随着社交网站逐渐融入生活的方方面面，相信很快它也将融入游戏领域。现在，拥有Playstation 3的玩家就可以使用Facebook账号连接PlayStation Network（PSN）。

尽管目前玩家只能发布类似收集到的游戏奖杯或Playstation Store购物记录等讯息。将来，随着索尼和其他平台制造商逐步向游戏开发商开放Facebook API，游戏中将融入更多的社交元素。通过Facebook API，玩家可以将游戏中的各种信息添加到自己的资料中，而玩家在Facebook网站的照片或朋友列表也将会提取到游戏中。

matrix-bust

尽管Facebook此次和索尼公司合作引起了多方关注，但实际上任天堂Wii在此前就采用过类似的方法将玩家联系在一起。玩家将Wii好友加入自己的朋友列表中，“朋友们”就会在游戏中出现。虽然Wii虚拟人物的长相有点恐怖，但我总是很高兴看到朋友们聚集在人群中或出现自己身边。目前这种功能的制作还比较拙劣，但玩家可以在其中找寻自己的朋友，在游戏中进行各种互动。

另外，玩家还可以自行决定PlayStation游戏与Facebook如何分享信息，无需烦恼隐私泄漏问题。玩家可以分别对每款游戏如何分享资料进行设定，毕竟有时候我们并不想在Facebook上汇报自己进行的每一款游戏。

然而，社交互动也就意味着游戏将跨越媒介平台，电影Matrix就是一个成功的例子。电影，游戏和动画的结合可以讲述一个更加完整的故事背景，而游戏还可以融入更多的互动和功能。

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现在，Matrix特许经营权除电影外，还包括漫画、动画和游戏。电影的大受欢迎可以刺激影迷将目光投注到他们之前并不感兴趣的动画、游戏等领域，经销商和玩家们都可以从中得益。越多不同的媒介加入其中，玩家就越会和朋友一起分享。然后，分享的玩家越多，游戏和网站也越受欢迎，传播性越广，越来越多的信息来往于Facebook等社交网站和游戏之间。

但是，我对Matrix这种跨媒介发展方式也有一个担忧：如果我无法体验完整的故事呢？如果我并没有该故事所涉略的全部媒介平台设备呢？

现在的许多游戏在我们刚开始玩的时候并没有完整版，尤其是Facebook等社交网站上的游戏。如此一来，玩家反而可以通过互相分享解锁游戏内容，这是一种十分有趣的功能。但是，强迫玩家使用这种功能却不应该的。有时为了体验完整的游戏内容，玩家不得不购买各种游戏设备。

虽然这样玩家就可以更深入到这款游戏中，但其实将玩家融入游戏中，允许他们在游戏中有所创造这个是一个相当实时的工作已经和多人在线游戏更加靠近了。

跨媒介的开发方式会令玩家失去部分有趣的游戏体验。目前，许多平台游戏都将经理集中在开发多人游戏功能。如果跨媒体平台的这种集成将更加基准化，这样的话很多用户的选择就会被评论家的观点所左右。

游戏中可以采用什么方式在非多人的情况下提高游戏双方的互动性呢？排行榜是其一，但如何与其他玩家分享背后故事，支线剧情等游戏资料呢？

显然，将RPG这类允许玩家自由创建角色与允许通过PSN列表连接其他玩家的Facebook游戏相结合是个不错的想法，然而在执行该功能的同时要注意把握尺度，否则会对游戏玩家和Facebook用户造成干扰。游戏开发商将互动元素融入游戏时要注意维持平衡，Matrix在这方面处理得当，但在现在的社交媒介时代分寸则有点难以把握。

Matrix的夸媒介游戏之所以取得成功是因为他没有从原版故事中断章取义。电影为人们提供了最完整的故事体验。如果你曾看过动漫，或者玩过该款游戏，你会发现电影中的许多小细节有自己的独特之处。

当我在电影中注意到其他媒介故事的细节时，这就好像是我与作者共同知道一个秘密。这令我有种与众不同的感觉，这也正是游戏开发商开发跨平台体验的目的所在。让玩家融入其中，让玩家觉得自己与众不同。要实现这一效果并不容易，开发商事前要经过一番深思熟虑。(本文由游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译)

With an expansion of the social networks into every aspect of our lives it was only a matter of time before we saw it starting to integrate into our more conventional gaming. Those who own a Playstation 3 will already know that they can now connect their Playstation Network, (PSN), account to their Facebook account.

Although currently all you can post are your trophies that you’ve collected from games and your recent Playstation Store purchases, the future may yet hold even more integration as Sony and other console manufacturers open up the Facebook API to games developers. This means that potentially games companies could introduce all many more social elements that interact between your Facebook account and the game. The access to the Facebook API will allow games to push information to your profile and also pull information from it, like images and your friend list, into the game.

In-Game Friends

While it is big news that Facebook and Sony are getting together for this, this isn’t the first time this kind of thing has been done. The Nintendo Wii was the first to have this great idea of bringing people together while giving them complete contro within a single platforml. As you added friends to your Wii friends list they would begin showing up in your games or in the parade.

Despite the Wii avatars being a bit scary looking, for some reason it always made me happy to see a friend in a crowd or to be exercising next to them. It was cheesy, but it worked and you’d find yourself looking for your friends. You were in complete control and yet you got to interact with your friends in games.

Players will have control over the Playstation games sharing their information with Facebook and pulling information from it, which should solve any concerns about privacy. Being able to turn it on and off per game or to be prompted may be a good option also, because you may not want to share out or bring in information to and from Facebook for every game you play.

Cross Media Storytelling

Nonetheless, what social integration could mean is that games will move into be cross media. It was done with the Matrix movies and it was actually pretty good. There were the movies, games and comics all working together to create a more rounded out story and background. If this is applied to games then it could mean more interaction and more features.

The Matrix franchise included comics, anime and games. The popularity of the movies managed to introduce fans to other media types that previously they may have not previously been been interested or exposed to.

This has obvious benefits to both the franchise owner and the players. If the different media types only add and don’t take away from the experience, then players would share with their friends.

Of course the more the players share then the more popular and the wider the game and network spreads. Pushing and pulling data to and from Facebook, or any social network, means that word of mouth is king. Get it right and you’re riding high. Get it wrong and you could doom your franchise, or at least the integration into the network.
Platform Lock-in Should Not Lock Friends OutI have one simple reservation to this and it is something that kind of concerned me about the cross media population with the Matrix movies also; what if you don’t get the entire story if you don’t investigate all of the media options for the game? Will the game stand on its own and give you everything you want out of it? Will you miss some of the features and story if you don’t have access

to the selected social media platform?

With many games these days you don’t get the whole package when you start playing. This is especially true on games played on social networks like Facebook.

Something that would be quite fun to use this feature for would be to unlock parts of the game through sharing. I would really enjoy unlocking pieces of story that link me to my friends and fellow

game players.

However, forcing players to use the feature would certainly be the wrong path to go down.The last thing I want is to be forced to do something outside of the game in order to have critical game devices.

So much could be done to expand the story and use the players to give a game more depth. However, the ability to make players part of the story and allowing them to create some of the story is something that could really work. It would be similar to a multiplayer mode for those who want a bit more depth to their gaming experience.

Cross media could easily leave some people in a place of missing out on good parts of games. Could the future be that a game will be judged on having these cross media platforms when they may not really have a lot to do with the game?

Currently many console games are judged on having the feature of multiplayer. This is something that many console games trade and focus on. If the integration into social media platforms becomes the norm then could people be missing out on something that may otherwise be good just because a reviewer does or doesn’t like this feature?

Simultaneous Plotlines and Tangents

What would be good to see is if games developers can find more unique and inventive ways for players to interact that doesn’t involve multiplayer, yet still enhances the game for both players.

Leaderboards is one thing, but how about more character detail, such as backstory and subplots, to be shared with other players?

Certainly RPGs that allow for character creation could benefit from allowing players to create more freely their characters’ backgrounds and allow linking to other players that may not be on their PSN list, but can be found through Facebook. Certainly there are as many good possibilities as there are bad.

What needs to be thought about is how to implement this feature that spreads the game’s franchise without degrading the game for those that don’t interact with it — it shouldn’t be annoying and invading for the gamers or the Facebook users. A balance needs to be struck and it will be a tightrope that could be hard to walk and get right. The Matrix franchise managed the balance very well, but in this age of social media it may be a bit more difficult to manage.

What made the Matrix cross media story parts work so well is that it did not cannibalize the original story. The movies were the core and could be easily consumed without losing anything at all of the experience. If you did go further and read the comics and watched the anime and played the game you were rewarded with these pieces of story that made little things in the movies mean so much more.

It felt like a little secret between me and the writers when I noticed some small piece that related from the other media to the movies. I felt like I’d gone down the rabbit hole and I knew more than other people watching them. This involved me as a consumer with the story and the franchise more.

Essentially it made me feel special. That’s what they did right by going cross media. They engaged me and involved me without degrading the core.

This should be the aim of anyone taking a game cross different media levels. Engage the player, make them feel special and don’t alienate them. Not an easy task, but it can be done with some forethought. （Source：SearchEngineWatch）