Social Gaming Summit 2010: Q&A with ngmoco's Jason Oberfest

The Social Gaming Summit 2010 kicks off today here in San Francisco, and we're looking forward to this afternoon's session, "Social Games Across Platforms". One of the speakers at the session will be Jason Oberfest from mobile games maker ngmoco, and we had a quick Q&A with him in advance of the session to get an idea of what to expect. Take a look after the jump! Mobile games developer ngmoco was one of the first movers on the iPhone gaming front, and has released a wide variety of successful games on the device. From Touch Pet Wars, a pet raising game, to Eliminate, a fully featured 3D first-person shooter, the company has attempted to innovate and present gamers with new experiences with each of their games. In addition to this, they have a games network called "Plus+", which is billed as the social play network for the iDevices. It adds a whole series of social features, including challenges, leaderboards and friends lists, and this means that when it comes to the iPhone, it's always wise to see how their games network is evolving, and what challenges it faces. Jason's session at today's Social Gaming Summit will inevitably deal with the challenge of creating social games, and social gaming networks, across different devices and platforms, so look forward to it, and check out this quick Q&A. Register for the Social Gaming Summit, May 6th and 7th in San Francisco And now, on to the interview with Jason Oberfest: 1) You'll be speaking in the Social Games Across Platforms talk at the Social Gaming Summit. Do you think we've seen some great examples of cross-platform social games so far? JO: I think we are only seeing the beginning of cross platform social games. Some of the big challenges there are the ability to carry social graphs and in-game currencies across platforms. Also to rely on consistent messaging channels across platforms. 2) The term social games typically describes Facebook games, but do you think that definition will expand as we see more cross-platform games that are social? JO: Absolutely. We are already seeing good progress here with inherently social iPhone games like Words with Friends, Charadium, Scrabble and We Rule. 3) ngmoco is primarily focused on the iPhone right now. Do you have any interest in developing for Facebook? JO: We are continually evaluating all social gaming platforms to determine which platforms might be a fit for our content. 4) How do you think Apple's upcoming Game Center may change the playing field? JO: We think Apple's Game Center could be a great thing for both developers and consumers. Right now there is a large variety of social networks on the iPhone and iPad platforms and we are excited by the idea of social features being implemented at the OS layer.

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Social Gaming Summit 2010: Q&A with ngmoco's Jason Oberfest

Neil Vidyarthi

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Neil Vidyarthi