The year is almost at an end, which means everyone is creating their “Best of 2010” lists. A film that I know is on many of those lists is also one of my favorites from this past year: Scott Pilgrim VS. The World. There are many reasons why I enjoy this film. The characters are quirky without being one-dimensional, the style is slick, and the action is fun and captivating. And in general I’m a huge fan of director Edgar Wright (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead) and star Michael Cera (Arrested Development, Juno).
The real reason I bring it up, however, is for the gamification of it all. Many critics of the gamification craze have sarcastically asked if one day everything will be a game. The movie, based on the wildly popular graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley, answers the challenge by saying “What if it was? Wouldn’t that be AWESOME?” Even the iTrailer for the movie was gamified. Click on the screen to unlock info, special featurettes and acheivements while you watch:
We already call dating a “game” – Scott Pilgrim makes the quest for love into a high-stakes beat-em-up RPG where you earn coins for defeating rivals, power-ups for drinking coffee and can unlock special achievements for developing self respect. And how much easier would life be if the “stats” of everyone you met popped up right in front of you? Of course, we’re talking fantasy here, so gamified life could never be quite so epic. Luckily Ubisoft Montreal also developed a Scott Pilgrim game for Playstation Network and XBox Live back in August that should help to fill in the gaps left in reality.
If you don’t get the game or the movie as a gift this holiday, get them as a gift for yourself! Real life might not be this much fun yet, but at least you can pretend.
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