This past week, the Facebook team pushed the remaining old profile users over to the radically altered new profile design. The new design’s been somewhat controversial, with groups being established in opposition to the changes, and an unprecedented number of users registering as Facebook developers (solely because developers can still access the old profile).

Though change is never easy, the new Facebook profile is definitely a step in the right direction for both users and developers, built to create the best user experience and the best environment for developers. Here are a few reasons why you too might eventually kind of like the new Facebook:

Emphasis on searching:
Facebook has a rather clever search engine built in, with its search bar attempting to auto-complete with both your friends and installed applications. If you know the name of your favorite app (or even just part of the name), accessing it is as easy as typing.

Application presence not worse, just different:
The “Applications” button now in the bottom left hard corner of the Facebook window gives you quick access to your bookmarks. Your top six favorite applications are also always displayed along that bottom “taskbar.”

Wider pages means wider apps!
It’s true! Now that the older, small profile is a thing of the past, we can take advantage of the wider format to deliver just as much excellent content with less scrolling!

Simplified app installation:
Old Facebook users had to view a long, confusing list of checkboxes before installing an app. With the new profile, that process is a lot more user-friendly. It’s better for players, which is always better for us.

Attention to detail:
This isn’t new, but Facebook has always had an ear to the ground when it comes to feedback. In the months prior to the full release, the new Facebook profile evolved in a very dynamic way during its beta period. We fully expect that as time goes on, the new Facebook will continue to be fine-tuned to strike that delicate balance between user experience and developer flexibility.

For those users still having trouble finding our games, there’s an easy way to add them to favorites. While using the app, click the “Add Bookmark” button that appears along the taskbar at the bottom of the page (shown above). It’s that simple!

- sj

Some fantastic coverage of the social gaming scene recently came our way from the mainstream media. MSNBCs Winda Benedetti talked with some of social gaming’s most prominent personalities — our own Mark Pincus included — about the strengths and challenges of this new frontier.

Key points include the importance of connecting friends through play, and the distinction between social games and the rest of the video game industry. Though social games may at times look very familiar, there are unseen complexities that make our business a fun and challenging experience for all those involved.

Thanks for believing in us, Winda. We promise we won’t let you down. ^_^

- sj

We are lucky to be living in a spectacular new era for consumer software. Developers are in a creative fervor that reminds me of the first days of computer games, with games being programmed in garages, dorm rooms and start-ups. Now three of the most important youth brands (Facebook, Apple and Myspace) have opened their APIs and SDKs with stunning success. Consumers can drink beer on their iPhones, play poker tournaments in their social portals, and put out mafia hits on friends of friends of friends. If it’s cool to reach out and touch someone, it is totally awesome to slay a total stranger.

The Facebook platform, in my opinion, changed everything when it went live in May 2007. Its developer APIs were as solid as any videogame console development tools, and it achieved mass market penetration much more quickly (Facebook apps are estimated to have reached 40 million users in just 12 months.) The iPhone apps development environment has also proven to be enormously productive, and the iTunes Apps store is clearly a new “killer app” for mobile computing. If 2007 was the year of the “API-able Internet,” 2008 is the year of the “Virtual Platform.”

I must have worked on 24 meaningful game platforms over the years, from the Atari 800 and C-64 in 1983 to Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii in 2008. I have tried to forget many of the non-meaningful ones, like PC Junior, CD-I, Sega CD and Dreamcast. There have been cyclical patterns worth noting:

• The Market Maker must have a first party brand owner and driver. No platforms succeed with brand owners who falter.
• Exclusive apps, from Halo to Mario to Facebook Photos, position platforms.
• Killer apps grow markets. The “long tail” (multitudes of games) doesn’t matter; but 3rd party software is necessary to provide breadth and energy.
• Critical mass or die. 20 million customers within 5 years in the US.
• Risk is asymmetrical. First parties “bet the company” before launch, but independent game-makers “bet the company” for years after. This creates “frenemies” who battle for game market share and profits.

The internet has changed many old patterns. Can these Virtual Platform companies re-shape the experiences of game-makers and game-players? I am hopeful.

Let the games begin!

Bing Gordon