Facebook Game Platinum Life Gets Virtual Add-ons, Still Stupid

Let me get one thing clear right off the bat: I have nothing against monetization of social games. In fact, I’ve long been a supporter of micro-transactions and “freemium” content as a business model, especially in Facebook games. As a developer and a journalist, however, I am always disappointed when I see poorly thought out games being used as a front to whore out a business model. This is all too common the story with Facebook games, and Platinum Life is no exception.

Heatwave Interactive‘s Platinum Life advertises itself as “the first social music game to hit Facebook featuring real stars. Become a player in the hip-hop universe as you make the transition from unsigned musician to superstar celebrity, encountering some of the music industry’s brightest stars along the way, including Ludacris, Omarion, DJ Holiday, DJ Skee, Shontelle and other artists from Universal Music Group.”

Let’s analyze what’s wrong with this picture, shall we? First, look at the artist list. These are not the “brightest stars”. Where is Kanye? Where is Jay-Z? Of course, they’re not going to be there because they’re both signed with Sony. Second, the game does not let you actually “create music.”

From the press release announcing the game “players work their way up, perform tasks for iconic hip-hop stars, do shows at local dive bars and clubs, clawing their way up in the music industry by being around the best and the brightest artists, allowing them to upgrade every aspect of their life.” Upgrade every aspect of your life…..the acquisition of goods IS the game? So why bother to mask it behind poorly thought out content?

But wait….there’s more. According to the press release, you can buy “Virtual music equipment, hot gear, & bling.” Yes, bling. Welcome to 1998. Maybe you can add a Sparklee and some animated .gifs to your Facebook page and turn it into MySpace too!

There’s a whole host of other reasons why this game is a terrible idea, but I think you get the general drift. The sad part is that while games like this are being churned out by the dozen, companies like Bigpoint are developing browser-based games that feature full 3d graphics, innovative PvP gameplay, social functions that AREN’T designed to sell you meaningless content….and they’re taking the time to develop rich, interactive stories rather than stealing from their competitors (Zynga) or simply ignoring it all together (Heatwave).

Although, I guess I shouldn’t have expected better from the authors of the bestselling “game” iSamJackson for the iPhone.