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    Amazon Game Studios Launches Facebook Title

    Amazon Game Studios, the online retailer's foray into video games, has released its first title on Facebook.

    Living Classics, a free-to-play game, asks the player to solve moving object puzzles amid characters and locations from classic stories such as Alice In Wonderland, The Wizard Of Oz and the legend of King Arthur.

    Several foxes have gone missing, and the idea is to reunite the family by examining the game environments and completing the required tasks.

    This is a simple but timed take on the hidden object video game genre.

    The player has to click on anything moving in an otherwise static scene, such as a spindle that is being turned by an octopus's tentacle as the creature is slowly being cooked in a cauldron.

    After each round a score is generated based on speed and accuracy, and the player can then invite their Facebook friends to share the game with them.

    Pocket Gamer, a fansite that covers games based on mobile devices, said Living Classics would be the first of many titles from Amazon's new gaming wing.

    But the e-tailer did not reveal whether any of them would appear on platforms other than Facebook.

    Marketing Week said Amazon Game Studios had been created to take on the likes of Zynga, Electronic Arts and King.com in the fast-growing social casual gaming sector.

    It said Amazon hopes the combination of its user database and its relationships with publishers and other entertainment clients will help deliver a better gaming experience than its rivals.

    According to US-based research firm Gartner, social gaming revenue more than doubled between 2010 and 2011, and is expected to reach $6.2bn (£4bn) worldwide this year.

    While Living Classics is free to play, the title uses in-game cash - which can be purchased with real money.

    Marketing Week cited a DFC Intelligence forecast, which said 39% of console game revenue would come via online distribution and online revenue sources by 2017.

    This suggests why Amazon wants into move into the market itself rather than just simply distributing other publishers' games.