Social Networking Games: A Serious Threat to the Gaming Industry?

30 years ago console gaming was all the rage. PC's were slow, low end graphics, and extremely expensive. Then along came the PC revolution. Titan graphics, Tandy Computers with RGB graphics, and eventually, the high end gaming boxes, would take the platform games to a new level. Windows revolutionized the Gaming industry by allowing the GUI to bring gaming into the graphical world and out of the text and ANSI realms.

Today a new revolution is taking place. The so called "gaming industry" has become a devil unto itself. By creating over priced, over graphic, and under content games it has forced many smaller writers into a new field of gaming; the social network sites.

The social gaming sites, Facebook being the biggest, have opened a new realm for gamers to explore. Flash based games, while lower end games by comparison, and are sweeping these sites into the mass popularity realm. No longer is Facebook simply a means to connect with old friends, rather it has become a haven for gamers. Nearly every day I have discovered a new game to play. And, while these games try to compensate off selling in-game items for real cash, the constant influx of new games means, when you have advanced to the point where in-game items are needed to progress, you can simply move to a new game.

Traditional vs. Social Networking

Traditionally it costs a gamer 40-100 dollars to play a game. This means you are not likely to progress to the end and move on. Rather you will consistently play a game and find new items or areas to explore, where possible. But, as the flash, or other technologies, advance, online gaming will take a whole new realm with social networks running the show. Already the market is seeing an increase in social networked games and the amount of time users spend on these sites, as opposed to users who sit in front of consoles to play the high end games.

Is this really a serious threat to the gaming industry?

Several areas of this venture can be a real danger to the gaming industry. These areas are:

User interest - Do the users prefer these games to the mainstream games?

Currently this is not an issue but with technological advances it could be

User spent finances - Does the user spend money to play? Or does he/she spend it on console games?

Again, this not a problem currently. But, I have seen an increase in purchased items in games such as Farmville (where they award prizes for great looking farms). As the technology advances so will the amount of money spent for these in-game items.

Time spent in-game - How much time does a user spend with the games?

These games are very well thought out, some of them constantly evolving, to the point that users are falling into the habit of playing and spending a lot more time every day in the pursuit of better farms, kitchens, etc... And again, as the technology advances this will only increase.

Convenience - How easy is it to access these games when not at your personal computer or console?

Unlike most games these games, and all your hard work, are stored online, no downloads (beyond flash player), don't take up system resources, and are available from any flash enabled computer. The convenience of not having to drag a console, software, or controllers makes them ideal for playing on the road, at work, or even on lower end laptops and net books. The convenience factor is heavily on the side of social networking games

Upgradability - is this a game that will update? Or is it another dead end?

o Most social networking games upgrade regularly. There are a few games (dragon age being one) who have purchasable content available to expand the game. This is a great tactic, but even so the portability of these titles makes them a liability rather than an asset.

Summation

The gaming industry is not in danger of dying out just yet. But, if it does not evolve, I can see social gaming sites destroying the giant piece by piece. Just as water slowly erodes the mighty mountains, so shall the silent threat of the social gaming sites destroy the mighty gaming industry.