According to this GigaOM article, Redbox has started beta-testing for their upcoming Redbox Instant service to rival Netflix’s streaming service. What’s interesting about this beta-testing campaign, called Redhead Nation, is the gamification elements in the system.
Every parent knows that bribing their child is not the most effective behavioral management technique, but getting your children to eat the vegetables on their plate for 15 more minutes of video game time doesn’t seem too harmful, right?.
Over the years, psychologists have determined that short-term rewards directed towards end results are not helpful in teaching children proper behavior and manners. In fact, bribes—whether they come in the form of money, play time, and/or candy—have a negative effect on children learning development.
Hollywood entertainment and celebrity game hub Pop Salad officially announced today the launch of Weekly Cash Contests based on their popular celebrity trading game. Pop Salad will run weekly contests beginning this Sunday night, January 19, 2013. Contests are set to begin each week at 11:59:59PM PST and will run for 168 hours, throughout the following week.
Loyalty programs have been commonly associated with airlines and retailers but Montreal’s recent plans may soon change that perspective to include public transportation systems. Montreal operates the Opus-à-l’année also know as the Opus & Cie subscriptions, a subscription service which recharges a commuter’s OPUS card automatically every month.
Montreal STM will be introducing a VIP class for its customers, which will only be made available to 20,000 commuters (9% of the 217,000 who regularly buy monthly Société passes). After subscribing for more 12 months, Opus & Cie users will be given the opportunity to upgrade to their new “maestro” status.
The NRA has just released a free iOS shooting game one month after the Sandy Hook Tragedy and blaming the video games industry for excessive gun violence.
It is particularly easy to see how hypocritical it is for the NRA to release a shooting game of their own, despite having blamed video games themselves. The obvious criticisms about the game have already been well stated by The Huffington Post but there’s something even more reviling that I haven’t heard anyone mention:
There are microtransactions in this game
Gartner has kept busy in the past few months with analyzing gamification’s current status and potential. A list of all of their research can be found here, but a recently published report by them states that by 2015, 40% of Global 1000 companies will use gamification as a primary tool to drive primary business goals. For these companies who wish to engage in increasing loyalty, virality, and engagement, they often host promotional offers through the popular social media platform Facebook. While most marketing campaigns are based around standard giveaways, three companies have been able to successfully implement some form of game elements and behavioral science to drive results. Taking a look at these retail gamification implementations from Rue La La, Dunkin Donuts, and Best Buy, the spirit of giving is mixed with the flair of games to promote cheer through the past holiday season.
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.
We hear a lot about gamification success stories, but there really aren’t too many regarding music. Most success stories involve increasing engagement and motivation to have users and/or consumers interact with brands and institutions in favorable ways to both parties. Nike+ allows users to obtain more feedback on their running routines while providing Nike with a way to get people more accustomed to having Nike in their everyday life. The Buffalo Wild Wings Scvngr app allows people to have an engaging experience while eating their favorite wings, providing the restaurant chain with ways to increase customer loyalty. However, in the case of the music industry, there isn’t that definitive success story that provides ample evidence that gamification largely benefits music. Therefore, it begs the question: does gamification have a place in music?
According to the folks at CultOfMac, CES 2013 is underway and Ford has announced something exciting and potentially very big for the gamification community
This morning, Ford has announced that their formerly closed AppLink service has been opened for all iOS and Android developers to create apps that will be able to speak to a number of the car’s services.
Ford is calling this new initiative the Ford Developer Program and it will be available for free.
TechNavio, a research wing of Infinity Research, released a 40-page marketing report in November 2012. The study examines the expected role of Gamification in the North American, European and Pacific Rim areas. The purpose of the research was “to aid decision makers’ understanding of the present and future landscape of the market.”
And the landscape’s terrain is populated by social media and networking.
As we continue with our Best of 2012 Series, we look at some of the top gamification articles in 2012 to engage with consumers. 2012 proved to be an interesting year as more and more companies are choosing to adopt gamification in unique ways to engage with customers. As the industry saturates in 2013, these techniques will have to refined and reiterated and keep up with some of the best examples we see here today.
When I started gamifying my goals last year, I didn’t think it would become something worth sharing. I simply wanted to create an effective system for tracking and achieving my goals – especially the ones that were in dire need of motivation. Despite its humble beginnings, this gamified system has far exceeded my expectations, and has even helped me acquire a dream job of sorts. It’s done a great deal of good for me, so I’d like to pass it along to you (in excruciating detail, of course).
This article contains the nitty-gritty details on the process of gamifying goals, along with a set of techniques that will help you get the most out of the system you ultimately create for yourself. So if you have (or intend to soon have) a challenging goal that would benefit from higher levels of motivation, it may be worth your while to read on.
It’s finally 12/21/12 and the world is supposed to end at any moment now. It also just so happens to be right at the cusp of Christmas and other major holidays. Whether you’re cowering in fear or celebrating the holidays like a sane person, chances are that you’re probably drinking a lot of alcohol for the occasion. Here are some gamification apps to make drinking even more engaging during your holiday boozing.
I am very excited for this coming Thursday, when our office will be exchanging gifts for Secret Santa! Here at Gamification Co. we couldn’t just have our staff draw names out of a hat – that would be too fourth grade – so our editor Ivan set us up with a free online Secret Santa exchange called Elfster a social network which organizes Secret Santa lists for your employees.
Do you play endless mind games as you hit snooze on the alarm clock each morning? My rule of thumb is to never snooze more than three-times before a certain hour in the morning in order to give myself a “mission” to accomplish. However, a newly redesigned alarm app called Wake N Shake actually turns that morning snooze-fest into a gamified and social experience.
Wake N Shake was originally designed to be a “merciless” alarm application that forced you to shake your phone like a madman before it shuts off. Its new version now includes daily leaderboards and achievements to make the experience of daily phone shaking a little more interesting.
