First social gaming is a fairly recent term. They are games that are played on a basis that also allows players to socialize. For instance, games on Facebook, or game apps on an iTouch or iPhone that a friend as recommended another friend to play. Or it can just mean games that allow for social interaction (eg. sharing scores with friends online, or spreading the word to real-world friends.) Despite a stereotypical view that males (espeically teenagers) are the main demographics for gaming, the leaders in social gaming are middle-aged (40+) moms!
\”Women are masters of social gaming\”(from Ed Lee’s blog)
From the blog post above from blogger Ed Lee, we can see how substantial the middle-aged women demographics is in the social gaming arena. Perhaps, it’s a way for them to interact with friends while unwinding from a day’s work; or it may be that stay-home moms are more eager to interact with friends online through these casual games (popular games are Bejeweled, and Plants vs. Zombies.) From a game developer’s point of view, they must cater differently to these moms than to male gamers (who are a more substantial demographics in video games.) For example, the games (perhaps) should be more friendly; for instance, the images, the language, the music, the color schemes, the very nature of the game (eg. Cooking Mama is a very suitable that’s involves zero violence, is mellow enough for women to play, although this statement is a bit sexist.) Nevertheless, the more these middle-aged women engage in social gaming, the better off the game developers are as they increase their user base by encourage users to use their online friends connections to urge their friends to play as well. Increased user base most likely means increased revenue. Thus, everyone’s happy.
