A California daily tries out badges and points as a way to incentivize good commenting behavior — and, eventually, more. [This is interesting - it's not so much they've made a 'game' but more like they've surfaced the values they're looking for in their community.] 
"We already know Generation Y plays games and that they are attracted to organizations that offer a mobilized workplace that is accessible from anywhere, but also those that reward employees for their efforts. Generation Y grew up on playing games to be at the top of the leader board, earn that XBOX achievement, have the most virtual currency, or simply because playing games is social. They seek the same in the workplace, by offering the ability to earn points for everyday tasks they are motivated to go above and beyond expectations. If they are willing to spend up to 8 hours to beat a single level, think about how much work could be completed in that 8 hours if they are rewarded approximately every 30-60 minutes for completing tasks. Rewards and recognition are no longer solely monetary based, employees want to be recognized and rewarded frequently with the least amount backlash. Now I know what you’re thinking, rewards every 30-60 minutes? That's not realistic! Well think of it this way, because gamifcation is virtual it costs you hardly anything. The reward is points and badges that lead to larger rewards down the road. So although the employee has had a successful day and earned the most points out of all employees, it costs you nothing until that employee wishes to spend those points on the rewards you (the organization) offer. Gamification encourages team work, motivates employees to do more, and can revitalize a disengaged workforce. It can be very successful in turning around the way your employees feel about coming into work and inspire them to be the best they can be. As 2012 approaches, those with engagement strategies that utilize gamification will be at the fore front of success whilst those who are still sceptical will be left behind." [Gibberish nonsense - seriously, who are these people?]
[@callooh says in her Scoop, "I'd have put gamification as sliding into the trough of disillusionment... :)" I can see why she'd say that, but I think there's a lot people are missing. The word's ugly but we're stuck with it, and it isn't ONLY about 'adding points to your marketing'. In fact, it's not only about marketing. This one's just getting started.] Via callooh 
Adding Social To Learning Games - Post Highlights How Social Gaming Paradigms can be used in Learning Games. [Really interesting thing here where Upside Learning's Abhijit Kadle comes right out and says it - instead of pussyfooting around with Behaviourist-lite gameification he puts it like this, "We must bank on the capital sins - wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy and gluttony..."
Funny, when you put it like that.] 
My position statement at the Wharton Gamification Symposium - (Also available in Portuguese, and reprinted at The Atlantic and Kotaku) In his short treatise On Bullshit, the moral philosopher Harry Frankfurt gives us a useful theory of bullshit. [No doubt, you've already seen this. It's basically Bogost, so you already know what you're getting. Trivially true, for the most part. But takes a very narrow pretty-much-aesthetic view of the 'definition' of the word 'gameification'. Summary: Bullshit is bullshit. Yes, we know.
I'm not sure I get why people like Bogost are getting so worked up about this stuff, to be honest. And I say this as somebody who pretty much totally agrees with him. Academics. Psssht.] Outlines history of transmedia "world-building" in a variety of contexts, from religion to contemporary art practice. [First 10 or so slides do a great job of explaining Transmedia. Super-nice. via @callooh] Via callooh 
What can fake news teach us about real news? The Onion's Baratunde Thurston on the value of live event coverage, the power of archives, and the collaborative creation of a 500-foot Osama bin Laden. [This is outstanding stuff - a massive primer on how to do both Gameification and Transmedia really well, without any mention of either 'gamification' or 'transmedia'. Really really good and super-dooper interesting.] 
Star Wars does this: you have two sets of movies that play out across two different time periods in George Lucas’s universe, then you have novels that fill in the gaps, and an animated series that reveal another important piece of the story. Each chunk of story feels complete and is more or less enjoyable on its own, but when you add them together you get a vast symphony of story. The entertainment industry is coming to understand that Star Wars is no longer an exception, it’s a model in terms of its structure and implementation that can be emulated. Story worlds are on the rise. What Pottermore.com does is that, for the first time it brings the Harry Potter brand from its basis in being a repurposed or repeated story world, into being a true transmedia brand. Transmedia is signified by interactivity: the audience feeling not only an intense relationship with the storyteller (they already have this with J.K. Rowling), but a feeling that their input will have some kind of impact on the story world itself. That’s what I believe is happening with Pottermore. It is designed to be a two-way portal between all of us and the Harry Potter universe. It will promote participation by validating and celebrating community, dialog and user-generated content. It exists not just to sell ebooks, but to nurture and ultimately expand the canon of Harry Potter itself. That’s historic in many ways." [There will be lots of people claiming this is nothing new and blah blah blah. And the scale of the Storyworld isn't much bigger than, say, Star Wars, I suppose. But this is being rolled out with central control and at a speed which makes it easier to watch. Anyway, it will be fascinating.] 
Discussion around the gamification of wellness and my skepticism about its success. "However, the video games I have played the most have been challenging, constantly evolving, and sophisticated. While I have played some levels of Angry Birds or the occasional game of Bejeweled, those tend to be for when I have quick minutes between other activities. The wellness related games that I have seen lack the sophistication of games made for adults. They are too easy. You do an activity, you read an article, you call your wellness coach, etc and you get points. Boring! It’s fun for a little while and then the novelty of it wears off." [Agree. Health games need to realise that they're not in competition with pamphlets and posters and other marketing efforts - but other games. If their games are rubbish, they'll fail.] 
"Having tried to name this field since 2007, I'm just glad that it has a name!" - that's in the comments.
[Again, gameification or 'maintainable motivation' - I know which one my money's on.] 
Score points are given by either pre-set actions or everyday tasks. "Pre-set action can be anything: selling to a client coming up with a useable idea finishing a project on or before assigned deadline bringing in a cost cutting solution to a problem or getting a better price for a deal." [The dark side is strong in this one.] 
Says @callooh: A biz, but some interesting demos here.
[Me: It's not likely I'd take part in this kind of stuff to be honest. One thing educational and learning game designers need to really REALLY understand - you're not competing against 'classroom training' or 'eLearning' but other games. If you don't get this, you're dead in the water.] Via callooh 
A social film experience presented by Intel and Toshiba, directed by D.J. Caruso, starring Emmy Rossum and you. [I have no idea what this is. But, if you're interested in this kind of stuff, then it's definitely worth keeping an eye on. 1 part reality horror, 1 part social media filming, 1 part ARG advergame. . . #intersectionalstuff] |
[More like #competitionification] 
We all know how it works in the animal kingdom: when you watch two leopard cubs play, for example, you expect that it’s not simply about fun and pleasure. It’s about honing skills; it’s about figuring out hierarchy. "And yet, with humans, we often forget that play is serious. We dismiss play and games as “sheer entertainment,” distinct from life-lessons and skill-building." [Good point. The rest is fairly familiar and mentions the usual suspects, I guess.] Gaming is at a tipping point, never before have games effected our day-to-day lives in such a substantial way. [Very pretty.] 
[This is Gabe Zichermann's response to Bogost (see other story, probably just above this one) and I have to say I mostly agree. Academics are weird. Still, I suppose that's there job. Reminds me of Anathem.*
*Yes, this is a random thought.] 
One of the greatest challenges in transmedia game development is crafting a believable story universe that persists across multiple media without tricking or... [Really good stuff on the ethics and, yes, *manners* of Transmedia storytelling.] Via callooh 
On the Call: Electronic Arts Executives... [See ref to $56 lifetime revenue. This is big, important stuff if you think about it. That's way more than a typical Triple A title. Just in case I'm not being clear: it would seem EA are making more money off casual/social than they are console games. In some cases - caveat lector and all that.] 
[I didn't realise The Fun Theory had a YouTube channel. I'm a bit sick of all this stuff now because so many people have shared it everywhere, but there's some stuff here I haven't seen.]
Gamification Q&A - Ask gamification experts anything! [Worth looking at if you're following the topic just to see what empty marketing rubbish some of this stuff is - here 'gameification' really just means engagement and prizes. Ho hum.] 
Sulka Haro, former lead designer on the popular virtual world Habbo Hotel, recently discussed his new ventures at the startup Makielab, where he hopes to help usher in... [This is interesting in that AT LEAST one of the founders of this start-up are on record as HATING gameification - but now, once it's clear the term has legs, they're using it to describe their product. NB No criticism implied here. I happen to love this start-up because the people are super-cool. And, hey, people should be able to change their minds without being criticised.] 
"Well, throughout the last few weeks in the Zone, we have not been working in our classrooms; we have been working in The Ministry of Science (MoS). The MoS is an imaginary system of laboratories that employs Specimen Processors, Lab Technicians, Chemists, Biologists, doctors and Professors… all of whom are actually Stage 3 students. The teachers have morphed into Professors themselves and sit on the MoS Board of Directors."
[I like this, though it's undeniably odd - the gameified science activities seem more about teaching Econ101 than science. I'm not sure if this is a feature or bug.]
[Scribd really sucks as a document host. Anyhoo - this is a report from Seriosity into Leadership and MMOs with IBMers.
"All Sloan Dimensions Are In the Games" - the Sloan model of leadership is a popular one and all the aspects of 'real' leadership are present in MMO environments. "Relating and Inventing Are Emphasized In the Games" - although the Sloan Dimensions are present, they have a different weighting. Games require less Sensemaking and Visioning - presumably because that's something the Game Designers build in? "Leadership Is A Propery of Environments Not Just Individuals" Really interesting, if you like this kind of thing. 
Me and Luca Rosati have been thinking and working together on cross-channel information architecture since 2007 (see here and here). [They're talking about Transmedia here - and it's the beginnings of people adding Transmedia and even games into their formal Content Strategy efforts. And then, presumably Search, Information Architecture and all the rest of it. This will be huge, I reckon.] |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |  |
6 |
|
Next |
