NEWS: Six Flags Entertainment Enters Social Gaming Arena

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.mcvuk.com/press-releases/59022/Six-Flags-Mascot-Park

 

Six Flags Entertainment, the world’s largest regional theme park company, announced today its foray into the world of social gaming with the all-new Six Flags Mascot Park, an interactive game launching on Facebook. Six Flags will elevate this innovative entertainment experience with an approach that focuses on deep personalization, creativity, irreverent antics and social interaction.

 

“The Six Flags brand stands for fun and unparalleled thrills and the introduction of Six Flags Mascot Park brings that signature experience to the virtual reality world,” said Mike Antinoro, Executive VP of Marketing and Entertainment.“We want to offer fans a forum to entertain, amuse and interact while also recognizing the importance of integrating a unique experience to the online community.”

 

Six Flags Mascot Park encourages players to create“shows” for their friends to view– and either cheer them or jeer them. Players will strive to be the most popular mascot by creating these unique performances, which will gain fans, entertain friends and earn coins. Coins can be used to buy set pieces and costumes as well as improve their moves. In a unique twist, players can also jump into their friend's shows and mash them up with their own moves, special effects and pranks.

 

Six Flags Mascot Park is a combined development effort between Six Flags, Noise and Making Fun. This marks the first collaboration between Noah Kerner of Noise and John Welch at Making Fun. Kerner, new media whiz and author of Chasing Cool, was behind Facebook's first app and some of its largest platforms. Welch is the gaming industry veteran who, as founder and CEO of PlayFirst, launched the Diner Dash franchise that has entertained hundreds of millions of fans. Kerner commented "Six Flags has years of experience creating exciting large-scale entertainment, and their enormous built-in fan base should make them the perfect vehicle for this type of effort." He added, "The game will offer a hilarious and absorbing experience with a ton of Mascot goodies to play with like hip-hop dancing rhinos, Elvis-themed hip gyrations, a kissing bandit, exploding bunny guns, fireworks, cannons and kick-ass social dynamics."

 

Six Flags Mascot Park will make its debut this summer, so fans should stay tuned for more information in the coming weeks.

 

http://games.venturebeat.com/2010/05/24/theme-park-giant-six-flags-takes-a-ride-into-social-games-exclusive/

 

Six Flags is riding a rollercoaster into the fast-growing social gaming market. The theme park company is announcing today its Six Flags Mascot Park, a social game where players can create mascots and engage in performance in the hopes of becoming the star of a virtual Six Flags theme park.

 

It is yet another example of a major brand diving into Facebook social games, which can now command audiences of up to 50 million users per month. Users can play those games for free, but they pay for virtual goods with real money. Market analyst firm Inside Network estimates that virtual goods revenue will be $1.6 billion in 2010.

 

The idea is to marry a well-known brand with cool game play that encourages deep personalization, creativity, irreverent antics and social interaction. Six Flags’ app lets users create and dress up an avatar known as a Mascot. Then you can make that Mascot dance. The game includes a ragdoll physics engine so that the character movements look realistic. You can set off some dynamite and watch a Mascot splat against a wall.

 

Six Flags jumped aboard because it believes that a lot of first-generation social games are not very social. Mascot Park is designed to be more social, linking people via their friend networks on Facebook. It also lets you interact with your friends’ Shows and Mascots. You can throw a virtual ax at your friend’s Mascot while he or she is putting on an act. If your act is popular, you can earn virtual coins to buy set pieces, costumes or improve your dance moves.

 

“We wanted to offer fans a forum to entertain, amuse and interact but we also recognize the importance of integrating a unique and over-the-top experience to the online community,” said Mike Antinoro, executive vice president of marketing and entertainment.

 

It’s an interesting test. Brands haven’t fared so well on Facebook. While brands dominate on the iPhone, there are no major media brands in the top 10 list of games on Facebook. That’s because Facebook games spread through the recommendations of real friends, not via pure marketing.

 

Six Flags is a big company with more than 30,000 employees and 19 theme parks. It has millions of fans who have been going to its theme parks since it built its first, Six Flags over Texas, in 1961. To move into the Facebook market, it collaborated with Noise, a business invention agency in New York headed by Noah Kerner, a Facebook app pioneer. Six Flags also worked with Making Fun, a networked game company headed by game entrepreneur John Welch, who is the former chief executive of PlayFirst. Kerner said the game will feature antics such as hip-hop dancing rhinos, Elvis-themed hip gyrations, a kissing bandit, exploding bunny guns, fireworks, and cannon. Six Flags Mascot Park will debut this summer. Noise came up with the game concept, art direction and basic play, while Making Fun developed the game.