Virtual Goods Wrap-Up For The Week Of July 3

By Chris Sherman On July 3, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Welcome to the
Virtual Goods News Wrap-Up for the week of July 3, 2009. The Wrap-Up
is where VGN spotlights stories that we didn't get to cover
individually, but still make for interesting reading about the virtual
goods industry.

EA Makes Another Stab At Online Gaming
An article profiling EA's ongoing transformation under CEO John Riccitello into a company that will focus on digital distribution and creating software that can monetize on an ongoing basis. There's lots about EA's changing console strategy as well as a look at The Sims 3.

Facebook Is Going After Paypal, Google Checkout
Silicon Alley Insider theorizes that Facebook's goal with Facebook Payments is more ambitious than just taking a cut of the robust virtual goods trade happening in third-party apps. This take suggests that Facebook may be aiming to seriously compete with Paypal as a geneeral online payments service.

How The Mafia Conquered Social Networks
CNet takes a look at the rise of the "mafia game" genre as a leading force in gaming on Facebook, tracing growth of the games from Psycho Monkey's original Mob Wars. The article theorizes that the games may be getting so popular because they match simple RPG gameplay with a less nerdy facade than traditional fantasy genres.

Interview: Brian Reynolds Leaves Big Huge, Now Zynga East Chief Designer
Brian Reynolds sounds off to Gamasutra about how he intends to use his new post at Zynga East to keep designing high-quality, innovative strategy games. Reynolds claims that the ongoing nature of social game development allows for better use of iteration in game design and may already be resulting in superior games.

Sparkplay Media Nears Launch Of Its Earth Eternal Online Fantasy Game
Dean Takahashi takes a look at the freemium MMO Earth Eternal as it prepares for its open beta later this summer. This game is trying to set itself apart by including more social networking elements in the gameplay experience.

Venture Capitalists V. Founders: Battle At Mochi Media
TechCrunch breaks some gossipy news about investors allegedly wanting to pull money out of Flash-based ad and microtransaction start-up Mochi Media. It's not clear how, or if, any of this will affect Mochi Media in the future.