How will Google use Social Media & Gaming?

Google has taken bold steps to get into gaming. First, they acquired the in-game ad firm, Adscape for $23 million. Then Google released Lively, an answer to Second Life. Now Google reps are showing up at gaming conferences like GDC. But where is Google going with this? How will they impact gaming in the future?

Google as an Online Games Platform

At GDC Austin,Kevin Hanna revealed that Google plans on releasing an API for Lively. The long term effects of such a move would make Lively available as an online ‘gaming platform’.

Integration with Google Services

Most importantly, Hanna quietly announced that while you can currently embed any Google Gadget into Lively’s world – such as YouTube videos or weather reports running on virtual TVs – the company will soon be providing an API for developers to create new interactive gadgets to run in the space. [Via - GameIndustry.Biz]

So now we can embed Youtube videos into gaming environments. That’s really cool. It doesn’t make me want to risk crashing my PC trying to play Lively again. It’s a nice development nonetheless.

I’d imagine that soon players will be able to interact with their Google Chat friends within the Lively interface too. Again, a cool development. But why wouldn’t I just do that in the real world? What kind of added benefit would I get?

What are your thoughts? Leave a comment here, on facebook, or twitter to discuss.

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Tagged as: Google and Gaming, Google in the game industry

Anthony Perez

I don't "get" virtual worlds even though I've tried very hard.

"Oh let me make my avatar, and walk him around aimlessly and meet other people's avatars and watch youtube videos hung up on my wall in a more clunky evironment than just going to Youtube. Let me to to my picture frame and look at my Flickr pics even though i can already do that on Flickr."

I love when people say, "Wouldn't it be cool if you could walk into a virtual retail store and check out a product?"

Isn't that why I went to the Web in the first place? So I wouldn't have to go to a store.

"Yes, let me walk my avatar over to the aisle with the product, and then check it out in a "virtual setting"

Isn't that why e-commerce is better? It makes everything accessible at the click of the button. Why would I want to simulate the tedious process that sent me to the web in the first place?

bukolae

You make a very good point here. Why do people enter virtual worlds? I think part of the answer lies in the name of the one of the most popular virtual worlds, Second Life. Some people find the experience of living a second, virtual life to be incredibly valuable. I think this is a genre of gaming that you either love or hate. For the lovers of virtual worlds Google's new penchant for gaming will be well-received.

"Yes, let me walk my avatar over to the aisle with the product, and then check it out in a "virtual setting". - Anthony you have to admit that it would be cool to try this out at least once :)

Anthony Perez

""Yes, let me walk my avatar over to the aisle with the product, and then check it out in a "virtual setting". - Anthony you have to admit that it would be cool to try this out at least once :)"

Or I can go to Best Buy and ACTUALLY pick it up ;-)

How will Google use Social Media & Gaming?

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