Yes. Try to ignore my blatant links. But you're welcome to check them out. :)

So today, I went on gaming news frenzy on my blog. Reporting stuff on inFamous, MW3, Bioshock Infinity, and of course the SOLID GOLD release of Duke Nukem. Everyday, I go through these news feeds and think about how each of these studios go through so much work to not only market these bad boys but develop them. Then I read a feed about Zynga (the guys behind Farmville, Mafia Wars, etc) and its overvaluated company. Now, I'm not condemning anyone who plays these social type games and I've actually played a couple of hours on these games and I can easily see the addictive value behind them. I just find it crazy how a company like Zynga can bevaluated at $10 billion. Last year, Zynga generated $400 mil in revenue. Ask any small publisher of 'regular' games who have the same number of staff as Zynga to see how they can step up to that. With the sad exception of the Call of Duty series (sorry if you're a CoD fan), social gaming is still growing and with the IPO, it may become more mainstream as Zynga hits the airwaves. Although the positives behind it mean more opportunities and jobs, I can't help but see how execs at top publishers will try to cave in to making games more social to appease stockholders as opposed to simply making them more fun to play. I just hope they can do it right. If anything, they should take a look at Demon Souls as a proper example of how to execute the social aspect of games.I really don't mind social games but I guess I'm a little bothered by how that type of business is more profitable than some really good 'regular' games out there.

What's your take on social games? Have you played them? If so, provide some thoughts