Foursquare Adds to the Swarm of Check-in Apps Big changes are here for the beloved location-based app, Foursquare. The company is splitting up Foursquare into two separate applications. The two apps will essentially break the business in half and give consumers two separate ways to interact with the location-based service that gained popularity after its release in…
As one of the main writers for Gamification Co, I speak for all of us when I say it is paramount for us to provide the most unique and interesting content as it pertains to the world of gamification. We want to find the most unique, entertaining, and educational content out there and these five stories were your top favorites. Read on for stories about gamified masturbation, Foursquare’s removal of gamification, fashionable raptors, Tel-Aviv’s #1 taxi drivers, and job opportunities in gamification.
I’m a recent convert to HBO’s hit series, Game of Thrones – and binge watching in catch-up mode is a favorite activity in my home on lazy Sundays. Inasmuch as I’m just getting to know the complex, fantastic miniseries, I’m no ice cream or gamification neophyte. So it was with some excitement that I followed Foursquare’s newest promotional tie-in, The Game of Cones.
Today Foursquare announced a new round of debt-based financing amounting to $41M in loans and convertible notes. It has been controversial, because debt-based financing suggests the company has a significant performance problem (Jason Gelman has a good wrap-up of the spirited discussion). Foursquare’s problem has become increasingly clear to Gamification folks over the past two years – it’s just not fun anymore. In the transition from a (great) game to a (good) loyalty program to a (mediocre) recommendations engine, they lost the plot, alienated customers and wasted a ton of resources and time.
Earlier this week, Twitter was run amuck by Foursquare Co-Founder and CEO, Dennis Crowley, and his statements about Foursquare’s overemphasis on gamification elements.
Crowley was discussing the future direction of Foursquare in an on-stage interview with Anil Dash (Co-Founder of Activate) at SXSW and stated that he was phasing out gamification from Foursquare in an effort to move away from the perception that Foursquare is only about points and badges.
Numerous people on Twitter were quick to take these statements as evidence that gamification itself was a mistake, when in fact Crowley explicitly mentioned that it was the overemphasis on points and badges that has led to Foursquare’s perception problem.
In fact, I would say that Crowley’s decision to ultimately phase out Foursquare’s gamification mechanics is one of the most mature decisions a gamification designer can make.
In the beginning everybody fought to be the mayor of their favorite Foursquare hangout but over time the buzz surrounding the social media app seemed to have waned as many users simply stopped caring about the game’s badges and check-ins. To combat their shrinking market influence, leaders at Foursquare recently unveiled a new design and…
This week, our own Gabe Zichermann compiled a few of the most interesting businesses in gamification in “7 Winning Examples of Game Mechanics in Action“. From marketing to exercise to saving the planet, gamification has brought to light an amazing capability for motivating participation and educating users. The six companies and one individual have innovated around the…
If you’re visiting Six Flags parks across the U.S. this summer, download the Ask.com mobile Q&A app and you could save yourself some time waiting to go on rides, courtesy of a special in-app game. The mobile trivia game, called Skip the Line, was launched to offer users real-time, location-based perks. Users can download the…
Loyalty campaigns have traditionally been the domain of big business (frequent flier plans, credit card points, etc). Except for the dominant model of buy-ten-get-one-free, campaigns are typically expensive and complex with entire agencies and businesses devoted to their design and operation. In today’s article from Econsultancy, our own Gabe Zichermann looks into “Gamification and small…
When discussing gamification, especially with those not previously familiar, it’s hard not to bring up Foursquare. Their premise is so artfully simple, absolutely anyone with a computer or a mobile phone can understand. But just because it’s a basic idea doesn’t stop Foursquare from evolving. A new blog entry was posted Tuesday announcing the 3.0…
Gabe Zichermann was recently interviewed for an impressive piece on Canadian Business Online by Angelina Chapin. Appropriately titled “The future is a video game“, the piece goes in depth of the definition of gamification and aspects of it – like gaming mechanics, rewards and leveling – the history of loyalty programs and the evolution of…
Stephen Totilo of Gizmodo isn’t completely sure how he feels about gamification, but he certainly hates cheaters. In his recent post called “You’re All Liars“, Totilo writes about how he became a frequent user of the check-in apps Foursquare and MyTown, the issues that arose as the apps changed to combat cheaters, how he himself…
In this recent post on the Cisco blog, Dannette Veale uses common examples to help illustrate what gamification really means – like Foursquare, Quest to Learn charter school, Evoke and Wii Fit. She also quotes Gabe Zichermann and his now famous SAPS model for rewards systems. The article also mentions GSummit and how it sold…
Game-Based Marketing has made waves since its launch in April. As the first book to cover the burgeoning field of gamification, it’s done a lot to help frame the discussion for marketers and product designers. Book writing being what it is, it’s not always possible to get every hot topic in the manuscript – there…
Every election, tons of political groups come out to try to encourage young voters, which are a prime demographic. MTV tells us to “Rock the Vote” and one year I recall P. Diddy threatening my life, telling me to “Vote or Die”. I’ve been receiving tons of e-mails over the last week from different political…
