TriplePoint PR

“How many pop-ups is too many pop-ups?” asks the Frisky Mongoose. Shouldn’t there be a more reasonable cap on pop-up notifications, so players can get busy playing (and spending money, for that matter)? Log-in interruptions are particularly bothersome in my opinion, but some games are offering smoother entry these days, so I’ll just assume that’s been noted and move along…

Beyond logging in, when you finally do get to tend to your social game goings-on, it seems like there’s a pop-up every 3-4 clicks. I have hundreds of trees on my farm, and if I want to harvest them all one-by-one, I should be able to without having an annoying pop-up in my face after every 4 trees!

No – I don’t want to send free gifts to my neighbors right now. If I did, I’d click on that enormous Gifts tab staring me in the upper eye. No – I don’t want to check out the new virtual items. If I do, I’ll go to the store.

Back to school already? Here are 25 games that will get your brain in shape before you know it. Even if you’re not headed back to the classroom, we can all use a good mental push up (and a fun distraction) from time to time.

Frisky Mongoose has compiled a list of 25 top titles for “brainstream” gamers both young and old. Did your favorites make the list? poweRBrands and Empire Avenue are 2 of our favorites, simple because they offer something totally unique and relevant for PR and marketing folks like us. Several – if not most – of these social, mobile and casual games are free, so put on your smarty pants and play learn your hearts out!

Facebook games:

poweRBrands by Reckitt Benckiser – “The first Facebook game of its kind, designed to test players’ marketing and business abilities, teach strategy and decision-making skills, and introduce users to the culture and challenges that face the company’s marketers every day.

It’s soapbox time again over at the ‘Goose – enjoy (and add your 2 cents in the comments below)!

Know why I prefer writing on the weekends? Because all the noise dies down around me – our unrelenting 24/7 news cycle doesn’t stop, but it slows down long enough for a person to clear their head…. During the week, we’re lucky to have time to think about how all the news “pieces” of the day fit into the bigger puzzle – not just in the tech & gaming industry, but anywhere.

Everyday we’re bombarded with new games, new features, new partnerships, milestones and announcements of all shapes and sizes. I’m speaking from experience in 3 crucial game industry roles: PR (public relations), journalist (news editor), and most important for the advice that follows, gaming/tech consumer.

This weekend over at Frisky Mongoose, I rambled off a lengthy list of reasons why people play social games, and I think its fair to say that Facebook game developers are doing a lot of things right.

Now can they change their click-only interfaces to feed players who are hungry for more?

People will click as many times as they need to make what they want out of a social game. But after all the shopping and buying of virtual items, sending gifts and helping neighbors, harvesting crops, feeding animals, cleaning and decorating…

I think it’s a bit harsh to say that social gamers are “weird”, as Newsweek recently put it… But you have to dig a little deeper than face(book) value to understand the attraction of playing casual games with actual friends on the (social) web.

In the end, it all boils down to the fact that people like playing games with their friends, and the Facebook platform allows new audiences to enjoy a “gaming community” atmosphere in a familiar setting (Facebook) with people they know, and games they can learn to play easily and that don’t require a large time investment to enjoy (social gamers are busy)!

It’s more fun to beat your friends than strangers, and social games can even lead to better connections with Facebook friends you don’t know very well, or otherwise wouldn’t have a chance/reason to interact with on a regular basis.

Continuing our efforts to engage in real discussions with the leading members of the gaming industry and beyond,  TriplePoint recently had the opportunity to chat with IGN’s on-camera host and staff writer, Jessica Chobot.  Since 2005, Jessica has become a key influencer within the gaming community and we were fortunate to talk with Jessica on her quick rise at IGN, social media, and oh yeah, the infamous PSP photo.

TP:  How did you find yourself in your current roles at IGN and Maxim?

JC: How I got my spot here at IGN is a long and intricate story, so I’ll give you the semi-quick version. I was going through a quarter-life crisis and working as a model for quick pocket money and at EB Games for discounts. I had pre-ordered a PSP and the day it was released was the same day I had a photo shoot. On the way to the shoot, I stopped by EB to pick up the PSP, took it with me to the studio and during a break, showed it off to everyone and was screwing around and taking goofy pictures. One ended up being the “PSP lick” picture.

Now that Facebook apps can no longer send notifications to users, social game developers are implementing new methods of keeping in touch with their players. Here’s an overview of recent game updates from a few top social titles, as reported on FriskyMongoose.com.

First, in case you’ve been under a rock, the background: Facebook notifications will cease to exist in their previous form, starting this week. According to Mashable, developers of games and other Facebook apps will now be required to either send email updates to users (assuming they’ve agreed to receive them), or hope that users will read about their updates via fan pages and new feeds.

An additional counter feature will also be relied on, which displays the number of app related notices you have next to the application’s name in your left menu navigation on the Facebook homepage (for those applications you have bookmarked). However this is as close to universal notifications as the updated system comes, making those who were tired of logging in to see a big 20+ digit in the corner of their screens very happy campers indeed.

One of the most popular new features is an email alert system. Facebook games are rewarding players who register with all kinds of exclusive in-game items, like new recipes, shells and armor.

Social Gold, the premier virtual economy platform, has recently shared some intriguing facts on users’ spending behavior within social games. Social Gold offers users a seamless in-game payments experience so players can purchase virtual goods without disrupting gameplay. New stats that were recently  posted on Social Gold’s blog show that their virtual economy platform increases conversion and drives repeat purchases.

Facebook is staggeringly huge. They have over 400 million active users, half of whom log in on any given day, over 500k active applications, and can rattle off plenty of other impressive totals for those who’d like to listen. As an open platform, they have provided companies like Zynga and PlayFish with millions of dollars in revenue, and provided many other developers with a shot at financial success. Despite these achievements, and despite an estimated company valuation that extends into the billions, monetization remains the one aspect of Facebook’s business that hasn’t matched their growth. With this week’s sure-to-be-critiqued changes, that last piece of the puzzle may be ready to fall into place. But first, a bit of background…

Mainstream Gamers

Gone are the days when gamers consisted only of nerdy guys in their mother’s basements. Social games on Facebook and MySpace have expanded the video games market, and these “social gamers” now consist of women, older people, and people who don’t even identify themselves as traditional gamers. Playdom seems to have tapped into yet another market with their Sorority Life game: sorority girls and their wannabes. Whether you are, or have always wanted to be, in a sorority, Sorority Life lets you live out your dreams via a very stylish avatar. But just how realistic is this game? As a former sorority gal, I’ll take a look at the game’s features and how they translate to real life.

The entertainment industry has become increasingly interactive as people take more control of the media they consume. Since the emergence of reality television, entertainment has become less passive with viewers playing an active role in the experience. As shows become readily available on the Internet, viewers have more power and more choice. Execs in the entertainment world are still tackling how to keep up with the evolving media space. Although the issue of monetization is yet to be resolved, developing an interactive and engaging experience to keep viewers’ attention will be essential.

Zynga announced today they are launching another Sweet Seeds for Haiti campaign in FarmVille, the enormously popular Facebook farming game, and some other Zynga favorites like Mafia Wars and Zynga Poker.

AP Photo/Matt Sayles

With all the buzz of 3D TV emerging out of last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, including ESPN and The Discovery Channel announcing plans to introduce two channels with 3D content, a veteran network was making plenty of headlines of its own.  By canceling Jay Leno’s 10 p.m. prime time talk show, a failed experiment that generated low ratings, NBC has found itself in a bit of a late night quagmire.

According to a CNN report, “The Jay Leno Show” ultimately had the plug pulled due to issues with affiliates, who had complained of terrible lead-in numbers for local news broadcasts. Now, NBC must figure out a way to incorporate its current set of late-night hosts (Conan O’ Brien, Jimmy Fallon, and the returning Leno) into the limited block of time that makes up its late night programming schedule.  Rumors have circulated that Leno will move to 11:35 p.m., O’Brien to 12:05 a.m., and Fallon to 1:05 a.m., but nothing has been finalized and the parties involved do not seem pleased.

Last month I wrote about an impending Facebook “revolution” – ranting about the proliferation of social game notifications and requests. I  talked about the need for change within Facebook’s growing games arena. I gave my recommendations. And…

All the while, Facebook was busy readying a solution of its own – ironically similar to the plan I proposed – the Facebook Games Dashboard.

VentureBeat says it will (re) organize your social gaming life. “Facebook is in the midst of redesigning how users find, interact with, and keep track of games on the social network. Called the ‘Game Dashboard,’ the new feature is Facebook’s attempt to play nice with social game developers, serve the interests of gamers, and at the same time stop games from ruining the experience for everybody else.”

As part of a major site overhaul, Facebook’s new gaming section looks to alleviate issues including spam-like messages (think “Kate just harvested a perfect bunch of Poinsettias”) and other social game communications that general users have begun working to ignore… These “push notifications” will no longer go into the general notifications channel/feed.

“This is a disruptive, challenging time in our industry, but there are opportunities for better collaborative innovation if we challenge the status quo…” – Malcom Gladwell

The web is changing. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter have become our new information and communication hubs. In the beginning , one of the biggest appeals of social games was their integration with existing social networks – the ability to log in to one site to conduct all your social stuff, including multiplayer gaming.

But now that social games have evolved into all-but standalone communities within social networks, and now that players have become more avid and interactive, AND now that social game developers have “mastered” the art of getting users to spam their friends… well now its time for change.

The New Face of Facebook

Facebook is taking the aggregation approach to new levels, increasingly expanding to a “whole web product” – a complete social experience that seamlessly spans web, mobile and desktop to provide real-time, customizable social networking any way you want it.