Big Fish brings the angle of social networking into casual gaming

A service the company launched Wednesday lets users create their own Web site to write and share game reviews and earn rewards in a referral program. It takes the community aspects of popular sites like MySpace.com and tunes it for a crowd of casual gamers, who are mostly older women, said Paul Thelen, Big Fish's chief executive.

Visitors to my.bigfishgames.com can sign up for free and customize the look and feel of their Web site. They will be eligible for cash rewards in a program described by company officials as a self-sustaining network of friends referring friends.

For example, a player who refers a friend will receive a 25 percent commission on any game the friend buys at the Big Fish site. In addition, the original player will get another 25 percent from the sales of games on any personal Big Fish sites created by friends of friends