb comes recommended.

6. Food Fling! - Foooooood Fight!!!
Self-explanatory, right? You’ve all seen them in the movies and on television, and some of you may have been involved in them as a kid. The game play mechanic is simple enough in this app: Pick a friend, fling some food, and see if they retaliate. If they don’t, you win - simple as that.

What makes this game nice though is that you get to choose what you throw. You can use anything from pizza to mom’s homemade stew. In and of itself, it’s pretty standard, but it unique enough to warrant a little imagination and get into the action. As long as none of it gets in your hair, of course.

5. Owned/Friends For Sale! - Love Me!
These two come together because they are basically the same game. Nonetheless, it’s great fun to put a price tag on your friend’s head. Of course, the prospect of just sending friend’s as gifts isn’t much of a way to mess with them. It’s up to the players to find out the best way to do so, but the game does give them the tools. Maybe you can feed or hurt their ego with how much they are worth, maybe you refuse to accept them as a gift? Regardless of what you choose to do, these two apps allow for some really fun gift sending.

4. Kidnap! - Burlap Sack Anyone?
The whole point of this game is to kidnap your friends. You play the game by kidnaping each other and attempting to figure out where you have been taken. In order to escape you have to answer various questions about the location and getting them right earns you points in which you can use to kidnap others in different ways.

Of course, when you are kidnaped, there isn’t much you can do, so it is a great way to mess with your friends who also play this game. Well, that’s sort of the point anyway. Regardless, while they all do the same thing, the methods of kidnaping are entertaining as well, ranging from a burlap sack to giant fly paper.

3. Kickmania! - A Swift Kick in the Ass
Put your friend’s face on a crash dummy and kick its ass. It is incredible fun to beat the snot out of your friends as they flail and crash through bombs, walls, and bounce along the ground. What makes it even better though is if you kick them hard and far enough you “own” their ass and they get sent the message, and if you so choose, you can send them the replay of their royal ass kicking. Of course, doing so will most likely provoke some revenge, but it’s good fun either way.

2. Fable II - Dirty Deeds
So will you choose to be good or evil? Let’s be honest, being good isn’t nearly as much fun as being evil, and one of the main points of this game is to level up your alignment by completing quests to earn money and using that money to perform “deeds” on your friends.

The good deeds are all fine, but the dirty deeds are the best ones to mess with your friends. What other game lets you perform deeds to your friends like “bottom blast in [their] face” or post their picture in drag on the local pub wall? None, that’s who. Of course, doing so will often call for a counter deed, so be on your toes when you choose to do so.

1. SuperPoke! - I’m not touching you, I’m not touching you, I’m not touching you
One of the more classic and older applications on Facebook. This guy has everything you could think of to do to your friends. You can be nice to them yes, but the game has so much more to it than that: You can dropkick them, pinch, poke, spank (oh, frisky), and pretty much anything else you can think of. For all intents and purposes, you are virtually reaching out and touching someone, or slapping, or kissing, or…. you get the point. There aren’t many games that imply a physical interaction as a gift. Of course, if you know the person for real, don’t mess with them too much or you might get a dropkick for real.