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Google Secretly Invested In Zynga, Preparing To Launch Google Games

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Re: Google Secretly Invested In Zynga, Preparing To Launch Google Games

#31

Post by naner »

glhaynes wrote: post #26
mynameishere wrote: post #14

Can you imagine working on Farmville? I mean, it would be like going into work every day to refine the equivilent of the Fisher Price moo farm toy [1] except a) for adults and b) relatively juvenile. Imagine the meetings, mostly run by marketing idiots. "Okay, we need the new chewy coco grove coconut tree special item out by next Monday. So that means everyone's coming in on saturday." But how can you argue with 85 m…

Or maybe it'd be fun because you'd be making something that people can relax and enjoy and that adds a little extra social interaction to their everyday experience, often with people that they don't have another "reason" to be in contact with.

No, actually, it is just a stupid waste of everyone's time.

Re: Google Secretly Invested In Zynga, Preparing To Launch Google Games

#32

Post by bpm140 »

hunterclarke wrote: post #8

Is it just me, or is Zynga raising an absolutely obnoxious amount of money?

They've been profitable since their very first quarter and, according to the TC article, they will likely make as much in profit next year as they've raised in the last three years.

The fundraising is almost exclusively used for acquisition, so what's the obnoxious part?

Re: Google Secretly Invested In Zynga, Preparing To Launch Google Games

#33

Post by contextfree »

mynameishere wrote: post #14

Can you imagine working on Farmville? I mean, it would be like going into work every day to refine the equivilent of the Fisher Price moo farm toy [1] except a) for adults and b) relatively juvenile. Imagine the meetings, mostly run by marketing idiots. "Okay, we need the new chewy coco grove coconut tree special item out by next Monday. So that means everyone's coming in on saturday." But how can you argue with 85 m…

Presumably Fisher Price itself employs people who go to work every day to refine their moo farm and other toys. I doubt most of them see the nature of their jobs as particularly embarrassing or degrading.

Re: Google Secretly Invested In Zynga, Preparing To Launch Google Games

#34

Post by spot »

contextfree wrote: post #33
mynameishere wrote: post #14

Can you imagine working on Farmville? I mean, it would be like going into work every day to refine the equivilent of the Fisher Price moo farm toy [1] except a) for adults and b) relatively juvenile. Imagine the meetings, mostly run by marketing idiots. "Okay, we need the new chewy coco grove coconut tree special item out by next Monday. So that means everyone's coming in on saturday." But how can you argue with 85 m…

Presumably Fisher Price itself employs people who go to work every day to refine their moo farm and other toys. I doubt most of them see the nature of their jobs as particularly embarrassing or degrading.

that's because they make moo farms for kids...

Re: Google Secretly Invested In Zynga, Preparing To Launch Google Games

#35

Post by neilk »

dieterrams wrote: post #6

Does this mean we can finally abandon the idea that Google's mission is "to organize the world's information"?

They've been off that course since at least 2005 or so. Notice how now they're putting money into social when things like Book Search are relatively stagnant.

Their real mission is something like "exploit cloud computing".

Re: Google Secretly Invested In Zynga, Preparing To Launch Google Games

#36

Post by FlemishBeeCycle »

cageface wrote: post #28
traskjd wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly right. I present on game development to local user groups in New Zealand and I always get a good response when citing "It's fun to write games - wouldn't you much rather be writing a class called SuperLaserWeapon than MembershipIdentityProvider" :-)

I'd never go back to the game industry. Low pay, long hours, and a pervasively juvenile mentality that just keeps getting more annoying with every birthday after 17. If you like doing bare-metal high performance coding it's one of your best chances to test your skills though, unless you're doing lolgames.

I hadn't heard of the term "lolgames" before, it is quite apt.

Re: Google Secretly Invested In Zynga, Preparing To Launch Google Games

#38

Post by WEREA »

mynameishere wrote: post #14

Can you imagine working on Farmville? I mean, it would be like going into work every day to refine the equivilent of the Fisher Price moo farm toy [1] except a) for adults and b) relatively juvenile. Imagine the meetings, mostly run by marketing idiots. "Okay, we need the new chewy coco grove coconut tree special item out by next Monday. So that means everyone's coming in on saturday." But how can you argue with 85 m…

I gotta agree with your comment about marketing idiots

Re: Google Secretly Invested In Zynga, Preparing To Launch Google Games

#40

Post by joubert »

Jun8 wrote: post #29

I think Google's worry about Facebook (partly justified, partly not) is starting to cause them to make pointless (and time wasting) decisions. If I had 5mins with Sergei and Larry, I would say (after taking a long sip from the free organic drink I just got from the snack bar we're standing next to) "Look, the real enemy is not FB but Apple (and sometimes your own engineering hubris, e.g. Buzz), so focus all your troo…

They have a pretty disappointing track record when it comes to consumer hardware. I bet it is not in their DNA.
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