Ubisoft Opens Facebook Gaming Portal
Ubisoft already has one game up and running on a new Facebook portal it just opened. TickTock tests your knowledge of your friends and then, naturally, pesters you to pester them.
In the game, you’re given a series of recent status updates and asked to identify, by multiple choice, who wrote them. Fast answering is key, otherwise a “bomb” goes off. At the end of the game, you get to send “bombs” to others – basically invitations to play – from the stockpile you earn by guessing correctly. “Lifelines” extend the time you have to answer, in case you just have no idea whose status update reads: “Just christened the commode in my new apartment.”
Laurent Detoc, the president of Ubisoft North America, said TickTock will be “the first of many applications that we’re building for our UbiFriends portal.”
It’s not on the cliché level of pirates, ninjas, zombies, vampires or throwing sheep at one another. Yet. But its spread still depends on the “so-and-so did something, don’t you want to do it, too?” model, and for many, the answer will still be “no.”
Ubi to Launch New Games on Facebook [Eurogamer]
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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)
@DefHamster: Mah stawpowa draws u in
@fryerjackets:Who knows, some of us just generally dislike them. I went to high school with people who got terribly addicted to those stupid things, and pretty much lost touch with reality because of them. I tried them for a while, and they're good for a couple things, but they're not worth the huge hype that the entire world seems to be putting on them lately.
Apparently my posts are being forced into this group of comments. This sucks.
Sorry, posted a message in the wrong spot.
@Sutekh_Slain: I'm pretty sure my 300 friends are too much for this, and I know people who have broken a thousand friends, so it would be near impossible for them.
I wonder how many people are only saying they hate social networks because the COOL commenters dislike social networks.
fryerjackets
This game looks like a lot of fun.
Too bad I haven't logged into facebook for a couple of days!
fryerjackets
@ohoward: I totally agree with you on this point.
I remember when Internet was getting popular, chat rooms and forums were the best socializing media. It was possible with anonymity to say or do some things to gain some popularity or help or self-confidence but at the same time, we were interacting with a community on which we had no control at all. You had to be careful about what you said or people would contest your opinions or even rejects you.
Now with Facebook and particularly Twitter, you choose your audience and you can mute the contestants. It appears that some people aren't using these tools for socializing, but to boost their self-esteem.
I don't want to say that these tools should be banned, but that they are loosing their primary mission that is not to help the "me", it is to connect the "we".
slimky
@tehdorkz: MySpace is still one of, if not THE best ways to keep track of your favourite bands. As a social networking tool it is just about one of the worst things in the history of bad things.
@tehdorkz:
No, I don't like it either.
@Heliophage: I liked MySpace before it was Facebook. Seriously.
Yeah the whole social networking thing is getting to be a bit much. It's really weird knowing everything my friends did in a day without ever having actually talked to them.
lookas
@tehdorkz:
I'm waiting for beds to be integrated with twitter.
Bed's a rockin'
5 minutes ago
Bed is empty
3 minutes ago
@Sutekh_Slain: Yeah I don't think I could play this haha. I'm guilty of adding people I've only just met or who aren't my close friends, so it'd be difficult.
It would be pretty funny to see some facebookers play this game considering they have 100+ people listed as friends.
@tehdorkz: There are a lot like that, especially with the quiz app, hence I called it the typical Facebook faire.
@The Red Comet: Aren't most of those games on social networking sites like that? I really wouldn't know, I haven't actually used one of those sites since I saw how stupid people were getting with them about 2 years ago.
@tehdorkz: The game itself does not seem especially outstanding, just the typical "do you know your friends?" Facebook faire, so I guess talking about social networking is more compelling.
@tehdorkz: On topic: I added the app and played the first round and found it kind of amusing. Then it told me to bomb my friends and I stopped. The only way I can keep the right to rage at anyone who sends me invites is to refuse to do the same.
@tehdorkz: I get annoyed by it quite a bit. But then again, I don't even have a cell phone, which most people think is insane. I just don't see a need to have a phone to call people while I'm already out doing stuff. If I'm at home, I want to do stuff at home and I'll call someone's house to find them or at least send a message over AIM if they're around. If not, oh well, they're busy. If I'm out, same thing.
I don't need to know what people are playing or whatever. If they're curious, they'll ask me.
I do find it rather humorous how NONE of the comments so far have anything at all to do with the actual game Ubisoft is making for Facebook, but rather all of us (probably a lot of it my fault). Moaning about how social networking is really getting out of hand. ^.^
@tehdorkz: I don't know, I just don't know.
@tehdorkz: Yeah, I definitely see and agree with what you are saying. We just need to find a balance between personal interaction and online networking.
I personally find it most useful to stay in contact with more distant friends and acquaintances, whom I may not always see, and with friends from the other coast (I live in California, but go to college in New York). Otherwise, I do my best to see them in person and go out somewhere.
Moreover, there's the benefit of having a unified location to store photos for everybody to see (and I avoid doing embarrassing things so embarrassing photos don't show up), a great organizer for events, and even a great birthday reminder. I wouldn't remember them otherwise, way too many to keep track of.
@tehdorkz: That is a confusing question.
bitch bitch bitch, fuck facebook, I have no friends, bitch bitch bitch.
chang187
@tehdorkz: Totally agree - thanks to the internet, we as a species are become so narcissistic it's almost staggering. Everyone is obsessed with grooming their own ego constantly and 'social networking' is one of the very worst examples.
ohoward
@The Red Comet: It just feels like so many things are becoming so impersonal now. (some) People would rather spend their time chatting with others on their favorite social networking site and twittering about what they're doing everyday instead of actually going out and really interacting with others. I won't argue that there aren't plus sides to social networking, but do we really need it integrated into every aspect of our daily lives?
@tehdorkz: Personally, I enjoy this integration. I've allowed Facebook to become a useful tool with which to go about life, and adding other sites and functionality linked to it just makes it all that more useful.
And technically in this case this is someone else integrating into social networking, right? They're releasing apps in Facebook.
I liked Facebook more before it was MySpace.
@Michael Dukakis - Mets fan: I couldn't agree with you more. It's annoying that "myspace accessibility" is now a selling point/feature of a mobile phone. What the hell happened to human interaction?
Goddamn you social networks... you will be our downfall. They must be stopped!!!
Ugh...am I the only person absolutely sick of seeing social networking sites being integrated into EVERYTHING?
@ohoward: Social networking...like collaborative commenting with people around the world on say...an article that interests a multitude of people who would likely never been brought together otherwise? Yeah...sounds horrible.
@tehdorkz: Mobile phone? Whatever happened to something called "face to face conversation" or "letter writing"? Welcome to the future.
@Sutekh_Slain: If you're making a comment that Facebookers have tonnes of fake friends, you may want to use a number larger than 100. It's not that extreme to have 100+ REAL friends...or at least with acquaintances included.