With the official announcement of games for Google+ right on the heels of EA’s $1.3 billion purchase of PopCap, it seems that a quiet war is slowly brewing between superpowers. A war that seems almost nonexistent on the outside, but has a dark and violent underside. So, exactly like the Cold War.
Who are the superpowers? Because most games are available cross-platform, it seems that it’s becoming more about the companies that own the marketplace of those games: Valve, Microsoft, Facebook, and now Google.
The launch games for Google+
What are their strengths? They’re all fairly easy platforms to jump onto, and all of them allow you to play with friends online. Valve’s Steam and Microsoft’s Xbox Live offer more hardcore games alongside the more casual indie ones, but developers are working to add games to Facebook in the very near future. On the other side, if EA can spend $1.3 billion to buy casual giant PopCap, I’m sure they can afford to build their own platform soon or beef up PopCap’s. And even though both sides have ground-breaking psychic programs in place, the United States has a significantly larger network of undercover spies, thanks to the McCarthyism purge. Wait. I mean, what about Google+?
Games for Google+ feels like the lovechild of a threesome: it has the friend-to-friend casual play of Facebook games, the polish and appeal of PopCap games, and the board game style of Pogo. It doesn’t seem to have the hardcore games that Xbox Live and Steam offer, but I know I’m personally looking forward to even more competition.
Which company will be victorious and become the dominant world power place to play games? Well, like any other capitalist endeavor, your money will decide. Or Microsoft’s will.
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