Put casual games in a social blender, get doof
Mike Butcher
27 comments »
Doof, a new London-based startup went into public beta at the beginning of October offering casual gaming wrapped-up with social networking in a good-looking package. Casual games are the mainstream of gaming world, and Mini-Clips is a good example. But they tend not to have an underlying social network, which ought in theory create more traffic and more data about the user.
Doof offers a large range of games from arcade to action, cards and puzzles etc. Users get to create a doof profile which has a personal news feed, list of friends and various ego-boosting features like “bragging rights”, game playing statistics, and similar kinds of features to Facebook, including status updates. You can also rate games and other members creations. The site has leagues, tournaments and various other competitions to keep the community ticking over and appealing to people’s competitive streak. The privately-owned Money Gaming Corporation Ltd in London is the company behind the service, headed up by CEO Liad Shababo. The site is built using Adobe Flex which allows for a certain richness in the interface. Plans include building up the functionality, specifically interactive community features, whilst also growing the games, competitive options, player customisation features and integration options with existing social networking sites and platforms.
I tried the service out but had some trouble with using it on a Firefox on a Mac - it may well have been my machine not their service. But the interface certainly is pretty good looking.
…too bad your gif isn’t.
stupid
Possibly the worst of the 1 syllable names. Simply terrible. A HUGE branding challenge.
Worst thing that can happen to a new site … have a busted OK button on the new user sign up screen. These guys are “doof”s.
They’ll never be able to market that in Germany (or even to any other German-speaking folk)
“doof” literally means “dumb” or “idiotic” in German.
http://dict.leo.org/ende?lp=en.....;relink=on
Smart move, guys!
Interesting to note that AOL has relaunched games.com yesterday as well
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doof
and you have to pay to play games that i can play on my desktop online for free on my windows xp computer.
if it was free MAYBE yes but since its a pain service then its a big fat no.
makes no sense.
Nothing new here. Social networks have had competitive gaming for a while - see YFly.com for an example.
The name is link bait 101. How many smartypants German bloggers will link to the company now?
site is completely free
doof
wait for it…..
-us
@joe
No its not, you play using credits that you have to fund via creditcards or paypal.
hardly free.
Big problem, there’s no resend confirmation email button, if you don’t get the first one you’re screwed.
… doof!
Exactly what it sounds like!
Harhar: Doof ist doof!
haha deadpool in two months!
sounds so dumb.
looks really cool to me
i kicked ass at space invaders
@zizi. u should actually use the site before u say dumb crap. u play games for free, but u have a choice of wagering credits.
while an impressive amount of flex work, this site is ugly and a mess. but there is alot here, worth checking out the amoeba game… surprisingly fun.
I realy, really hope they change their name soon, or at least the color of their logo.
I really don’t want to be confused with them.
Doof in Dutch means deaf.. nmmm.. maybe the sounds makes you go “doof”? But i wont know since i cant signup….hmm….. maybe the German doof applies better?
Great site…this is perfect sie for gamers who want something quick and fun. I had not problem signing up and loging in. The games are fun, the video clips from from Google but the internal video player is cool. I think with the right word of mouth they will do well. A name is a name it’s all about the user experience. I’ve played against a bunch of people on the site already and it’s totally fun.
You earn credits via battle but you don’t have to pay for playing any of the games. You only pay if you don’t have credits to battle against another player.
But I love the customization. If they start doing adveragames they could sell a lot of advertising. Gaming will over take music sales in the next few months.
Absolutely rubbish. Completely pointless.
uVme launches 21 January 2008 with:
1. Skill Games Platform
2. Social network with integrated instant messenger
3. Global network marketing opportunity
4. 24/7 telephone and email support in 7 languages.
5. The name uVme (You Versus Me). Not bad for a gaming business is it?
6. You can pre-register for FREE now at website below.
http://www.uVme-Online-Games.net
uVme is a big pyramid scheme, stay far away.