Ethan Beard, Facebook’s director of partnerships, told attendees at Facebook’s F8 conference that the company has more gamers than Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony combined. Ethan believes that the secret behind Facebook’s success is that their gaming apps have been built around people, rather than graphics or narrative.
“Social design inside social gaming has driven fantastic growth.”
“It’s revolutionising gaming. We have over 200 million social gamers on Facebook every month; that’s more Facebook gamers than the Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo combined.”
Nigga u serious?
yeah, like they are “gamers”.. i call bullshit.
Yeah I second that.
I don’t think these people even call themselves gamers.
proper pisses me off when people play Apple games or FB games and class themselves as gamers…. ¬_¬
Gamers play games, no one cares what you call them, some people are jelouse.
Semantically, yes, a gamer is a person who plays games. However, my wife, her sister, and many other family members do not play games on their phones or TV’s but, play the crap out of Facebook games. If you hand my wife my 360 controller, she may play a game for a few minutes but, then, sets the controller back down saying that the controls are “too complicated.” It’s the same with all my other consoles. Some of the games I’ve tried to have her play only consist of using the control pad and a single button. (Galaxian used to be one of her favorite games. I’ve downloaded it to the Wii, tried to have her play it, and she says, “It’s not the same.”) So, to group her (and those others) as a “gamer” seems foolish. And, if we are going to start grouping them into the gamer classification, then Game Informer, IGN, and other gaming publications need to start writing reviews about Leapster, Leapfrog, and V-Tech games. They should also start covering new Facebook and Google Plus games.
P.S. Fire Troll, you should think about following your “logic” all the way to its end before making such pedestrian comments.
So if you don’t play a specific console or game, your not a gamer?
Ummmm no THATS YOUR opinion. Gamers play games hence why they are gamers, dur, dur, dur, derp, understand?
It doesnt matter what kind of game they play, as long as its a game they ARE gamers.
I dont care if anyone calls them, casual, hardcore or watever, THEY ARE GAMERS. And shouldn’t the person playing the games decide if their a gamer or not, other than someone forcing their opinion/justification on someone else?
P.S
Don’t do a P.S if all your gonna do is pists people off and get nowhere, I couldn’t care less what you think off me as long as I prove the point, in wich I did, okay
bye.
I agree with motaro003 that they’re not gamers. They just play games, but they are not gamers to the extent like us. Let’s say I fixed the windshield wiper of a car, am I an automotive mechanic? What if I were to nail and fix a chair, am I a carpenter? What if I just add a filter on a faucet, am I plumber? The same thing can be said about these people that play Facebook games: they aren’t gamers.
Like motaro003 said, “you should think about following your “logic” all the way to its end before making such pedestrian comments.”
When your a Carpenter, you learn to be one, those are jobs, games are not jobs because you play them and that’s it , and you have no right to decide whos a gamer or not. Sorry I cant continue wasting my time here arguing with so called “true” gamers, nice excuse though. So im never coming back, bye.
Thanks, you were never here to begin with, good riddance.
Good. We don’t need idiots here. For those of you that are in argument whether those who play Facebook games are gamers or not, consider this: What if I play guitar randomly, am I a guitarist? What if I drew a doodle, am I an artist? What if I sang, am I a singer? What if I drink just a little bit of alcohol, am I a drinker? What if I wrote a lousy article, am I a journalist?
yea but gaming is not considered that of a skill or talent, he’s talking about games in general. facebook games wich we consider ‘casual’ or for everyone that wants a pass time.
how can you consider that absolute crap games they mindless waste of time that any programmer could make in 2 hours
I appluad you sir. Couldn’t say it better myself.
Gamers are anybody who play games, doesn’t matter what game it is.
But in my opinion:
Hardcore gamers are gamers who at least play a game on a Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, or Mac/PC console.
Casual gamers are gamers who don’t at least play a game on a Nintendo, Sony, Microsft, or Mac/PC console.
Thank you, someone with common sense.
I guess I’m a “casual” musician, too, because I can strum a string, blow, and hit. I guess I’m a “casual” singer since I can sing. I guess I’m a “casual” artist since I can draw stick figures. I guess I’m “casual” in pretty much everything even if I suck at them.
LOL Facebook, or Apple Customer consider themselves as “A GAMER”. Y n now definition of true gamerz!
Fire Troll is just “stupid troll”.
I thought he said he was leaving and never coming back. Sure was looking forward to that! 8D
Back to topic, you can’t forget that the term “gamers” does not apply to these types of Facebook game players because the term “gamers” does not refer to them. What kind of person comes to mind when you here the word “gamer”? Is it a soccer mom killing time playing Angry Birds while waiting for her kids? No. Is it a teenager who is tending to her farm in Farmville? Hell No. When you hear the word “gamer”, you immediately think of Xbox, Sony (PS__), PC, Nintendo, or at least the stereotypical 20-something basement dweller who plays WoW and lives with his mom. We’re talking VIDEO/PC GAMES vs SOCIAL GAMES, and yes there’s a Huge difference. This isn’t a casual vs hardcore argument either, because there are casual video/pc games compared to others, but if you play them, you’d still make the cut as a “gamer”, (i.e. CoD is a “casual shooter” compared to BF3 but both require great skill in the FPS genre, or a Mario game could be considered “casual” but takes a significant amount of skill and good timing to complete 100%).
The reason it makes many people– like some above commentors and myself –upset is because “gamer” has universally been branded into a title that is worn Proudly by one who puts in the time to learn/master a relatively complex game with a relatively complex control scheme, (mainly because it use to be that being a “gamer” meant being a geek, nerd, or a hopeless/girlfriend-less basement dweller). It takes time to learn the move combos of a character in a fighting game like MvC3 or master the perfect build order in SC2. Hell, for some people, playing a 3D Mario game is challenging enough! (My sister-in-law loves 2D Mario games, but simply cannot understand Mario in the 3D world. Never has, never will. Tried to have her play Mario 64 when it came out… couldn’t even figure out how to get inside the castle…). In contrast, spend literally 2 minutes on Farmville and you’ve mastered everything that the free-to-play game has to offer. For this reason, YES, there needs to be some separation and distinction when people just start throwing around the term “gamer” because now it’s Cool to be a gamer. The difference between social games and video/pc games is like the difference between a HS diploma and a college degree, (or a nurse and a doctor). Both are in the same vein– gaming, (or medical practice) –but one is clearly on a higher level than the other. Being a “Gamer” is like being in a secret society that we’re all apart and we’ve all worked hard to get into by putting in a great deal of time learning, playing, and appreciating games that take a little more brain power and skill and offer a little more depth than Doodle Jump or your average rinse-and-repeat, “Like this and get this!”, ad-ridden social game on Facebook.
Of course it makes sense for this guy to be correct in saying that there are more people playing games in places like Facebook than on consoles (they’re free-to-play, keyword: FREE), but he couldn’t be more incorrect by referring to them as “gamers”, knowing what that term implies, based on the simple fact that they’re playing Facebook games.
Now hopefully this doesn’t trolled on too hard by the Fire Troll…
If they are gamers, more like to be casual gamers, mostly play FREE games.
They will not sit & wait for console/games to be out, or concentrate on games news. They don’t really recognized themselves as gamers cause games for them are just for passing time & add friends.
If something is free, people definitively will come, that’s the logic in real world. Sometimes they even saw us who bought games are st*pid.
Facebook gamers = Iphone gamers = Not necessary need gaming.
that can be the true in the case of numbers, but we all know fb made the games for pure money, fb never cares about any of its people, like a bad friend, first sign of trouble they dip.
Altogh fb games are pure billshit, help me this help me that pay for this pay for that not focused even on fun or gampleay and finally most of fb players are stupid people that think FarmVille and the sims soocialnare real games
nigga please
thank you raymond, you have made my day.
“Than the Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo combined.”
Ok, well, “Playstation” is the name of the first console in the family. And “Nintendo” is often the name given to the Nintendo Entertainment System. And since people have moved from the Xbox to the Xbox 360, of course Facebook would have “More gamers” than people who play those old systems.
Come on! We all know they meant “Sony’s console, Microsoft’s console, and Nintendo’s console”. They used those names because they are the one people use.
200mil doesn’t even reach the number of Nintendo or Sony alone. Just look at the number of consoles/handhelds they’ve sold.
Also, I hardly call someone playing farmvill every once in a while a gamer.
Completely true real gamers play serious games. Most of Facebook players are 1)passing time 2)older people 3)what was one again?
Well, I’d say gamers are people who play games a lot, doesn’t depend on the game. But I wouldn’t call someone a gamer if they just play flash games.
Gamers play games, you are not the one to decide, its a FACT.
They are not gamers, they are people who play games.
Gamers invest a lot of time into video games of all sorts. People who play games play it for a little while get bored and come back later and never consider another game until someone shoves it in there face. I will not let the term gamer be trampled on by people that think they are a gamer just because the play games. I used to play the piano because I was bored, does that make me a musician? The answer is no.
Stop trolling. While facebook gamers technically fall under the literal definition of “gamer”, they are not included in what that has come to mean. Use some street smarts as opposed to book smarts.
Now, gamers are considered as people who play games on a system of some sort with a plot, and other aspects that make a game, a game. Farmville and Pocket God are merely things you tap into just to get entertainment, that don’t need much skill or intelligence. Games like Zelda have puzzles in them that you have to work out, large maps and areas to go to, whereas Farmville has a square where you plant seeds. Harvest Moon is Farmville but about 100 times better, as it has the ability to walk around and do things that you do in games. As I said, Farmville is a light form of entertainment.
And anyway, “As of October 18, 2010, Nintendo has sold over 565 million hardware units and 3.4 billion software units.” This proves that Nintendo already beat Facebook.
As far as what a “gamer” is, see my post above. You guys are 100% right though. The term “gamer” refers to a certain group of people now, a group that Facebook game players are not a part of. They simply haven’t paid their dues 8)
Facebook is boring…
Yep. it’s full of people there most of their life.
They even made movies about Facebook and facebook is full of shovelware games.
Out of online flash games, FARMVILLE SUCKS! DINORUN IS ONE OF THE BEST FLASH GAMES!! :D
I friggen love dinorun!
If you narrow down the numbers to those that are actually proper ‘gamers’ and not people who are bored and want to farm things on farmville etc, then I doubt there’s as much as nintendo, sony or microsoft.
Nintendo has more than 200million by themselves over Wii/DS/3DS.
If you add in Sony (PS3 and PSP) and MS (360), it goes above 420million.
Facebook executive maths fail…
Exactly.
Right. ‘Coz all people who play FarmVille and Words with Friends pass for ‘gamers’. They’re more like apps than games.
“I don’t think that word means what you think it means”
no the reason facebook games are more popular is simple they are free
that being said, the social network needs a sequel entitled the social gamers.
Of course, if we keep in count shitty and useless casual games, such as those you find on social networks, it’s kind of a given that lots people play them. Consoles are for more dedicated gamers.
Why ‘Nintendo:’ if Facebook stated so?Isn’t the title misleading?
No, it’s news that relates to or involves Nintendo the company. Hence, Nintendo:__________. That’s how sickr does his headlines
I bet Pencil & Paper have more gamers than facebook. They practically invented Hangman, M.A.S.H. & Tic Tac Toe
that is true maybe. but to compare their games to sony microsoft and nintento. whoah. i mean i agree there are some good social games at facebook. i think it is 1/4 good games and 3/4 i cant even call a game (bullshit games).. facebook games are really not considered as serious games to play with compaired to those gaming console companies.
compaired to toys. facebook games are like boring boardgames while games from the three console gianst: Nintendo,Sony & Microsoft are the Toy robot/cool toys…
the only success of social games is that they dont need a console. it is with facebook. so they have 200 million who checks on his account and check on his game (3mins-15mins) then check on facebook. their main purpose is still facebook.
if the three giants would create an online social gaming site. and upload games in the site. they could easily beat facebook’s lame games.
I wonder how many of those 200 million would be willing to give them money… I know I wouldn’t, and don’t know anyone who would. My money is for nintendo and sony, you know, those whose platforms have games I give a crap about
Yes becausecmyaquarium is a game
Of course Facebook has more people playing their games than all of the major platforms combined. Over 10,700,000 people have ‘Words with Friends’ on their Facebook for example. However, these games are free and easy to get, so people are just going to download them, play them a couple of times, and abandon them forever. Facebook is a free service, a console and games are a $400 service.
Calling every single 40 year old woman who plays Farmville is idiotic. Calling every single 10 year old with a iPhone who plays Doodle Jump for 10 minutes gamers is idiotic. Calling the average 19 year olds who plays CoD gamers isn’t idiotic.
The fact of the matter is that Facebook does not know the terminology of ‘gamer’. This is supported by the fact that they named the ‘Nintendo’ a modern console.
Leave the idiots in their hole. Let them have their fun. I am going to play proper games like Arkham City and Skyward Sword.
My mom plays bejeweled blitz on facebook every other day…yeah I’d def call her a ‘gamer.’
lmao.
A pretty impressive accomplishment, given that they have no games.
They forgot to mention that that number is approximately 1/4 correct, with all the old ladies making duplicate accounts of their duplicate accounts to send themselves gifts in Farmvil.
i’m sure being free has nothing to do with it
and the fact that you’re continuously bombarded by requests off people to go on them!!!
The iPod touch yeah i can understand your statment, but this is just dumb.
DON’T GET ME STAAARTEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!!!!!!!
facebook sucks. but good for facebook. im not going there.
I’m officially done with this blog. This the 843rd post about silly dumb shit that isn’t “Nintendo news.”
Sickr just likes getting Nintendo fanboys riled up, and the readers get boners making fun of whoever doesn’t think Nintendo is God.
I can’t ask you to change, because your free to do what you want, but I’m I unsubscribing from the blog and unfollowing it on twitter because I’ve had enough. You guys are very immature and unprofessional. I’ll find my Nintendo news elsewhere.
I think Sickr loves getting Nintendo fanboys feeling angry at rival companys
Cool story bro.
lol U MAD BRO?
It’s news. It involves Nintendo and it’s keeping the rest of us aware of the looming social game agenda which is More than relevant to Nintendo. I for one am glad sickr doesn’t just post the “good news” all the time. If he did that, he’d be a really bad news source and would be doing all of us a disservice…
KEEP IT UP SICKR!! GIVE US DA NEWS!!!
……. Some people who play facebook “games” play them just to burn time, or that they’re addicting, (Like Pawn Stars or Tetris Battle) and it’s social games, but people who play them aren’t “gamers” so to say
Come on guys, this statement is pure marketing. We all know that most of the people who got a console play on it with their families, friends and pets (well, kind of, with Wii Fit, I guess…) There’s no way they can tell how many people actually play with consoles, all they can really know is the number of consoles that have been sold.
Plus, we don’t really know who they’re counting when they say they’ve got over 200 social gamers. Do they count everybody who once played a game on FB (in this case, I would be counted as a ‘social gamer’) or only the ones who are playing actively (in that case, I wouldn’t be counted…)? We don’t really know. That’s a number they trowed in, just to impress. Don’t pay to much attention to it! ;)
They.. are.. gamers? buahahaha
Are people that play Zynga games called gamers? :o
They might have more games but they all suck.
How about a little reading. 200 million for the MONTH. Meaning majority are probably repeat players. This sounds like saying 200 million people played the 360 for the month. There are people that play everyday, there are people who log on several times a day. So there are other factors around it. It’s not like they said 200 million UNIQUE users for the month.
Take it with a grain of salt, it’s not saying FB games are better or more popular by the stat they gave. It’s saying 200 million “gamers” (not unique gamers) played games over MONTHS time. Well duh, it’s a good time waster.
Don’t mean to sound elitist or snobby, but, those people are not real gamers.
Why he call then “Gamers”?
Oh really? Those games are available on a social system that is free and is used by almost the entire population of the planet. Even at that, 200 million is not impressive considering facebook is available for free and the majority if not all of those games are free-to-play. If I’m not mistaken, the DS has already passed the 150 mark plus the 50 or so million Wii units… it doesn’t even reach the number of systems Nintendo has sold this gen even though facebook has way more users than console gamers. Also, didn’t Nintendo announce recently that they had reached over 250 or so million DS games sold just in the US? Yeah, get back to me when you confirm those facebook people play games because they want to and not because their friends are on there.
Why is everyone bitching and moaning as per usual about this? My parents both “play” Farmville. I did too, for a while then got bored. My parents are still playing it, like 2 years later. I don’t bother with FB games anymore, the odd bit of Bejeweled while on the train is alright on occasion, but I sit down in front of my game system and TV for playing video games.
Farm Vill really sucks.
I play some online games and have loved them but never as much as console gaming.
I love quite a few online games but I HATE FARMVILLE!!!!!
Best example ever that quantity =/= quality
There’s a difference between gamers and “people who play video games”
gamers are the core and people who plays games are casual.
Only thing I think they could base this off of is “online” gamers. Sony has 80 mil, ms has 35 mil, don’t know Nintendo (do they even keep track?) regardless to call a FB “activity” a game is just downright disrespectful to the gaming industry.
80 million not really cause the only sold 51 ps3 and microsoft 57 360.
There’s a difference between gamers and people who have played Farmville before.
What on Earth?! I don’t use facebook and i’ve seen what games my friends have played on Facebook. FARMVILLE!?
Oh i can’t beleave it, thats why i don’t use facebook, because i will just get spam and virus’s on my space.
My friends computer was currupted when she was sent facebook Virus mails.
LOL
LOL
LOL
LOL
LOL
I think I make my point.
i played farmville once. i died.
my friend showed me a screenshot of farmville once. I died
My Friend nagged me to watch himself on facebook and he went strait on farmville and made me watch. I died
My best friend said Facebook was fun because of one thing, He went on facebook and showed me Farmville. I died
I joined Facebook to play this soo called popular game called Farmville, I went on it to see why people said it’s popular. I died
I when on youtube once to search and watch some footage this so called game called Farmville, i watched some footage. I died
Lets see….
The DS line has sold over 150 million, and the Wii has sold over 70 million. Oh, I guess they forgot to include Nintendo’s 220 million users. Go figure…
more like 4 3ds and 150 ds and 88 wii plus 57 360 and 51 ps3 that even more plus 66 psp.
Gamers? More like people who dabble in games.
Are they just talking about America only cuz there’s gamers worldwide so his dumbass should correct that. Especially since the Japanese are pure gamers at heart.
Well, I’m not going to argue with that logic.
No, seriously, I’m not. At least he admitted the difference between why someone would like an Xbox game and why someone would like a facebook game. They really are gamers…albeit a very different type not within our criteria of what it means to be a gamer. If nothing else, that’s at least one thing we should grudgingly respect.
OMG! My three year old nephew is a GAMER!
It’s true. Facebook has more shitty games than Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft COMBINED!
Alright facebook, start charging at least 20 dollars per game and see what happens to your numbers
I know right maybe instead a trial and montly pay see what happen lol
why does anyone care wether they class themselfs as gamers? hell ive been playing games since 91 does that make me a “true gamer” because i was there when most megaman games came out and beat em, or cause i played silver surfer and almost passed the first level with no cheats? no, wether its a flash game, app game, pc games, handhels game, or console game ITS STILL A GAME.hence the term ‘gamer’ although i do agree FB flash games are boring and not challenging, a flash game is still a game
“sigh”
this is just sad….. if you want to compare those trash little flash games to PS3/360/Wii games then knock yourself out Ethan….
I personally do not count Farmville and Angry Birds as games.
Facebook games don’t qualify as real games :p
ahahahahahaha
its because Facebook games force you to spam people to play a game with you! If not then you can’t proceed too far into the game….
You are once again comparing something that is not a gaming platform; to a gaming platform. PEOPLE JUST SHUT UP!
NOOOO PS360WII ARE DOOOOOOOMED DOOOOOOOOOMED!!!!!!!
You play Facebook games when you’re bored; you play console games to have fun!:D NintendoForLife<3
Uh Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft System games takes years to develop especially Nintendo.
Flash and Social games are only few month or week to make and the Internet is easier to get than
100 dollars or more system.
But none of them are dedicated. They fall for any cheap tricks and gimmicks. Not to mention the fact that Facebook games aren’t reeling in nearly as much revenue as the big competitors in the industry.
Bull. Fucking. Shit. I mean, I HATE classing people as “gamers” but FB games are 5th grade trite, people only play because they can’t play an actual video game.
Here’s some food for thought. The hard facts:
-People on Facebook: 800 million + (of which only 50% are active daily and can be called gamers)
-Total number of handhelds sold, (all DS, PSP and GBA), as of June, 2011: 300.71 million (approx)
-Total number of consoles sold, (Wii, 360, PS3) as of July, 2011: 197.37 million
1) If everyone on Facebook plays games, then they’ve got Nintendo, MS and Sony beat. Consider this; most Facebook gamers have at least two profiles, probably more. That number is cut in half, at least. This number is then cut in half again because only 50% of users on Facebook are on daily. Total gamers: around 200 million
2) If every person who bought a PS3 also bought a Wii and 360 (51.8 million sales), then Microsoft has 3.2 million unique gamers and Nintendo has 35.77 million. Total gamers: 90.77 million
3) If every person who bought a PSP also bought a GBA and some form of the DS (71.4 million) then the GBA has 10.11 million unique gamers and the DS has 76.46 million. Total gamers: 157.97 million
End facts:
The big 3 (Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony): 248.74 million gamers
Facebook: 200 million aprox.
I’d say the figures speak for themselves.
Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Console_wars#Worldwide_sales_figures_7 and http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
Nonsense. I don’t even play Facebook games
Umm. Look at the console sales. 150Million DS’ sold, PS3 sold 50million, Xbox 360 sold 55 million and PSP sold 71 million. That = 326 million and yet there are more consoles and Facebook says that they have 200Million+ gamers more then 3 major companys gamers. there are around 126Million more gamers on Nintendo/Micro/Sony consoles. So…
I can’t nobody’s posted this yet!!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FopyRHHlt3M&w=420&h=315%5D
^ Epic fail is an epic fail
Wouldn’t call them actual “gamers”…more of “normal people who want a more interesting way to interact with their friends.” When I’m bored to hell I play FB games then ditch them after a week, coz that’s only how long they last…>_> Then you can’t progress without pissing your poor, poor friends off.
Bahhh different kinda games plus everyone on Facebook has like farmville or whatever its called and only 1/4 of them actually play…..I have it and can guarentee my farm is a hot mess since the game has only been used once lol. People do tend to send me pigs and crap tho haha
I doubt it. Millions have bought Nintendo games over the years, likely many more than Facebook just because of age. Besides, while Facebook games are technically games, they don’t exactly compare to proper console/handheld games. And well, they’re not paying as much for them.
I don’t think of Facebook games the same I do as console or handheld games. They’re just time wasters, social games. You don’t see a lot of hardcore gamers playing Farmville, do you? Facebook games are there, and really, they’re probably counting everyone who has played a game ONCE. A lot of people have tried FB games and hated them (like myself, I don’t play them, and I find no point in them.) Despite there supposedly being more gamers for free games (what an amazing accomplishment) console and PC gamers actually spend money on the games. Though, I suppose SOME do spend money on those stupid cards for items in-game, which, I’ve never been able to bear doing for a stupid game like Farmville or whatever.
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Those players don’t know how to play real games like the one on the Big 3. So they don’t count. Proof?
My sister is a FaceBook game addict, and yet she’s too afraid to pick up a controller.