flash-games posts

Flash Games Summit looks at social gaming

by Rubi Bayer Mar 9th 2010 at 9:00AM

The arena of social gaming is a hotly contested one, with two equally enthusiastic schools of thought on whether or not they even count as MMOs. Regardless of your opinion, social gaming is here to stay, and more and more developers are turning their attention to the games (and the profits they potentially represent.) The very nature of social gaming allows development teams to take it in either direction: a distinctly non-MMO direction such as Bejeweled, or the ever-growing MMO format.

It's a relatively new and growing market, and several developers sat down earlier today to take a look at it during the Flash Games Summit. Moderator Sana Choudray of Traffichoney led a discussion of what is needed for a successful social game, as well as where they stand now and where they will go in the future.

While the developers acknowledged that social gaming is lacking at the moment, they all agreed that it's only going to grow over the next year or two. The full discussion is well worth a read.

Tags: facebook, FacebookGames, flash-games, flash-games-summit, sana-choudray, social-games, social-gaming

BioWare CEO is confident in the state of PC gaming

by Seraphina Brennan Jan 20th 2009 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, News items

BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka is standing behind PC games, directly opposing all of the naysayers that shout the doom of PC gaming from on high.

A recent article over at Computer And Video Games.com pointed to Muzyka's confident stance as well as his expression of changing the definition of PC gaming, such as counting in the large growth of MMOs, flash games, and other casual experiences that any PC user can easily access.

"MMOs are one way that's occurring... And there are more people playing flash-based games and casual games, even core games that are played in a casual way, so maybe [they have] a more core experience and you only play them for short bursts or for half an hour or something," Muzyka was quoted as saying.

One only needs to look at the success of games such as World of Warcraft or any other MMO, as well as the very healthy Steam distribution service to note that PC gaming is far from dead.

Tags: bioware, casual-games, ceo, computer-and-video-games, flash-games, mmos, pc-games, pc-gaming, ray-muzyka, steam

OurWorld wants casual gamers to pay and play

by Seraphina Brennan May 8th 2008 at 10:30AM

Filed under: At a glance, New titles, Opinion, Browser, Casual, Virtual worlds

The new kids on the scene, FlowPlay, have recently come out with their first creation - OurWorld. Combining the elements of your standard virtual space with the addictive qualities of casual flash based games, OurWorld hopes to keep you playing the night away.

The game is built from the ground up for the average gamer by combining addictive flash games, like Raft Wars and Storm The House, with a virtual space very similar to Habbo Hotel or Club Penguin. You walk around and talk with other people, but the main pull is to play these flash games to receive "flow", the in-game currency. You use the flow to spin the prize wheel, which gives you experience to level your avatar and wear new clothing as well as coins to buy more clothing.

Tags: casual, flash-games, flowplay, ourworld, subscription, virtual-worlds

Mytopia reinvents Yahoo! Games for the MySpace generation

by Brenda Holloway Mar 25th 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Betas, New titles, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual

Are casual, social games the wave of the future? In years to come, will we lovers of the swinging sword, the flashing fireball and the gigantic gun be left reminiscing about the "good old days" as we sign on for another evening of massively multiplayer bingo? The makers of Mytopia took a look into their crystal ball, saw the success of MySpace and Facebook and casual-game havens like Popcap, Yahoo! and Neopets and said, "These great tastes... would taste great together!"

Thus was born Mytopia, a Flash-based virtual world where you can create your own super-deformed avatar (like Wii's Miis) and play popular board and card games with people from around the world, build friends lists, send email, and gamble away virtual money challenging other players to backgammon, chess, Sudoku and several other similar games. It works not only as a standalone web site, but also as an application you can install in Facebook, MySpace or Bebo. No matter how you arrive in Mytopia, though, you'll be able to play with everyone else -- there's only one game world shared by all.

Mytopia has a cheerful art style, bouncy music, and well-rendered board games. What it does not have, though, is bloody avatar fights in the Battledome. Come on. Even Neopets has that.

[Via Techcrunch]

Tags: backgammon, bebo, chess, facebook, flash, flash-games, mii, myspace, mytopia, neopets, popcap, popcap-games, sudoku, wii, yahoo, yahoo-games

The future of Disney Online: An interview with SVP Steve Parkis

by Dan O'Halloran Feb 28th 2008 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, MapleStory, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, Pirates of the Caribbean Online, Club Penguin, News items, Toontown Online, Habbo Hotel, Free-to-play, Casual, Virtual worlds, Free Realms, Hello Kitty Online, FusionFall

Last week, Disney Online merged multiple online divisions into a single entity now called Disney Online Studios. I had a chance to talk to the Senior Vice President in charge of it all, Steve Parkis, about the vision for one of the world's most recognizable brands as it tackles the fast-rising casual online gameplay market.

Before now, Disney's online efforts spanned over many different areas: developing Flash based casual games; acquiring the online community, Club Penguin; and building the successful family-oriented MMORPGs ToonTown Online and Pirates of the Caribbean Online. Steve's mission is to bring all of those together to make Disney.com a dedicated casual games destination.

He believes that casual players are more than just Women 35+ and that there is a large, untapped market of players that Disney's brand can draw in. But how does he plan to do that?

Tags: cars-online, disney-fairies, disney-online, disney-online-studios, disney.com, featured, flash-games, jack-sparrow, pixar, pixie-hollow, steve-parkis