Comments on: Online Gaming is the Value behind the Social Web

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 20:57:00 +0000

j
That is true and what really needs to happen is the apps themselves need to put more effort into the quality of their game/service. Everything from usability, graphics, game play etc.

Much more to it than that of course, but my definition of game in this context is much broader than a flash game….think The Sims (social graph) and WoW (item based economy) wtih a system on top of that which allows a very competitive game play to emerge. There are a few apps that have implemented pieces of this, but none that really package them together into something that in the end is “fun”.

By: j

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:52:50 +0000

i agree facebook apps present a unique opportunity, but the fact is few game apps have found a way to properly monetize themselves to date. scrabulous is by far the most popular game app on facebook, meanwhile i doubt they are making ‘millions’ off that app.

it will be interesting to see how game designers can find a way to monetize these apps to a point where the revenue is sufficient to run a business. until that happens, facebook will simply need to be treated as another distirbution channel (ie. a small piece of the pie)

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 20:53:30 +0000

Jon, thats awesome! Good to hear. My wife loves puzzles, I’ll see if I can find your app.

By: jon

jon — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 04:05:03 +0000

I was really surprised by the email response I got after adding simple jigsaw puzzles about once a week to my blog. Every single message was positive, spanning all age groups. People just love that stuff.

Now, whenever I put up a puzzle, my readership spikes. I’ve had new readers tell me they subscribed to my RSS just for the puzzles. And it’s. just. puzzles.

Maybe I should start a puzzle competition….