1. a game can of course create it’s own social graphs and relationships. … I think what we want to do is not look to replicate a facebook, but instead try and enable more game-specific types of relationships.

    Joel: Do you think there’s more or less value to having a friend play with you over say a stranger?

    Ethan: Well it really depends on the type of game experience that you’re having. In some cases it might be important that I know you, that I have an emotional investment in you. Or…I might care more about kicking you butt at a game! […] However, if you look at core gamers on social games, they actually don’t really give a shit. They often need a mechanism to go through these games as fast as they can…they’ll add friends just to get through gates. Their relationships will be very, very loose.

    — The Game Graph: GREE’s Ethan Fasset on their publishing platform, our mobile future, and the real problem with app discovery

  2. Virtual social graph makes … showing one‘s gaming addiction less awkward

    — Social Games: Why GREE And Mobage Operator DeNA Monetize Better Than Zynga