Convergence of Social Networks and Games

On: December 7, 2008
About Pieter-Paul Walraven
Besides enjoying my MA New Media and doing research on Web 2.0 developments in China at the UvA I am working 2 days a week as a project assistant at KREM (www.KREM.nl). KREM is a web 2.0 oriented company which specializes in so called corporate social networks. Movies: Koyaanisqatsi, O Brother where art thou?, Amores Perros. When not studying: Golf!, running, traveling, China, Web 2.0. Books: Life of Pi, War and Peace, The World is Flat. Furthermore I am currently doing research on Web 2.0 in China and Chinese Web companies expanding overseas. For this MA thesis research I will travel to China on the 14th of April to interview the most prominent Chinese Web companies that have the ambition to expand internationally.

Website
http://pietchinathesis.wordpress.com/    

A PICNIC Special this year was called ‘Games go Social’ which was about the future of gaming and social networks. An upcoming trend as both industries are evolving is that both can learn a lot from each other and lately the 2 industries have been converging. Gaming companies are adding more and more social features while social networks and virtual worlds are adding more and more gaming features. Social gaming is hot and companies such as Playfish or Social Gaming Network that develop social casual games for people to play with their social networking friends, are doing extremely well.

The social casual gaming market is evolving fast and a few weeks ago I encountered and interesting company that has developed the first 3D multiplayer game for among others Facebook: Paradise Paintball. The 3D multiplayer shoot ‘em up game is developed by Cmune, a Beijing and Seoul based company that builds social 3D applications based on their 3D Cmune platform. All their games and applications are plugable in existing social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, etcetera. Paradise Paintball can also be downloaded as a widget for Mac users and for close to 3 weeks the game has been the number one widget on Apple.com.

Check out this video for more information about Cmune and Paradise Paintball:


Cmune Company Introduction from Shaun LelacheurSales on Vimeo

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