A presentation by Jeroen Elfferich on Games as Social Objects at the Games Go Social event in Amsterdam in 2008, part of PICNIC

1. Social Gaming Technology since '98
Broadband
Ubiquitous access (web, mobile, console, TV, radio) Any connected device, anywhere, anytime
Rich internet clients
Clients & partners
Online widgets
Infinite, cloud-based storage and scalability
Location aware devices and infrastructure
Social networks as aggregators of daily online life
Introduction
Building blocks
API access to any social object
Open profile
RSS feeds
Sync games across web, mobile, console and broadcast
web-based content creation &
management tools
Personalization, social filtering and semantic web
From game to game
From device tot device Be among friends
From place to place
With live, prime-time TV
'a map of the relationships between
The Ultimate Social Game
WIth hundreds of thousands of other viewers individuals' (Clay Shirky)
To be the best in the country 'object centered sociality' (Jyri Z)
Play along
And the best among your friends WRONG
'social networks are just made up of people'
Social Network
Don't forget about traditional traditional
and traditional new media WTF?
'he who has the most contacts wins'
Using your phone
Reason for affiliation
On a screen outdoors Play in public
People connect via shared objects
Or in a bar, or bar vs bar? Concepts
Inspire communication
Seamless friend invites
Social network ---> activities or practices
Private competitions Involvement
Games as Social Object The social networking services that work
(Co-)create your own game content are built around objects
Social Objects Social Objects
Sustainable web services allow people to
Achievements, medals, prizes
Show off your profile create and improve social objects that
Jeroen Elfferich
On non-game sites and services add value to their lives
Ex Machina
Cross-game status updates
social gaming technology Object: Photo
www.exmachina.nl Flickr
Location-based matchmaking
Verb: Comment
Presence updates from game characters
Object: Bookmark
Radio looks at your last.fm profile Delicious
Personalized in-game multimedia Verb: Tag
Photoframes pull from your Flickr account
Examples Object: Career
LinkedIn
Verb: Recommend
Notification
Social proximity Object: Track
Last.fm
Shared taste Asynchronous games Verb: Love
Shared object
Singleplayer w/highscore or rating Level / Clear
Puzzle / Solve
Live communication
Circuit / Race
Turn-based, live multiplayer and Sync Object/verbs
MMO/persistant world IQ / Test
Requires awareness of other people's intentions The Bastard / Shoot
Synchronous games
Physical proximity
It's an activity
Matchmaking
Interact with people you know - reason for affiliation
Cross-platform synchronisation
Sync'n'cloud Get to know people you interact with -
Broadcast activation helps to connect
Running out of stuff to talk about?
Browser instead of OS Social Lubricant inspires communication
aka 'server based games'
Games as Social Objects Long lasting social entertainment: create and improve
Social networks are in the cloud
Competition
Networks act as aggregators of social objects
Collaboration
Integrate Social API's on YOUR page
Kickstarted by casual MMO's
Casual games: 50/50 Cloud gaming
A virtual world full of social objects
Games as networks: 75/25 Who?
These games ARE social networks
Games in networks: 100/0
Mostly web-based, easily accessible
Iphone, Java
Game or No Game
What about mobile? Specific subject and style
AJAX, FlashLite
Pre- and post-generic social network audiences
Emotional verb usage
Fictional characters
Games as Social Objects - Jeroen.mmap - 26-9-2008 -