Google Announces Games In Google+
It was only a matter of time before Google started rolling out everyone's favorite pastime on Facebook: Games. Games in Google are gradually rolled out to all users. Those who have access to them see a new icon next to their stream buttons at the very top of the Google+ website. Those who do not see that button yet need to be patient as it will surely be available in the coming days.
How similar, or fundamentally different, are games on Google+ to games on Facebook? Google promises better controls, both in the playing experience and in the sharing experience.
Vic Gundotra at the official Google Blog highlights that it will be easy to ignore games which could be one of the core differences to gaming on Facebook where it is difficulty to block all the gaming messages and notifications.
When you’re ready to play, the Games page is waiting—click the games button at the top of your stream. You can see the latest game updates from your circles, browse the invites you’ve received and check out games that people you know have played recently. The Games page is also where your game accomplishments will appear. So you can comfortably share your latest high score—your circles will only see the updates when they’re interested in playing games too.
It remains to be seen how Google+ users can control the gaming news flow in their stream. I for one would welcome an option to block all gaming related messages and notifications from appearing in my Google+ stream.
The initial set of games include all time favorites like Angry Birds, Bejeweled Blitz, City of wonder or Zynga Poker as well as a few lesser known games.
Here it the video that Google has posted to announce the Games in Google+ feature.
Google has to take into account two different types of users on Google+. First the traditional social networking users who like the full experience that includes games, and then the "serious" crowd that uses Google+ for communication, news and contacts.
The sentence "your circles will only see the updates when they’re interested in playing games too" seems to indicate that users need to opt-in into gaming to see game notifications. We will monitor the development and post updates once we get more information about games in Google+.
For now, what are your expectations and demands when it comes to gaming on Google+? (via)
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Please, no Farmville in Google+.
Hope these games will be good. I just register with google plus. Loving it.
I think instead of games they should integrate more of their current services into +. We doesn’t have option to public documents, callendar events or rss feeds to our circles directly from +.
I am disconnection from Google+. If I wanted Facebook I would have joined them. All I wanted is a clean social network.
https://plus.google.com/u/0/downgrade/
Google has brought two things that I thought were lacking in facebook from the very onset.
1) To share your status to people you want to (Say you dont want your colleagues to know you’re partying somewhere when you reported sick for work!)
2) Those mindless annoying game updates polluting my facebook screen which I’ve been tired of hiding :)
edit: Zynga might not be a so hot deal after all :)
Now Google is really giving Facebook a run for their money, this competition will definitely send out one of this techs from the social media mart one day, this competition is too hot
[ironic mode on] Wow! I was feeling myself lost without games…it’s so hard to find games on the web!!!! …. [ironic mode off]
All I say is that the battle b/w Google+ and Facebook is heating up for the next big and better Social Network.
Regards