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每日观察:Facebook推新功能 社交游戏层出不穷(4.21)

发布时间:2011-04-21 18:01:50 Tags:,,,

1)iPhone版《FarmVille》玩家唉声连连,而Zynga似乎有所察觉,开始采取相应对策。据悉,全新简约版手机社交游戏《FarmVille》已在酝酿之中。新版《FarmVille》的体验模式将借鉴手机版《Mafia Wars Atlantic City》,仅为玩家提供少量体验选择。玩家可为新版《FarmVille》的设计献谋献策,Zynga将参考相关意见进行游戏的服务功能设置。

farmville mobile

farmville mobile

2)据Business Insider 1月份的数据显示,Facebook的MAU现已突破6亿,而其中有近40% 的Facebook用户为Zynga游戏玩家(游戏邦注:这一数据对于Facebook开发者来说史无前例)。就用户来规模说,Zynga握有Facebook半壁江山,其是否能在平台上“为所欲为”呢?这完全取决于Facebook对此所持的态度。目前来看,Facebook完全有能力采取措施减少Zynga在其平台的用户覆盖面。但是如果Facebook没有及时采取措施,难保Zynga日后不会掌握平台主动权。

3)Facebook目前开始对上月新推的Discover New Games工具模块(游戏邦注:新功能可以显示好友游戏体验信息以及用户获悉相关游戏信息的意愿)展开测试工作。

去年9月份,公司首席执行官马克·扎克伯格就曾就游戏玩家和非玩家之间的分歧发表相关看法,“平台消极体验源于游戏。有些用户喜欢体验游戏,但有些用户不喜欢体验游戏,他们认为游戏资讯就是垃圾信息。超过2亿Facebook用户是游戏玩家。深入调查会发现,5大最受用户欢迎的Facebook体验内容包含游戏,而5大最不受欢迎的体验内容也包含游戏。”

More Often Less Often Blurred

More Often Less Often Blurred

Facebook对用户的信息发布做了相应调整,只有安装游戏的用户才会看到相应的App Discovery信息及其他安装游戏好友的动态信息。此外,Facebook还添加了Discover New Games模块,旨在帮助开发商获取新用户。但这一功能对未安装或者鲜少登陆游戏的用户来说毫无作用。测试界面还设置了“How often would you like to see ‘Discover New Games’?”问题,并为提供More Often”和“Less Often”两个选择按钮,Facebook会根据用户的反馈信息,选择性显示“Friends’ Photo Albums”和“Unread Messages”两个不同版块。

4)手机游戏开发商Gameloft开始进军Facebook游戏领域,扩充自身版图。公司日前推出了新款Facebook游戏《N.O.V.A. Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance: Elite》(游戏邦注:这是一款融入社交功能的第一人称射击游戏)。游戏中,玩家可以自建朋友通讯录,分享各自进展和收获。《N.O.V.A.: Elite》是一款免费游戏,但玩家可以通过付费晋升角色等级。据悉,Gameloft今年将对各大社交平台展开全面攻势。

NOVA

NOVA

5)电视游戏开发商Two Way Media日前宣布公司同Ingenious Media(游戏邦注:其为投资和咨询公司)达成了开发和融资协议,旨在进军电视社交游戏领域。Two Way和Ingenious Media表示,协议主要围绕Two Way的社交游戏和连网电视项目,双方将共享其中的商业利益。据悉,Ingenious已于2007年收购Two Way公司,因此双方此举的真正意图着实令人难以琢磨,但可能是为了将Two Way资本化,迎接新的发展机会。

Britain’s Got Talent

Britain’s Got Talent

6)LOLapps日前推出了新款社交游戏《Ravenstone Mine》(游戏邦注:其为《Ravenwood Fair》的扩充版本)。游戏出自《毁灭战士》(Doom)联合创始人John Romero之手。LOLapps此举同Zynga推出《FarmVille English Countryside》如出一辙。既然《魔兽世界》等MMO游戏可以通过不断更新内容来维持生命力,那么社交游戏自然也可以通过扩充游戏来巩固自身地位。

7)本周DAU(日活跃用户)快速增长Facebook游戏榜单中,Playdom凭借《Gardens of Time》(游戏邦注:这是一款隐藏物品游戏)荣登榜首。《Gardens of Time》于今年4月7日问世,游戏在不到2周内,DAU就接近60万,其DAU有望在未来1、2天内超越Playdom最炙手可热的《Wild Ones》。数据显示,目前每天有50%的MAU(月活跃用户)玩家体验这款游戏,当然这一数据未来将呈下滑趋势,这是新推出游戏的共性。

Gardens of Time

Gardens of Time

本周势头迅猛的另一款游戏是《Zombie Lane》,其为Digital Chocolate最新作品,游戏自3月底发行以来,迅速窜红,游戏不到1个月,DAU和MAU就分别突破51.6万和220万。这是继《Millionaire City》之后,Digital Chocolate出品的第二款最受欢迎的热门游戏。(本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译,转载请注明来源:游戏邦)

top gainers this week

top gainers this week

1)Zynga toying with new FarmVille mobile game, survey suggests

Mobile farmers, take heed: Zynga has heard your cries, lambasting FarmVille for iPhone. Well, sort of. According to a new survey by the omnipotent developer, a new, lighter version of FarmVille mobile is in the works. This new, stripped down FarmVille will operate much like Mafia Wars Atlantic City does on mobile devices, offering only a few options.

But that’s exactly where you come in. Zynga wants to know which services are worth including, asking everything from the obvious (harvest time updates) to the obscure (acquiring collectibles). The survey even includes a mock-up design (pictured) that looks strikingly similar to Playfish’s My Empire mobile app.

Speaking freely, you can imagine this isn’t exactly what many had in mind when Zynga announced its aggressive approach to mobile. Improved mobile gaming experiences isn’t necessarily streamlining–isn’t it moving forward? And to strip a game down to its most basic features, albeit in a fancy menu system with fun artwork, is arguably taking a few steps back. But don’t be alarmed, folks, as this survey (which you can take here) could easily be a fraction of an idea rather than one that’s raring to go.(Source:Games.com

2)40% of Facebook Users Are Zynga Users…Just Zynga

According to a January 2011 Business Insider article, Facebook has over 600 million monthly active users. After learning of this, our team decided to put that statistic to the test by comparing it to the monthly active users of Zynga. Following some quick math, the team learned that around 40% of Facebook users are also Zynga gamers.

Think about it this way: Zynga, the social gaming powerhouse, has almost reached 50% of all active users of Facebook. Not only is this number historical for a Facebook developer, but it also shows how much control the company has over the social gaming industry. No other developer has had this much command in the social gaming industry before.

If Zynga has this much control over the Facebook population, could Zynga get what it wants from Facebook? This question relies heavily on Facebook’s reaction to Zynga’s power. As of now, Facebook has the power to minimize Zynga’s affect on its population by careful measures. However, if action is not taken soon enough, could Zynga possibly get whatever it wants from Facebook? If Facebook does place regulations on Zynga, would Zynga move its games elsewhere, which would move Facebook’s population to another social networking website?(Source:Socialtimes

3)Facebook Launches New Feature Asking Users How Often They Want to Discover New Games

Facebook is testing a new version of the Discover New Games sidebar module introduced last month. Along with showing friends who play a certain game, this version asks users if they want to hear about games more or less often.

How much game content to serve to non-gamers and how to determine who is a gamer have been two long standing questions for Facebook. Now the site looks to be asking users directly, rather than deduce the answer from their behavior.

At a press event in September 2010, CEO Mark Zuckerberg explained the issue presented by the rift between gamers and non-gamers. “One of the biggest drivers of negative experiences has been games. There’s all these people who want to play games, and all these people who don’t want to play, who view it as spam. Two hundred million people or more are playing games on the site. When you poll users, one of the top 5 things they like is games, and one of the top 5 things they don’t like is games.”

Up until then stories generated by the in-game actions of friends had clogged the news feeds of people who didn’t play games. Facebook then altered the feed such that users would only see App Discovery stories about friends installing games, and stories from friends about in-game actions of games they’ve already installed. This significantly reduced the virality of many games to the dismay of developers.

Some developers complained that there was no way to acquire new users without paying for advertisements, so Facebook introduced the Discover New Games module. However, those who’ve never or only occasionally installed a game might find the module useless.

This tested interface asks “How often would you like to see ‘Discover New Games’?” with buttons to respond “More Often” or “Less Often”. This allows users to inform Facebook of their preference so it can show them different modules such as “Friends’ Photo Albums” or “Unread Messages”.(Source:Inside Social Games

4)Gameloft N.O.V.A. Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance: Elite now on Facebook

Gameloft, the creator of many mobile phone games for different platforms has decided to expand its horizons and create games for Facebook. One of their established 3D first person shooter franchises, N.O.V.A. has made the transition from the tiny screen to the big screen. The company as announced the release of N.O.V.A. Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance: Elite on Facebook.

N.O.V.A.: Elite is a halo-inspired first person shooter now available as an app on the world’s most popular social network. In incorporates the gameplay of the original N.O.V.A. game, but includes some social networking features to stand out; most noticeably, the ability to create friend lists and to share their progress and rewards (for bragging rights of course). And just like most online social network games, N.O.V.A.: Elite can also be played for free, but users can also choose to spend money to upgrade their characters.

N.O.V.A.: Elite is the latest game from Gameloft to make the transition to Facebook, but don’t expect it to be the last – the company has plans to launch an entire lineup of titles covering all genres for social networks this year. Play it on Facebook.(Source:Ubergizmo

5)Two-Way Media Financed By Ingenious To Make Social TV Games

TV games maker Two Way Media says it has done a “development and funding deal” from the Ingenious Media investment and advisory firm to fund a foray in to social TV games production.

Two Way already makes games for broadcast shows like X Factor, Play Your Cards Right and Britain’s Got Talent, playable on cable, satellite and IPTV platforms. It’s the latter which is set to explode, through new platform opportunities like YouView and all manner of emerging set top boxes and integrated systems from TV manufacturers.

Two Way and ingenious say their deal “focuses on Two Way’s social gaming and connected TV projects” and they will “share in the considerable commercial potential”

Ingenious already acquired Two Way back in 2007, so it’s not clear what this new deal is but it’s likely a capitalisation of Two Way in order to seek out this new opportunity. (Source:Paidcontent

6)LOLapps’ Ravenwood Fair goes for gold today with Ravenstone Mine

If you’re looking for a little darkness to your social games that doesn’t involve vampires, LOLapps finally launches its Ravenwood Fair expansion, Ravenstone Mine, today. VentureBeat reports that the game, led by Doom co-creator John Romero will add an underworld to game, which enjoys 11.8 million monthly players since its release in Nov. 2010. The game follows Zynga’s FarmVille English Countryside in the trend of keeping relevant with a major content release.

And it’s a logical step: Just like major content updates have revived MMOs like World of WarCraft for years, so why can’t it do the same for social games? It’s a gamble that Romero (who just opened his own studio, Loot Drop) and LOLapps are obviously willing to take. And what a gamble it is. Players will dive deep into the mines beneath the Ravenwood Fair to explore, mine new resources, uncover ruins and other mysteries.(Source:Games.com

7)Playdom Commands This Week’s List of Fastest-Growing Facebook Games by DAU With Gardens of Time

This week’s list of fastest growing games on Facebook based on daily active users features Playdom front and center in the number one position. The new hidden object game Gardens of Time has been showing a fascinating amount of growth. Launched on April 7th, Gardens of Time has gained almost 600,000 DAU in under two short weeks. This highly polished and fun game is on its way to surpass Playdom’s most popular game Wild Ones in daily activity within a day or two.

According to AppData, our metrics platform for tracking new Facebook games like this, the game is currently seeing 50% of its monthly active users logging in each day to play. Of course, this number is likely to go down quite far, as is usual for newly launched applications — but still, it’s an early indicator that Playdom has a game with good potential. For sake of comparison, Playdom’s other new game, Deep Realms, sank to under 17% DAU/MAU after two weeks.

Zombie Lane, the newest Digital Chocolate title, has still been going strong and climbing up the charts. Having launched in late March, this zombie-slaughtering sim game has been on a direct path to popularity ever since. Though there is nothing overly original about Zombie Lane aside from a fresh theme, there is something that just feels right while playing it. Everything is in its place — well planned out quests, fun objectives, an enticing game loop, and cheerful and polished graphics and gameplay. It’s no surprise that Zombie Lane has over 516,000 DAU and 2.2 million MAU in less than a month. It’s a well done game and is now Digital Chocolate’s second most popular game after Millionaire City. Zombie Lane shows that developers don’t have to take too many risks; there is still a place for a well-designed game that sticks to the tried and true but delivers a high quality experience.

Stay tuned for our look at the top emerging Facebook games on Friday, and the top weekly gainers by monthly active users on Monday.(Source:Inside Social Games


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