Today’s big news in the world of online catalysts — MySpace is launching a “casual gaming” space and will invite its users to help create new games:

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“MySpace, the Internet’s largest aggregator of casual users, today announced a partnership with games company Oberon Media to in hopes of making a collection of casual games. The two companies will launch in early 2008 ‘MySpace Games’, which will enable MySpace users to choose from hundreds of online casual games to play with friends in the community.

“After implementation of the new feature, MySpace users will be able to add games to their profile pages as well as challenge friends to multi-player games, invite them to play the same single player game or socialize via chat services within the game.”

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If that’s all MySpace was doing, it would be a solid though not unexpected move. As MySpace has become the key online portal for the younger generation, it is not surprising to see it add features to attract and retain users. After all, a recent study found that casual gaming is the most popular online entertainment activity, ahead of streaming video and even social networking.

But the MySpace/Oberon Media deal goes beyond the expected –- MySpace will invite its users to help it develop new games.

Inviting its users to use MySpace as a gaming platform helps embed MySpace more firmly into its users’ lives. But in enlisting its loyal fans and users in helping develop new games, MySpace is taking full advantage of its role as a catalyst.