Xindanwei Chitchat Edition 24: The Emerging Game Layer in New Media Startups

Frank’s presentation described the phenomenon of game layers in businesses, such as Facebook and Foursquare. Going beyond just the business side of things, Frank’s perspective was more that of a gamer’s and included the psychology of how and why games attract customers, and what kind of games work best.

The discussion that followed started with the psychology of Facebook and the function of badges in programs like Foursquare. It then moved on to differences between Chinese gamers and Western gamers, in how the play a game and what kind of games they’re looking for. The Chinese are usually more competitive, even in casual games, whereas Western gamers will often play a game more for the social experience than the gaming experience. However Chinese gamers are also open to more casual and social game, and are actually starting to get more interested in board games for a real-life social experience. One thing that everyone agreed on, though, was that both Chinese and Western guys play games to pick up girls; and so in gaming a bridge crossing the cultural divide was found.

Frank then gave us an inside story from his time at Microsoft, when Bill Gates ordered that MSN’s online Bridge game be kept open even though it was losing money; apparently Gates was a fan of the game, and liked to play with Warren Buffet. The discussion then touched on the differences between men and women and the games they like to play, and how although men are the ones often thought of as gamers, there are actually more women who play games than men. The games they play are just more casual and less documented, so less people are aware of it, and this is true of most cultures. Women also seem to have a genetic tendency towards casual and puzzle-solving games, whereas men have a genetic tendency towards hardcore and violent games.

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