In part one I took a look at the casual and non-gamer to shed some light on how and why online games on Facebook have taken off and whether or not this is the future of online gaming. As I mentioned in the last post I personally don’t get it, but figure that they must be on to something, because after all, the nearly 75 million who place Mafia Wars and Farmville can’t be wrong, right?
Yeah, right! Try telling that to the serious gamer.
You know the ones I’m talking about. They fit that key demographic – 20-something college males who wouldn’t hesitate to blow off an exam or term paper to take on friends on some high-end multiplayer online games such as World of Warcraft, Diablo, and the recently released Champions Online and Star Trek Online. You can also throw in the thousands that play online on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
These are gamers who take their games seriously and wouldn’t dare waste their time playing games as simple as Mafia Wars are Farmville. They are way too savvy for that. No! For these gamers the bigger and more complicated the better.
Many, if not most of them are you. You are the ones who frequent websites such as this to get the latest on the goings on and to offer your opinions on the industry. You are the ones who make the gaming industry a multi-billion dollar industry.
Going back to my friends list on Facebook and to a local coffeehouse I frequent, I had a chance to speak with some of these gamers and ask about this new wave in the world of online gaming. As with most of you who read this site, their answers and opinions shouldn’t surprise you.
“While I’m not really a Facebook game-application player, I do see why so many people play them,” said David Perrigo, 19, a student who also works at Portfolio Coffeehouse in Long Beach. “They are usually simple, easy to pick up games that people can play with their friends. I don’t necessarily think that Facebook is the new gaming way of the future, but more and more videogame developers are marketing a more casual social game. I don’t play these games because I find them uninteresting.
“I grew up on an N64 in the 90′s and play computer games every once and a while now. To me, I like having complexity in a game, but to somebody who hasn’t ever played a videogame before, these games are very appealing.”
This kid as a future in the gaming industry.
Perrigo’s may be one of the more generous opinions. Others were a little more forward and said that they don’t even know what some of the games on Facebook are and what the hoopla is all about.
“I’m supposing that these are some of those games that you manipulate a small set of rules to improve your score,” said Clancy Cramer, a Long Beach musician. “And therefore get some well deserved ‘upgrade’ or ‘level up’ in order to have the people who just started playing the game jealous that you have these earned and will put more time in, simply so they can know what it feels like to hold that gun or look good in that new cape. Count me out. If I wanted to spend time changing small things, moving characters around and all that, I’d rather clean my closet.”
And this from another Long Beach State student, Francis Dulguime.
“With so many avenues for gaming, this style it is as appealing as play with a ball and cup toy… From PC to console to even iPhone apps, Facebook games are just inferior, and have become a substitute for minesweeper and solitaire on the PC.”
Ouch!
That’s what I like about my friends – they never hold back how they really feel.
So there you have it. It looks like the debate on the present and future of online gaming wages on.
Me? I’m somewhere on the fence in all this. I don’t play the Facebook games because they don’t interest me and I don’t have the time. I’d rather go at it on Halo, Super Mario Bros. or one of the casino/poker games I have on our PC. But I’m sure if I let myself get sucked in like everyone else, I’d find them just as addictive as my friends and family do.
Whether you’re a serious gamer or one who likes something a lot less complicated and just as much fun, these games may have added a new dimension to the world of computer and video games. Is this more of a passing phase and will people move on to something else, or are these games here to stay as long as social networking sites like Facebook continue to dominate the internet?
Related posts
- Mafia Wars and Farmville: Is this the Future of Online Gaming or Just Harmless (and free) Fun? Part One
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- MMO Review: League of Extraordinary Espers
- Fallou- I mean Project: V13 Beta Coming In The Distant Future
- Review: Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited
- Mortal Online Beta an Experience.
- Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited; A Tale of Two Halflings
- EVE online Review
