Zynga designed FarmVille as "a negative experience," says Braid creator

In a recent interview with Gamasutra, developer of hit Xbox Live Arcade game Braid Jonathan Blow claimed that Zynga's creation of FarmVille "is actually about designing something that's a negative experience." He made the statement when asked to return to his infamous stance on damaging design trends in video games. While Blow refrains from telling developers what games to create, he did have strong words for the 54.2 million-strong farming simulator.

"I still wouldn't tell people, 'Don't make that game' exactly, I would say, 'Think about what you're making and be careful when you make it and try not to exploit players,' Blow said to Gamasutra. "But I mean now that we've got FarmVille and stuff like that, I pretty much would say 'don't make that kind of game' because I don't see much value in it."

Not much value in it, eh? Well, how does millions in annual revenue sound for value? Unfortunately, that's not exactly what he meant. "It's about 'How do we make something that looks cute and that projects positivity' -- but it actually makes people worry about it when they're away from the computer and drains attention from their everyday life and brings them back into the game, Blow said.

Look after the break for more of what Blow had to say about games like FarmVille, but be warned: it's not pretty.

FarmVille Gifting Quests
Blow, who is in the midst of developing his second major game titled "The Witness," went on to say that games like FarmVille are designed for players to exploit their friendships into a mechanical means of game progression. We imagine he's referring to the issues with gifting quests (pictured) and possibly even the recent complaints that FarmVille might as well be named "BegVille."

As the independent developer continued, no one was safe. "And there's this kind of new way where people are, like Bryan Reynolds working on FrontierVille and stuff, making it supposedly deeper, but that kind of thing has been very token so far, Blow said. "And in fact, I would argue that the audience of that kind of game doesn't necessarily want a deeper game, or certainly that's not proven; it's very speculative."

His beef, apparently, is with developers like Zynga and not the Facebook platform, claiming that there is plenty of room for creative game ideas on Facebook. Unfortunately in his eyes, the FarmVille style is not the way to go.

Zynga gobbles up GodFinger developer Wonderland, creates Zynga Mobile UK

Zynga Mobile UK
Perhaps Zynga's recent sheep invasion in London was symbolic of something greater. The developer with more satellite studios than you can count on two hands just bought Wonderland Software, the UK-based studio behind the iPhone hit GodFinger. Gamasutra reports that the studio will operate as Zynga Mobile UK, but neither company disclosed what was spent on the acquisition.

While Zynga is assimilating the team, it is not taking over publishing rights to GodFinger, which is published by Ngmoco. That company was recently acquired by Japanese social game company DeNA, which could explain a lot. But more importantly, this is the company's thirteenth purchase in just 11 months.

Zynga has talent from nearly every major sector in gaming, but Wonderland is the company's third acquisition of a mobile developer. Like every social game developer in the world, Zynga is clearly going after the mobile scene in a big way. Wonderland joins Words With Friends creator Newtoy and Area/Code, the studio behind Drop7, as Zynga's mobile arms.

Wonderland CEO Matthew Wiggins will stay on the team and become the general manager of Zynga Mobile UK. "Wonderland Software has always been dedicated to pursuing big and creative ideas and turning them into games that players love," Wiggins said in a statement. "We are thrilled to continue our vision as part of the Zynga family and to reach millions of mobile players across a spectrum of devices."

What do you think Zynga will do with this new company under its belt? Will Zynga begin to create original mobile games through its three, freshly-bought studios?

Putting the 'face' in Facebook games: Arkadium and Image Metrics

Arkadium is likely best known on Facebook for games like Mahjongg Dimensions and Cooking Mama, but that's about to change. Thanks to a brand new partnership with Image Metrics, an animation studio best known for the facial capture technology it provides to traditional game developers, your own face could be the star of Arkadium's next Facebook game.

During an interview with Gamasutra, the new found duo revealed Portable You, a new toolset for Facebook game developers--starting with New York City-based Arkadium--to allow players to include their own face as the centerpiece of their avatars. Using a simple webcam, Portable You, embedded in any given Facebook, could create a 3D rendering of your head and face.

By the way, that picture to the right is a 3D reproduction of an actress's face done by Image Metrics--it's not real. But we doubt Portable You will be as powerful. This is especially considering the technology was bought through an acquisition of Big Stage earlier this year.

"Mostly we've been the user of our own technologies," Image Metrics CEO Robert Gehorsam said to Gamasutra. "But we've also really come to realize and believe there's a major shift going on in how people want to represent themselves, express themselves and communicate online, starting with creating your own character in a game."

"We work directly from video; we don't require any kind of markers, or the special makeup," Gehorsam told Gamasutra. "We can go directly from a video screen or from a single image to 3D animation... through a whole bunch of equations that recognize the face in a 2D context. It's not a photo; it's really 3D."

Sure, this has the potential to introduce a never-before-seen level of immersion to Facebook games. The idea of representing or expressing yourself more accurately than ever has plenty of charm. But the more pressing question I have for Image Metrics is: How well does Portable You render beards?

What do you think this type of technology means for Facebook games in the future? Would you ever place a 3D version of yourself into your favorite Facebook games? Sound off in the comments. Add CommentAdd Comment