Business of casual games, hockey, and Bogglific

I actually gave a presentation on the business of casual online games at work today in a brownbag. It was fun to prepare -- but also let me know how out of my element I am when it comes to uncovering reliable market research data on the internet. I think that the basic figures (in 2011 video game revenues will grow to a $47B, with online revenues accounting for a cool $13B of that total). Man, we spend a lot of money on games :)

After my hockey game I decided to chill out in front of Bogglific for a few matches before the ratings update tomorrow afternoon. I added about 20 games, mostly against higher rated players from overseas that were taking advantage of the time zone difference. I held my own and won my fair share, so hopefully I'll finally cross the 1400 hurdle and leave the < 1400 games behind.

Oh, and I needed to chill out after my hockey game: I managed to get two stupid penalties.

Simpsons Game arrived today

I was going to jump into Puzzle Quest and try and make it further, but that will have to wait.

The Simpsons Game just arrived via Gamefly.com. I'll have to check it out first.

Brief report to follow (before I head out to hockey).

Sports and social gaming

Sunday is a day about non-videogame games for me. I watch football (and participate in a fantasy football league, which is kind of like a videogame) and play ice hockey.

I'm also taking my turns in Scrabulous (still undefeated) and hoping that my vanquished foes will ask for rematches soon.

It's also very "social gaming" kind of day. A lot of games I play are single player experiences -- puzzlers, RPGs, action adventure. I consume them like I consume books, movies, tv, music, etc. It's about the content.

Social gaming is much more about the context. It's the people that make it fun -- more specifically, a mixture of competition, cooperation, agreed upon norms and rules, and decent match making. With all the things that must go right to make a social game fun, it's amazing that they ever work out in some ways. When you bring 30 people together to play hockey, even one or two "bad eggs" can really spoil the fun for everyone in ways that are hard to correct. After you've got the gear on, have driven a half hour (or more), and have payed your league fees, you don't quite have the same freedom to drop from one session and join another as you do while playing an online FPS or RTS.