Facebook games, and in particular Zynga, have gotten a lot of heat at GDC. Zynga s Brian Reynolds fired back during the event with a defense of his medium.
I ve seen a lot of these aren t really games; they re not fun; they re evil, said Reynolds. Apparently, as of yesterday, we are preventing game developers from making a living.
Facebook is a fun place. We socialize there with people we like. I got into making these things because I thought they were the coolest thing around, he asserted. We get to speak to larger audiences than any one has ever been able to talk to before. No one has reached this many people through games before. All these things are there and alive in social games just as they have always been there in all games.
He highlighted the social nature of social games, saying, We are doing our players a service. We are giving them a reason to socialize with each other. We are starting their conversations. Where we are is not where we want to be, but I can tell you, with twenty years industry experience, they are games. They are innovative and they are exciting.”
Source: IndustryGamers