Raptr: Everyone’s a Gamer
Raptr announced today that it has launched a new multi-network instant messaging service and client, and has added two new publishers to its Raptr Partners Program.
For more details, we spoke with Raptr CEO and Founder Dennis Fong, who walked us through some of the new features in a run-through of the new client earlier this week. His comments are highlighted in blue throughout.
IM Client:
The new client lets users across multiple instant messaging services including Google Talk, AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, Xfire, Facebook Chat and Xbox Live communicate and interact with each other using one client.
This new functionality is combined with existing features like the ability to connect with your friends and see what they are playing across multiple platforms like PC, Mac, Xbox Live, Facebook, some Flash games, and to a small degree, select games on PlayStation Network and Wii.
“Instead of having to run an Aim client, Google Talk client, Yahoo! client, etc., all you have to do is run Raptr and it all appears in one buddy list.” What’s unique about us is that in addition to all the various IM clients and Facebook, we support a couple of gaming services as well like Xfire, - and through MSN integration we support Xbox Live.
So what that means is that if you are playing on Xbox Live I could send you a message from my PC using Raptr and it’ll pop up on your TV screen and you could respond back if you wanted to.
I can link up as many accounts as I want and it’s pretty powerful that I can have all my friends in one buddy list, but what’s unique about Raptr is the “made for gaming” part. All I have to do is put my Gamertag into Raptr and it does everything else for me. It automatically pulls down all the games that I have on my Xbox 360; it detects when I play these games and pulls down all of my achievements.. everything is automatic. “
Games & Game Management:
Beyond the new centralized IM support (which I’m using right now - so far it works pretty well), the latest Raptr update offers a redesigned UI, new navigation windows, and some new features like a game manager, an arcade tab with some simple casual games that can be played within the Steam-style client, a user dashboard and a game discovery engine.
“We bundle some of the most popular free casual games into the client. So Desktop Tower Defense, as an example is bundled into the client as well as other popular casual games. This is our way of introducing people to a bunch of games we love to play at Raptr. they are free, really easy to get into and you can play them right in the client.”
The game manager allows users to launch and organize any game on PC or Mac, provides real-time visibility into what buddies are currently playing a game, important summary information about users’ games and automatic game updates via Raptr’s patching system. This ties together the social information about playing habits within the Raptr client giving users access to content from the Raptr website about a user’s profile, friends and games played.
Finally, there’s enhanced discovery, a way for Raptr users to find more information about the most popular games on the service based on data gathered from all users. These real-time modules show the top games and hot games charts, allowing users to see what games are popular based on what the Raptr community is playing in real-time. A new top reviewer module also allows users to see reviews from Raptr’s most active game reviewers.
Raptr polls a lot of information and uses it in so many ways that it is almost overwhelming. From real-time data streams within, to buddy lists retrieved from multiple IM clients, to players preferences, status updates to and from various services, user reviews and much more, there’s a lot of information being shared, stored, and broadcasts.
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