Monday, September 15, 2008

Raptr links video gamers with social networks

A new bridge has formed between the online video game community and social networks, known as Raptr, . Simply put, it's software that instantly updates your social network status to indicate which game and console you're playing.

I.E.- Instead of reading, "Matt is heading to the grocery store", on Facebook, friends will notice "Matt is playing Madden 09"- Which may prompt them the challenge me to a one-on-one showdown between my beloved Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the team of their choice.

Created by Dennis Fong, Raptr is a dream come true for PS3,Xbox 360 and Wii, because it lures gamers  back to their consoles. Without Raptr, gamers were notified of online friends  if they were ALSO playing on their gaming system, but Raptr bridges the crucial gap when gamers are in front of their PC, and not the living room TV.

Competitors include Rupture, Playfire and GamerDNA, but as the Forbes article points out, Raptr's advantage,  is its ability to track gamer's activities on multiple consoles and multiple networks.

 Fong co-founded popular gaming instant messenging service Xfire, which was bought by Viacom (nyse: VIA - news - people ) for $102 million in 2006...The real test though for Fong will be squeezing money out of Raptr....The model will, of course, be all about advertising. What he thinks will make a difference: who will come to play. He has an answer for that, too: "We know from Xfire that this can be a very successful business model because of the demographics we capture: the 13- to 35-year-old males who are highly sought-after by advertisers."

I appreciate the value of Fong's concept, but I also wonder where the advertisements will be placed, to avoid clutter. I haven't signed up for the service yet for one simple reason: I don't own any of the three consoles, but I will try to test it out on my friend's consoles this week, and I'll give you a full review once I've taken the complete tour.

By Matt O'Hern at 09:03 AM | Comments (0)

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