What is it?
Are Social Games Legitimate?, moderated by Margaret Robertson of Edge Magazine and Hide & Seek, with Nabeel Hyatt of Zynga, Curt Bererton of ZipZapPlay, Ian Bogost of the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Daniel James of Three Rings.
What did I expect?
A bare-knuckle brawl between social game developers and those that don't view the social gaming space as a legitimate platform. Or, at the very least, a very strongly worded discussion about the legitimacy of social gaming.
What did I learn?
-Before the panel even started, the panel seemed to reach a consensus that, yes, social games are legitimate -- the real question is, are they evil?
-Robertson was accepting Tweets throughout the entire panel, reading off audience questions with the hashtag #gdcsocial.
-The panel was largely two-vs.-two: Ian Bogost and Daniel James against social games, and Nabeel Hyatt and Curt Bererton for social games.
-Bogost equated interacting with people through social games to consuming artificial sweeteners, calling into question how genuine those interactions are.
-Hyatt told a very interesting story about a 40-year old woman who started a CafeWorld "game club" of sorts, where she would meet up with her friends -- laptops in tow -- and all manage their cafes together. It is, more or less, a social gaming LAN party.
-Bererton cites social games as bringing people together, noting how his mother, nieces, and nephews have all passed him in his own social games.
-A point of contention was between James and Hyatt, over the true "social" nature of Three Rings' Puzzle Pirates. James notes that the game is more dependant on genuine social interaction between players, where Hyatt notes that, in a social Facebook game, players could interact more succinctly through wall posts and app requests.
-A recurring theme throughout the panel was the need to monetize social games to support creative decisions. ZipZapPlay's PlayCrafter was mentioned several times as a labor of love that wasn't economically viable for the developer.
-Bererton and Hyatt eventually argued that, like all new forms of entertainment, social gaming is undergoing some initial scrutiny. Hyatt went on to cite the flak that the comic books industry got in the early 50s at the congressional hearings.
-An audience member asked Hyatt if "cloning" ideas and monetizing those cloned ideas could be considered "evil." Hyatt explained that there are only so many ideas in the gaming space, and there was bound to be some overlap. Additionally, Zynga's continued support of their games constantly evolves them, and changes them from what they originally were at their inception.
Pull quotes:
-"I think when I look at how I approach this business and making games, I'm obviously delighted that we now have hundreds of millions of people playing games that weren't once before. However, I think that puts a tremendous responsibility on the game developers themselves." Daniel James, Three Rings
-"We're gamers at heart, and we truly believe that games are a great thing." Curt Bererton, ZipZapPlay
-"I'd much rather 'waste time' in a situation where I actually feel like I'm building something with my friends than dropping into a Halo match and shooting random strangers in the head." Nabeel Hyatt, Zynga
Source: Daily News from GamePro.com
Tuesday, March 1, 2011