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.
Zynga has snapped up another company in its quest for world domination, making this the eighth acquisition for the social gaming giant in the past year. In December, the FarmVille creator purchased Newtoy, developer of the popular Scrabble-like game, Words With Friends.
No, the government hasn't decided to give away badges or other rewards for paying taxes, but that's the example gamification guru Gabe Zichermann uses to describe the whole concept of using game mechanics to make everyday life more fun (even dreadful things like dealing with the IRS) in a recent radio interview.
In the past week, Zynga debuted rapper Dr. Dre’s video for his new single 'Kush' in Mafia Wars; Kobe Bryant signed on with 6waves to make his very own social game; and mega-author James Patterson released James Patterson: Catch a Killer.
If you like to play games on an iPhone or other mobile device, you're more than aware at how difficult it is to search for and find great games or -- if you're making them -- getting them in front of people's eyeballs. Apple's new and bestsellers lists are the go-to resource for iPhone users and the Android store also has a list of newbies and top sellers, but outside of that, finding and/or promoting a game is generally an exercise in frustration.
A few days ago, I talked to best-selling author James Patterson about his new Facebook game, Catch a Killer. In addition to being a prolific writer (and having a small collection of games based on his work), Patterson also has a distinguished background in advertising (he was at various times the creative director, CEO, and Chairman of a division of the J.
Gamification. That's what describes what companies like Foursquare and Gowalla set out to do -- turn your everyday activities into a game, rewarding you with badges, points, or a higher spot on a leaderboard for doing banal things.