Loose Threads: Are facebook games eating up your mobile game time?

Okay, we know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Hey, where in the name of the Game Boy's pet goat did last week's Loose Threads get to?" Are we close?

We could spin some yarn about allowing you ample time to thoroughly chew through the topic at hand, but the truth of the matter is, we were at the Leipzig GC last week and while we were there we were kidnapped by two people wearing Mario and Luigi costumes who proceeded to grill us for hours about the whereabouts of a certain princess.

It has been said before that we look like evil dinosaurs after an evening on the sauce, and the whole horrible misunderstanding was cleared up eventually.

Well maybe that's not the whole truth, but we were at the Leipzig GC. Anyhoo, last fortnight's topic was, 'Are Facebook games eating up your mobile gaming time?' and this is what you had to say. First to the debate was the talkative, daab.orion:

"I see the games on Facebook as more of a convenience than a means to offer competition to an existing market. "The games are merely a minor marketing tool to get people to log in more often. While I'm sure there are people who are addicted to some of those games, I see those games more like any other web app. There are free versions of everything from Snake to Bomberman out there, yet people seem to be willing to buy many of those types of titles for the mobile because of the convenience factor of having it wherever you go. "You also will encounter copyright issues, like with what happened with Scrabble. Things like this I think will hinder how far Facebook games will really go, and honestly, I doubt it will grow much more than it already has. "I see this as more of a "bored.com" type of thing. It will have a boost in popularity, then people will find other things to occupy their time. Mobile, especially with units like the iPhone and Nokia's N-Gage capable devices, are becoming more like dedicated handheld consoles, which in my humble opinion will continue to exist and make billions of dollars no matter how many free options come out on the net."

It's an interesting point, but given the explosive growth of facebook apps with big name titles like Nokia's Reset Generation appearing pride of place on the site, it's probably fair to say that there is more growth yet to come.

And what about the day when mobiles are able to display a rich version of the Facebook site, rather than a pared-down mobile version? Could we be looking at the first glimmer of a future distribution model for games?

Next to the table was danskmacabre who was similarly unenthusiastic:

"Whilst I do use Facebook, I pretty much delete every invite I get from people to games, pokes and all the other pointless stuff on there. Facebook is good for keeping in touch, making social arrangements with friends a long way away and using it as a photo album (we're putting our wedding pics on there for our friends to see) but gaming? No way. "I use the DS when slobbing about the house or when waiting somewhere for whatever reason. The PC for long gaming sessions and the Wii for Wiifit and a couple of other games."

Good lord, with all those casual gaming options at your disposal, it's hardly surprising that Facebook hasn't been able to get a look in. The tone of the debate remained distinctly downbeat as hunter_alien made an uncharacteristically late appearance:

"I do use Facebook but barely. I don't think that I've spent more then 3-4 hours on Facebook, and I agree here danskmacabre: it's good to stay in touch with friends, but as a "platform" that supports games it's really mediocre. I would always choose more hardcore, handheld games over the easy to pick up games that you can find there."

Well we thought you might say that hunter, but then, it's not like Facebook is really looking to challenge the hardcore space in any way (if it is indeed challenging any space at all). Having said that, you could probably make a case for Reset Generation being a hardcore title on at least one level. Closing the debate was TazUK with:

"I've somehow managed to avoid using any of these social websites up to this point. If I want to know what my friends are doing then I ring them, or go for a few beers. "I used to play on Yahoo Games and Pogo quite alot if that helps, but even they have fallen to the way side as I don't seem to have time anymore. Maybe I need to retire early so I can get back to playing games 24/7... hmmmm, thinking.... !"

Well that settles it then, it seems that there isn't one of you who feels that Facebook is taking a bite out of your mobile gaming time, and here was us thinking we'd need to diversify *phew!*

After such a healthy topic wringing, we have just enough space to introduce next week's topic:

Is the PSP 3000 a worthy upgrade?

It's a biggie and there are many more details in the forum, so we expect you to tear this one analogue nub from D-pad. But before you do that, be sure to click 'Track It!' first so that you don't miss the ensuing discussion next week.