One in nine Facebook users play music games; Guitar Hero finds a new home?

Has Guitar Hero found a new home on Facebook? According to data presented by MXP4, a social game developer based in Paris, it very well could be in the future. Of course, keep in mind that the survey was conducted by folks who have a vested interest in music games on Facebook. MXP4 found that one in nine Facebook users play music games, but more importantly that one in three Facebookers play social games. This is the exact demographic that MPX4 hit with its Pump It series in 2010, and has enjoyed mild success.

Here's what else MXP4 found in its survey:

    96 percent would like more opportunities to compete against their friends when playing Facebook games;
    49 percent said the they would play games on Facebook for the chance to win exclusive tickets, merchandise or opportunities to meet their favorite artists;
    12 percent would pay extra to have access to their favorite artist's latest tarcks on interactive music games.


While it's important to know that most people would want a multiplayer experience on Facebook, it's far more vital to see the possibilities for future Facebook music games.

If this many Facebook users played music games, that's more than enough of a following for companies like Activision and EA to go after. Just think of it, one last triumphant push from the music games genre to reassert is relevance. It's almost cinematic, really. If you think about it, games from these companies would last about as long as their ancestors. And that amounts to about enough money to fly to Mars and back, so, sweet deal.

Disney-branded Facebook games coming in 2012, Playdom head says

Can we all just say, “finally?” During a panel named “The Rise of Social Games” at the f8 Facebook Developers Conference in San Francisco, Disney Interactive and Playdom head John Pleasants revealed that two to four Facebook games surrounding Disney xd brands will hit Facebook in 2012. The general topic of the panel was the fact that branded social games are taking off.

Pleasants was joined on the panel by Kabam CEO Kevin Chou, EA Interactive head Barry Cottle and Zynga CBO Owen Van Natta. Facebook director of games partnerships Sean Ryan moderated the panel with the preface that branded games will take over the Facebook platform. And he might be right: EA just released The Sims Social, Zynga will soon re-brand its new Adventure World with Indiana Jones and Kabam recently announced The Godfather: Five Families.

Playdom, which Disney acquired in July 2010 for a whopping $740 million, is ahead of the pack with two branded games on Facebook: ESPNU College Town and ESPN Sports Bar & Grill. Both games performed well, thanks to advertising through the ESPN TV network. While Disney owns the ESPN brand, notice how neither of those actually involve the insanely popular Disney characters we’ve come to love.

Honestly, we’re surprised this didn’t happen sooner. Consider this: Disney has its own cable TV channel through which it could, in theory, advertise whatever it wants. Pleasants didn’t get into why it’s taken this long for disney channel games to throw its cast of characters into Facebook games, but did reveal the power of the Disney name.

Gnome Town, which Playdom launched in the summer–and we enjoyed quite a bit–peaked at 530,000 daily players. But just plopping the Disney logo on top of the existing one made users more likely to spend in the game just through trust of the company’s name, according to Pleasants. “We think it’s an advantage, if you put game play first,” Pleasants said.

It’s comforting to hear this emphasized by these developers. (Kabam’s Chou shared the same sentiment.) Branded games on Facebook are OK in my book, but the last thing anyone wants to see is the genre become a branding machine.

Game of the Day: Alchemy

alchemy game of the dayAlchemy is a game of strategy and wit. Carefully place runes and turn the entire board to gold. You can only place runes next to pieces of the same color or shape. However, you can place a rune of any color or shape next to a grey stone. If you can't place the rune, you may discard it. But be careful, discard four runes in a row and it'll be game over! If you fill a row or column with runes, they'll all disappear, opening up the board. Similarly, a skull will let you destroy any rune on the board.

Alchemy may seem complicated at first, but once you grasp the basics, you'll be hooked on its addictive gameplay. Good luck!

Click here to play Alchemy!
alchemy game of the day     alchemy game of the day
What did you think of Alchemy? Where you able to turn lead into gold?

Game of the Day: Alchemy

alchemy game of the dayAlchemy is a game of strategy and wit. Carefully place runes and turn the entire board to gold. You can only place runes next to pieces of the same color or shape. However, you can place a rune of any color or shape next to a grey stone. If you can't place the rune, you may discard it. But be careful, discard four runes in a row and it'll be game over! If you fill a row or column with runes, they'll all disappear, opening up the board. Similarly, a skull will let you destroy any rune on the board.

Alchemy may seem complicated at first, but once you grasp the basics, you'll be hooked on its addictive gameplay. Good luck!

Click here to play Alchemy!
alchemy game of the day     alchemy game of the day
What did you think of Alchemy? Where you able to turn lead into gold?