In the world of gamification for television, it can sometimes be difficult to tie couch potatoes to an interactive experience, but a few projects have done it well. Pug Pharm, a Canadian leader in gamification and social engagement, teamed up with Switch Design to create a social gameplay platform to the History Channel’s Ice Pilots…
Gamification is the use of game thinking and game mechanics to engage audiences and solve problems. This emerging discipline – at the intersection of loyalty, behavioral economics and game design – is growing dramatically, with Gartner Group projecting that 70% of the world’s biggest companies will be actively using gamification by 2015. With extraordinary early…
Over the past year and a half, gamification has been behind big changes at the White House and government agencies. Previously, government contracts have been determined by bidding between large firms that have a history with federal projects (imagine Boeing and Northrop Grumman bidding on contracts for a new jet fighter). But based off of successful…
There is a conversation held over and over between parents and children that is as old as the first Motorola flip-phones: the conversation on purchasing your teenager a cell phone. Kids always have the best arguments, “I’ll only use it to stay in touch with you,” “I promise to check in every hour on the…
A serious game with some gamification elements, Battle for the Bay sets out to educate San Franciscans on the ongoing threats to the bay. Produced by Save the Bay, the game takes players through the tumultuous history of protecting the wetlands, rivers, and watersheds that benefit a healthy marine ecosystem. There are some typical contest rewards (an…
Pepsi has teamed up with The X-Factor, Simon Cowell’s new foray into TV singing competitions, to create Pepsi Pulse and Pepsi Sound Off, two gamified social media platforms that allow viewers to compete and communicate while watching the show. There has been some side conversations of the gamification of social TV, but this is the first time…
Our last Gamification Summit was a huge success. Taking place September 15-16 in New York City, the Summit brought together top companies, thinkers, and experts in the gamification space for workshops and to share case studies at the cutting edge of gamification. The main stage held keynotes and panel discussions, but some of the best…
From an inside look at gamification’s roots at StackOverflow to the future backlash of “badge fatigue” gamification has run the gauntlet this week. Be sure to check out the other stories including a word from Ian Bogost’s co-founder, Gerard Lafond, and gamification in education, environmental sustainability, and the exciting world of life insurance.
For a few of the past 139 years that the American Public Health Association has held annual meetings, it has sponsored a 5K run to support wellness and bring attention to the importance of exercise in public health. It may seem that a game would be ill-suited for such a venerable institution (it was created…
Last weekend the New York Times online carried an article that should be of great interest to anyone fascinated by the power – and peril – of software in learning. Taking a look at educational software vendors, their business successes and some school board clients, the writer clearly points out a yawning gap between marketing…
As part of our ongoing G-List of the top players in gamification, today we begin with the platforms that provide technology solutions for implementing game mechanics in marketing, business, and health. Rypple [http://www.rypple.com] Founded: 2008 Location: San Francisco, Toronto, and Atlanta Employees: 25 Funding: $13M total from Peter Thiel, Maynard Webb, and Bridgescale Rypple strives to…
Enterprise gamification, making everyday business tasks such as data entry and management training more engaging, continues to see burgeoning interest. Today, Rachel Emma Silverman from the Wall Street Journal has a piece on gamification of the workplace. With research from Gartner and M2 and quotes from gamification experts Mario Herger, Gabe Zichermann, Kris Duggan, and Byron Reeves, the…
There have been quite a few interesting stories on gamification from around the web this week. Highlights include a serious game on poverty that motivates participants to turn around and give back to the less fortunate, specifics by Michael Wu on how gaming the system can be overcome, an insightful Q&A on health games, and a terrifying…
Gamification, “the use of game play elements for non-game applications,” has taken the marketing world by storm, as companies use fun techniques to make their websites, social media, and mobile apps sticky, viral, and engaging to customers. While it’s a hot buzzword for today’s marketers, it’s hardly a new concept for teachers and trainers. In…
Along with the keynote at today’s JiveWorld2011, gamification is making a big splash. Platform company Bunchball announced that they will be integrating their Nitro platform with Jive in order to bring game mechanics into the leading social business software platform. Jive combines collaboration software, community software, and social applications, and makes for an easy fit for…
