Most teenagers in the United States who are on Facebook (which is mostly all) have either played or heard of the game FarmVille. Though I have never played it, I have heard that it is an incredibly addicting game which when started, is impossible to stop. This is one of the connections made in the article, A Game to Make Zynga Nervous by Seth Schiesel.
The article is about the new Facebook game, Sims Social, which is becoming perilous competition for the maker of FarmVille, Zynga. Schiesel explains that it is much like all the other Sims games in which you make your own character and control his/her actions and the world around them. The social aspect of the game is that fact that it is on Facebook and as a substitute for spending money, you can ask your friends to for example, give you a wrench to build a table.
The article is a general description of the game but what I found intriguing was the amount of connections that Schiesel was making to different games, shows, and other art mediums. For example, in the beginning he explained that over the last month about 65 million people have played Sims Social, which is more than double the audience that watched the new season of “Two and a Half Men”, roughly twice the number of copies of “The Catcher in the Rye” sold during the last 60 years and other comparisons. Later in the article he even makes a connection to one of the Nintendo Mario games.
I have been noticing a ton of connections in the recent articles and once I noticed them, they have been coming up everywhere. Essentially all these connections are made to further make the reader interested in the article. I, for one, loved the show “Two and a Half Men” while Charlie Sheen was on it and I tuned in for the new episode to see what direction the show would take. Now I feel part of the article because I was one of the 30 million people who watched the first episode. I feel like these connections are made by the authors to draw their audience and eventually leads to the reader clicking links and following more articles.
Successful in its own right as a computer game, Sims bridges the gap to the next generation by pairing with Facebook and launching this application. In addition, I LOVE Zynga games (I play Words With Friends for hours on end) and, after reading this, I’m definitely going to check out Sims Social!
Hey Serge, I agree! Connections in an article really draw you in, especially if you recognize them. Whenever I have seen or read the movie/show/book that is mentioned, I feel like I understood the article better.
Social media has become a huge part of our lives as technology and means of communication continue to advance. Games like FarmVille and now Sims Social are unique ways to get people to come together and socialize. I think the reviewer did an excellent job making references and comparisons to contemporary TV shows and classic novels. It is a very smart tactic and will result in a lot more interest.