Social Gaming

Dear Mr.  Tanz,

I thought your article “The Curse of Cow Clicker: How a Cheeky Satire Became a Videogame Hit” was very interesting in describing the changes occurring in the gaming world.  I wouldn’t consider myself to be a “gamer”, however I’d be lying if I said I never played any video games in my life.  Before trying Second Life, I had never participated in a massive multiplayer game like that because I never really saw the point.  In my mind, playing one of these games for hours didn’t get you anywhere.  I would rather put my effort into something where I knew I would see results.  That’s why more traditional games with levels and a storyline interested me because I could track my progress and have a continued interest in the game.  Without this bringing me back, I saw myself becoming bored with games quickly.  I found it funny that Bogost’s big break came from something he didn’t really intend to do.  Creating a satirical game was perfect for him but even he couldn’t have predicted the way it turned out.  However it does make sense though.   I think the main reason it was so successful was because of its location on the internet.  Sure there are millions of online games to play but there are only so many to play with while on Facebook.  These types of social games are perfect for our society today.  The games can be played quickly with not much attachment to them and best of all, you can see which games your friends are playing too.  This spreads interest in the popular games very quickly and keeps people coming back to see who’s playing what and who has the highest score.  With most other gaming systems becoming less popular, I can see social games growing in the future.  

Sincerely,

Chris Imperiale