Google released games for Google+ yesterday. This was immediately seen as a move against Facebook. Facebook responded by redesigning the way it presents games on its social network. Facebook’s goal is to get more users to play games through a bombardment of notifications. At this point, Facebook’s games still vastly outnumber Google+’s offerings. It will take a while for Google+ to catch up to Facebook in terms of the number of games and total users. Google+ does have an advantage over Facebook however. Google doesn’t ask for much money.

Not too long after Google released 16 games on Google+, Facebook announced it was making some changes of its own when it comes to its gaming platform. The way we see and interact with games is being redesigned to give developers a better chance at gaining more users. Among the changes is a ticker that shows what your friends are doing in games as it happens and bookmarks.

And you thought that women are shopaholics. A recent study by mobile social network site MocoSpace revealed that, in terms of virtual goods, male social gamers outspend female social gamers nine to one. In fact, not only do male social gamers spend more on virtual goods, but that most of the virtual goods bought in-game were from men.

Syfy is known for its television content, but gaming hasn’t been on the network’s radar until recently. As the year goes on, expect to see games published by Syfy Games showing up in the United States on Facebook. After the United States has served its purpose as a fertile testing ground, Syfy Games will extend its reach to other countries and social networks.

Insomniac Games is known for blockbuster franchises such as Rachet and Clank and Resistance. The studio is now trying its hand at the social and mobile games space. Insomniac Click is a new division within the company that is dedicated to doing just that. Insomniac will continue to create the large-scale console games we are used to. Insomniac isn’t ready to reveal its new game yet, but it is being created by only five people.

Casual games on Facebook have dramatically increased in popularity over the past couple years. It has gotten to the point where you can’t scroll through your news feed without seeing someone’s progress in a game. If Facebook were a console, it would have tens of millions of players. However PopCap believes the honeymoon between Facebook and casual games is coming to an end.

Google has done it again. This time the company has purchased a mobile game developer by the name of SocialDeck. SocialDeck has produced games for the App Store such as Pet Hero MD and Shake and Spell. It also developed an application called SocialDeck Spark that connects players across multiple devices such as Blackberries, iPhone’s and none other than Facebook.

Mafia Wars has opened Las Vegas to all you high rollers and now has unveiled a special slate of Vegas-themed items to celebrate.

PopCap has announced that a version of their game Zuma will be available on Facebook. The game is titled Zuma Blitz and will debut in about three weeks.

Video games and their culture have, since its beginning, been mostly directed at men. Most video games are developed by teams composed mainly of men and explore subjects appealing mostly to men. This has turned men into the target audience for most of the titles and this cycle is perpetuated by profits which drive developers to focus on men.

Some of the recent titles with a more general appeal, like Guitar Hero, Rock Band or Wii Fit, have made video games more interesting for girls but even now the idea of a gamer girl isn’t very common. Or is it?