Is Google Hatching a New Platform for Games?
Google "Wave" could be a new place to play - and develop.
Google's new tool, Wave, is getting buzz as new way to communicate and collaborate online. But talk is already brewing about the impact on games.
Because Wave will be open source, developers will have an opportunity to create games for the service as well as other applications. Web games are taking off lately, especially on social networks such as Facebook, where titles from poker to Mafia Wars are hitting big. Wave games would likely be of a similar ilk, free, fast, and accessible. The keyword there is "free." Free2play titles, which you can get for nothing and accessorize for an added premium, are increasingly the "wave" of the future.
David Kushner is the author of many books, including Masters of Doom, Jonny Magic & the Card Shark Kids, Levittown, The Bones of Marianna, and Alligator Candy. A contributing editor of Rolling Stone, he has written for publications including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Wired, and The New York Times Magazine.
