Facebook Games: The Next Big Thing

Every day, I get a new invite on Facebook saying “So and so invites you to play yet another game.” At first, I was just annoyed, wanting the invite to go away and for me to be able to continue to stalk friends. And I had left Myspace because the pages were just becoming too cluttered and annoying. But eventually, I accidentally hit the dreaded “Accept Invite” button instead of “Reject.” And I realized something: Facebook may have hit the jackpot with this one.

I suddenly found myself in a whole new world filled with treats of every kind (seriously, I thought I was in the gaming version of Wonka’s Chocolate Factory). I found I could play Oregon Trail, Super Mario Brothers, arcade games, sports games, etc. I could even play a Flash version of Guitar Hero! And the best part was… it’s all free!

Granted, the graphics are no where near as good as what you’ll find on the latest console, but Facebook games have plenty of pros and that’s one of the few cons. A lot of these games allow you to play with your friends… on your schedule. And it’s convenient. You can still be doing a ton of things (such as writing an essay for English class or pretending to work at your desk) while secretly jumping over a tab and playing a turn on the game. And because Facebook allows all sorts of applications, the possibilities for expansion are endless.

But with expansion comes many potential scenarios for success or failure. And could it be that Facebook may actually come to rival consoles and MMOs? Millions are already on Facebook and more people sign up and play their games every day. Eventually, we could see a drop in MMOs and a rise in the number of Facebook gamers. After all, free is a very powerful word.

And I’ll admit, I have far more friends on Facebook (over 600) than I do on any console community (I think I have 15 friends on Xbox Live). And my friends aren’t limited by what computer I’m using (not like wanting to play Rock Band on a PS3 when your friend has a 360). Therefore, there’s more of a draw for college-aged kids (since we’re broke and can’t afford to have every console known to man), and that’s the largest age demographic for gamers.

So could Facebook games outdo consoles? Not quite yet, at least, until Facebook manages to have the same quality and mass appeal that consoles currently offer. But anything is possible.