The hottest gaming platform going these days may not even be a video game console but social networking site Facebook.
Forbes Magazine talked to Gareth Davis, a platform manager for Facebook, who believes the best is yet to come. He told Forbes that Facebook has some 400 million active monthly users and more than 100 million unique game players.
Industry executives have noticed the trend and are going all in to capitalize. Electronic Arts purchased casual game developer Playfish and is doing a Facebook version of Madden NFL. Civilization creator Sid Meier is bringing a version of his strategy classic to the social network as well.
With all these developments, Davis has good reason to be excited about the gaming future of Facebook. He thinks the industry has barely scratched the surface in terms of the accessibility and connectivity that can be had. Davis described this hypothetical situation to Forbes:
Let’s say three of us are each playing the same game but on a different device. The game will be tailored to the device. So if I’m playing the war game on my Xbox and I’m in the living room, where I have a big-screen TV, a great speaker system, a controller, maybe I’m playing the action sequence. Perhaps my friend is at a desktop PC with a computer screen, keyboard and a mouse, and she’s doing the strategic aspect of the game, like calling in air strikes to weaken the enemy before I get there.
And maybe you’re on the iPhone, a touch and communication device, so you’re organizing the squads. Each of us is participating in the same game experience, but in a different way tailored to the power of the devices. We’re going to see really interesting examples of that starting this year. And that will be the future wave gaming: bringing everyone in no matter what device they are using.
We are seeing that situation come a little closer to fruition every day. The integration of Facebook into game consoles is helping the social aspects of gaming evolve. Casual gaming has exploded on Facebook and now we are seeing console grown hits such as Madden get into the act.
Video games are definitely not just for the hardcore player anymore. No matter what type of games you enjoy, having more people that understand and enjoy the gaming experience is a great thing.
Read [Forbes Magazine] Also Read [Gamertell]
Wow. I really don't see why people seem to enjoy those games. You can't call those games.
I guess there just bored.
Martijn,
It doesn't necessarily have to have the latest graphics and surround sound to be considered a game. Traditional game makers are seeing the possibilities. Somebody that enjoys Farmville is somebody that might likely try Harvest Moon.
If people are having fun playing Facebook games, what's the harm?