Tracking the hot trend of gamification -- using game-like elements to boost engagement in everything from social games, such as Zynga's FarmVille, to losing weight and staying on top of your finances.
Texas native Libe Goad resides in New York City and has spent the past decade covering technology and video games for publications including Blender, PC Magazine, Bust, Seventeen and Sync.
I found this example of gamification gone wild lurking in the dark corners of our spam filter. Razor blade company Schick is running a promo called Play it Smooth in collaboration with the video game Rock Band 3 (which itself is part of a long-running series that has recently been shuttered).
Interesting question from Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail. In a piece published last week, author Ivor Tossell quotes game industry consultant Gabe Zichermann as saying, “Had he been alive today, Shakespeare would have written ‘All the world is a game.
The Wall Street Journal reports that FarmVille-creator Zynga was valued at $7 to 9 BILLION dollars. Yes, you read that right $9 billion dollars (*insert Dr.
The Colbert Report has has its share of notable video game guests and commentary, but it was a (pleasant) surprise to see that he invited author and game creator Jane McGonigal on his show the other night to talk about -- you guessed it -- gamification.McGonigal is on a tour to promote her new book called 'Reality is Broken,' which talks about how games can be used for good.
The big media story of the week has been the launch of Rupert Murdoch’s The Daily, a new iPad app that is a cross between a daily newspaper, a glossy magazine and a Web site. While an impressive feat of design and journalism, The Daily has an uphill battle ahead for mindshare and is saddled with some serious issues (not the least of which is that few outside of the media/tech world have even heard of it).
In a sign that it’s becoming more of an issue for mainstream video game developers, the 2011 edition of the Game Developer’s Conference is setting aside a day to discuss the topic of gamification.Held in San Francisco each spring (with several offshoots in other cities during the year), GDC is expected to attract about 18,000 attendees from companies as diverse as Nintendo, Zynga, and Apple.
Last week, the first-ever Gamification Summit took place in San Francisco. Around 400 people showed up to the sold-out event and heard industry insiders talk about what’s bound to be one of the hottest topics in 2011-- using game-like elements to make everyday life and consumer experiences more compelling.
This morning, Nintendo announced that its new 3D handheld gaming system -- the Nintendo 3DS -- will cost $250 and will be available on March 27. While the main focus of this gaming system is to provide a three-dimensional portable video game experience that doesn’t require any glasses, it’s interesting to see that the House that Built Mario is flirting with an additional level of gamification with this new device, in the form of a built-in app called the Activity Log.
Another possible task for gamification we've been thinking about lately is to help resurrect old, out-of-favor technology.Along those lines, one fascinating CES gem was the Razer Switchblade.
One of the more notable game developments from CES 2011 was the deal struck between cloud-based gaming service OnLive and budget TV maker Vizio (which we’ve previously mentioned here). The OnLive service is going to appear in future Vizio TVs as an app, literally building games into the set, no console required, and it’s potentially one of the most intriguing gamification plays of 2011.