游戏邦注：本文作者为Libe Goad，文章主要讲述游戏精英John Carmack对社交游戏的看法。

carmack from games.com

你或许对John Carmack这个名字感到陌生，但他是经典电子游戏《毁灭战士》系列（游戏邦注：John Romero也是其中参与者）、《雷神之锤》和《德军总部3D》的参与制作者之一。去年，Carmack推出了iOS游戏《Rage HD》，这表明iPad和iPhone能够成为游戏载体。目前他正在制作《Rage》，这是款后启示录射击游戏，今年底将会入驻PC、Xbox 360和PlayStation 3平台。

和Carmack交谈过程中，我们发现他喜欢突破硬件束缚，创造更多沉浸式游戏体验。90年代初期，他曾让《毁灭战士》突破既有平台，随后他又将《Rage HD》推向iOS。所以我们自然很好奇这位游戏先驱对社交游戏的看法，这类新型游戏将数百万普通大众瞬间转变为游戏粉丝。

你对社交游戏有什么看法？

iOS和Facebook游戏共有的一个有趣特点是，多数玩家都是希望通过电子设备开展有趣活动，但他们又和硬核玩家不同，他们并不希望周末整天抱着掌机玩游戏。

硬核玩家对休闲游戏嗤之以鼻，他们认为，“这不是真正的游戏，真正的游戏需要价格500美元的处理器。”

社交游戏如何改变游戏行业？

我喜欢这类体验，仿佛回到电子游戏时代。“真正玩家”就好比是个生活方式决定，我不是真正的玩家，我是个工程师，我周末不会花20个小时玩游戏。我能够理解玩家希望通过iPhone玩会儿游戏，从中获得乐趣。

虽然MMO社交游戏和休闲体验在其他领域有所重叠，但它们是截然不同的体验。《愤怒的小鸟》就是个很好的例子，“这不过是款有趣的游戏。”它没有AAA巨作所需的策略，但却掳获5000万玩家的芳心。

社交游戏是够足够完善？

这并非行家游戏体验，但值得注意的一点是玩家进行消费活动的游戏类型都不是行家体验。从某些方面来看，Facebook游戏就像沃尔玛大众购物经历一样的游戏体验，但沃尔玛却因此成了全球最成功的公司之一。

walmart from games.com

硬核群体（游戏邦注：不论是开发商，还是玩家）对待社交游戏的态度有点酸葡萄心理。但其中还是有人选择融入这类游戏，而非转投其他游戏，从中获得乐趣。这类游戏未来带给硬核玩家的影响会更大。这不是我所从事的游戏类型，但它们确实带给玩家很多价值。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

John Carmack: Facebook offers the ‘Walmart experience of gaming’

by Libe Goad

You might not be familiar with the name John Carmack, but he is the one of the brains behind the classic video game series Doom (the other brain is John Romero who we recently interviewed), Quake, Wolfenstein 3D. Last year, Carmack released Rage HD for iOS which showed that the iPad and iPhone could be taken seriously as a gaming device. Now, he’s working on Rage, a post-apocalyptic shoot-em-up that will arrive on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this year.

When you talk to Carmack, you quickly get the sense that he finds an immense sense of pleasure of pushing the boundaries of hardware to create more immersive game experiences. He did that with Doom in the early ’90s and then again with Rage HD for IOs. So I was naturally curious to learn what this gaming pioneer has to say about new phenomenon that has turned millions of regular people into game devotees almost overnight — social games.

What’s your take on social games?

I think one of the interesting things we’re seeing from both the iOS and Facebook games is that there is a large range of people who want to do something fun on their electronic devices, but they’re not the hardcore market that wants to sit all weekend with a controller in their hand and and play a game.

We’ve got the hardcore people who look down their noses at the casual gaming stuff and say, “That’s not a real game. Real games require $500 GPUs.”

How are social games changing the industry?

I love that it’s harkening back to the arcade experience. It seems like “serious gamer” is a lifestyle decision, and I’m not a serious gamer, I’m an engineer, and I’m not spending 20 hours over the weekend playing games. I have a lot of empathy for the people who just want to play a fun game on their phone for a little while.

The MMO social game experience is different from the casual experience, although they have their overlap in different areas. Seeing Angry Birds is a prime example of, “it’s just fun to go do that.” It doesn’t have all the traits of what a triple-A blockbuster game has, but it’s got 50 million people that are having fun with it.

Are social games good enough?

It’s not a connoisseur experience, but it’s important to recognize that most of what people consume in the world is not a connoisseur experience. In some ways, the Facebook games are kind of the Walmart experience of gaming, but Walmart is one of the most successful companies in the entire world.

You get a little bit of the sour grapes from some of the hardcore crowd on social games, from both developers and users. But there are people that are sitting there doing that instead of playing other games and they’re having fun. More power to ‘em. It’s not my market, but they’re producing value for a lot of people. （Source：games）