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"Kongregate, a social network for gamers, launches their beta version today. We first mentioned them here as a more enticing alternative than GreatGamesExperiment, as they provide an ongoing community around playable Flash and Shockwave web games. Kongregate has been in heavy development since last year, and has received a round of seed funding from several angel investors, including Reid Hoffman, a LinkedIn co-founder and social networking pioneer; Joe Kraus, co-founder of Excite and JotSpot; Jeff Clavier, and Richard Wolpert, an early investor in GameSpy and the former president of Disney Online.\nKongregate is reminiscent of the days when Yahoo Games was the pinnacle of online game activity, as it was the closest thing to a community for web games. I must admit, it's an addictive site, even if you're not a gamer. What makes Kongregate a potential leader for the web 2.0 gaming revival is their real time chat ability for all users playing a given game, though they're not playing together. A highlight of Kongregate's service is their platform for game developers to upload their games, earn revenue, and become integral members of the community. Very few sites bring developers and gamers together in this way, and this type of integration lends itself to a unique dynamic that fosters growth and community stability.\nSeveral other features make Kongregate a highly integrated gaming community, such as the ability to earn points and level up, unlock special powers, and collect cards for the completion of tasks. This really makes the act of participating on the site a game in and of itself. It's an interesting take on the incentivization of site activity, interactivity and participation. Kongregate, based in San Francisco, CA, was founded in 2006 by brother-and-sister team, Jim Greer, a game industry veteran, and Emily Greer, an interactive marketing executive. They include a wide array of games for a broad appeal, including sports, adventure and puzzle games.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2007/03/21/kongregate/>