News

What the Xbox One Means for Gamification

The successor to the Xbox 360 was just announced about an hour ago and we finally have a name for Microsoft’s next generation console: Xbox One

Many features about the Xbox One looked really impressive, especially the new high-fidelity Xbox Kinect sensor and voice commands but the most significant take-away for gamifiers is the presence of a TV tuner and a nifty little feature called “snap-mode.”

GCo’s Picks: How Microsoft’s Ross Smith Redefines Productivity with Games

GamificationCo has asked some its editors for their top sessions picks for GSummit SF 2013. Here is Sudarshan Gopaladesikan’s most anticipated session for GSummit:

I love risk-taking. As a junior in college, I have the notion that the workforce won’t allow me to take any risks because safe, but sure investments/ideas are less unpredictable to a company’s profits. Looking through the sessions at GSummit (all of them are great!), Ross Smith–Director of Test at Microsoft–will be speaking on how trust among colleagues can foster individual innovation, productivity, and risk-taking.

Windows Phone Live Tiles Could’ve Been So Much More

I’ve recently acquired a Nokia Lumia 920 review unit and as an Android enthusiast, I would have never made this switch but there’s no way I’d turn down the opportunity to play with some new toys.

While I can make a full comprehensive-review of the hardware and operating system, I’ll mainly be looking at Windows Phone 8 (Not Windows Mobile, mind you) and its implication for gamification design.

Gamification as Emerging Productivity Tools for Developers

Gamification is being utilized as productivity tools in Nokia, AutoDesk, and Microsoft   Whether it is to design a new system, troubleshoot bugs or implement new features, developers are the chief problem solvers in any enterprise. D Developers and programmers are software engineers who are often tasked with finding solutions for abstract problems in addition [...]

Bringing Games to the Enterprise: How Microsoft Ribbon Hero Makes Productivity Engaging, Part II

Sarah Faulkner from Microsoft showed up to talk about the release of Ribbon Hero II, Micorsoft saw in the first version of Ribbon Hero that users that played two challenges, almost always subsequently played 10 or more. In version II they added colorful engaging levels. The challenge idea was successful but the game itself wasn’t [...]

Bringing Games to the Enterprise: How Microsoft Ribbon Hero Makes Productivity Engaging, Part I

After a delicious lunch, Sarah Faulkner from Microsoft showed up to talk about Gamification – after all Gartner Group is predicting that over 50% of the world’s largest companies will be actively gamifying by 2015. With millions of users playing Ribbon Hero to interact with its Office suite, Microsoft has pulled off a coup – [...]

Gamification at Internet Week New York

As an attendee of Internet Week New York (IWNY), my eyes, ears and engagement tentacles were all focused on gamification. A few campaigns featured gamified elements, and United Health sponsored an event with some strong elements of gamification. Day 1 at the IWNY HQ proved to include gamification in a subtle way, which means there [...]

Microsoft Unveils Ribbon Hero 2.0

We all know the pain of watching the uninitiated perform seemingly simple tasks on computers. Without the shortcuts and time savers that have become second nature, watching others use the computer can be as painful as nails on a chalk-board. But even software “experts” often utilize only 10% of any given software, so no matter who you [...]

Gamification, Fun, and Sex at the Engage Expo

The Engage Expo is wrapping up here in New York. The conference focuses on engaging kids and youth with digital games, with thematic tracks ranging from “App Strategy” to “Creative, Design, and Development”, and of course our favorite, gamification. Speakers in the gamification track included a panel with Rajat Paharia, Chief Product Officer at Bunchball, [...]