Review: Facebook's official Scrabble is flashy, but not better

SEATTLE - A sanctioned version of Scrabble for Facebook, released this week by video game maker Electronic Arts Inc., boasts animated graphics and true-to-the-board-game design.

But underneath its flashy exterior, the new Scrabble's features are very similar to those of its wildly popular but unauthorized competitor, Scrabulous. And that makes me wonder whether lots of people will switch unless, as threatened, Scrabble rights holders Hasbro Inc. and Mattel Inc. shut Scrabulous down for copyright infringement.

When I fired up the official Scrabble game, my first thought was: There goes my favorite office...