Zynga really wants to see better HTML5 games, but it's a "pain machine'

Pong pain machine
It's like they say: "No pain, no gain." During the New Game Conference in San Francisco, Zynga Germany HTML5 guru Paul Bakaus urged game creators to work past the glaring shortcomings of HTML5 games, Gamasutra reports. You know, because HTML5 is the future of games, and all that jazz. Despite his love for the emergent platform, Bakaus was brutally honest.

"Audio is still broken -- and we need audio to create rich interactive games," Bakaus said. "In addition, there are all kinds of issues with certain devices,: Bakaus said. "For instance, the iPhone can only play one sound at a time." But that's not all: Game makers aren't exactly in love with WebGL, a 3D graphics creation tool compatible with HTML5.

"I have high hopes for WebGL, but if you look at the demo scene today, it reminds me of the Flash demos in the '90s," Bakaus said. "WebGL has another problem, and that problem applies to web developers, because you have to learn a new language, you can't just work with Javascript."

Bakaus then likened HTML5 game creation to a Pain Machine (pictured), an electrified Pong cabinet that shocks anyone that loses a match. But as much disdain Bakaus seems to have for HTML5 in its current state, he still believes it has potential. "What we need are AAA and social game makers to commit to making full scale and beautiful games in HTML5, and not just porting something over," Bakaus said.

"I think we're really getting closer to making HTML5 gaming a reality. I don't think were completely there yet, but we're really close," the designer concluded. And his parent company seems to agree. Just this month, Zynga released three HTML5 games for mobile browsers. With a guy like Bakaus in Zynga's ranks, there's likely more where that came from.

[Image Credit: Blogoscoped]

What do you think of the HTML5 games Zynga recently released? Is there a future in HTML5 social game creation, and should Zynga continue to pursue it?