This new gaming site Cafe.com is taking more than a few pages from the Korean model. Its a casual games site with a “game console” — the games are all embedded within this console. This is a common sort of feature in Korean games — the Korean version of Albatross 18, aka Pangya, had a whole desktop, for example. (BTW, I find it amusing that it’s hard to tell the game is about golf from the Korean site anymore… is that a guy drawing a sword over on the right?)

But that’s not the only tip Cafe.com is taking. You play through the “console,” and the reason is that it offers 3d avatars you can use to chat with others. And of course, there’s microtransactions. You can spend money in order to get in-game advantages at multiplayer clones of Zuma, Pipe Dreams, Puzzle Fighter, and so on.

Yes, you read that right — in-game advantages. Continue reading »