Socially networked, socially fun gaming

The Facebook-era has been upon us for quite some time. Companies like Zynga have gone from tiny little Facebook games to mega-empires worth hundreds of millions of dollars with hundreds of millions of players playing games.

You don't need to be Infinity Ward or iD Software to pump out quality games that people love, but the social-network aspect of it is a key point in Zynga's success. The next-generation of gaming needs to have this at the heart of it, keeping all of your friends and social networking services at the direct centre of it all.

Facebook could release an update, allowing you to allow access to your console (by signing into Facebook on the console) and then letting your friends join your "gaming" list. As you play a game, your scores could be on your Facebook wall; you could 'share' them, tag friends or start challenges or games directly via Facebook.

Imagine setting up an "event" on Facebook, where it would remind you to join a game on a Friday night at 8PM. Friday night rolls around and you're connected to your mates via the console and Facebook, sledging it out over webcam, etc - with the final results of the game going up to your wall without user-interaction for bragging rights.

The next-gen consoles really need to integrate so many services into one, just like Google do with their services like mail, documents, blogging, reader, photos, translation services, maps, videos, news - it's all cloud-based, yet simple enough to be right at your fingertips, as well as being powerful enough for even a pro to use them and have access to all services, documents and cloud-based storage from any internet-connected device.

Consoles need this ease of use; a one-stop-shop for gaming, social-networking, entertainment, communication and enjoyment.