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…
Education in the United States is in dark times. Although we are one of the richest nations in the world, based upon international testing, our 9th graders are 28th in math, 22nd in science, and 18th in reading. Of course standardized testing as a measurement receives its fare share of criticism, but an even more insidious culprit in America’s…
Gabe Zichermann was recently interviewed for an article in The New York Times by Fiona MacKay. The article discusses how the wide appeal of gamification can be applied to luxury fashion brands. Some companies like Britain’s Dunhill have already taken the initiative. Dunhill, in collaboration with the Japanese media company, Hakuhodo, created a simulated soccer…
We are kicking off our coverage of the GDC with a bit of EpicWin, a productivity app developed by independent developer, Supermono Studios. EpicWin was the pet project of Tak Fung, an independent game designer that came out of Lionhead Studios, developer Black & White and Fable. Some projects similar to EpicWin include MindBloom, and we previously covered EpicWin in October last year. Since then, the app has entered the top 100 productivity apps on iTunes, and Tak has received a number of requests from schools and businesses that want the app to be implemented. Even smokers are using it to quit, or as Tak says, its “insane because people are just getting addicted” to the game instead.
Gamification is picking up steam in Australia. To provide more opportunities for our antipodean friends to get involved in the movement, we’re pleased to announce some speaking events and Gamification workshops taught by Gabe Zichermann. On March 15 come hear Gabe speak on the future of fun at RMIT’s GEElab event in Melbourne. RSVP now….
The Academy Awards are this Sunday and as per usual, people are making their winning picks for Best Picture, and Best Actor/Actress. If The Oscars and other similar industry awards are the prizes, is the act of film making a game in and of itself? Earlier this week we mentioned Clinton Bonner’s idea to gamify…
Michael Wu, PhD, principal scientific analyst for Lithium, has started a mini-series of blog posts at their Lithosphere blog that delve into the science behind gamification. His first entry broke down the basics, explaining what is gamification, and the distinction between game mechanics versus game dynamics. “[Game mechanics] are principles, rules, and/or mechanisms (much like…
Gabe Zichermann was recently interviewed for an article by BlooLoop called: “Gamepocalypse or Gametopia : What Can Gamification Offer Theme Parks And Attractions?” In it, GSummit is noted for its success and the attention it garnered for gamification from various industries, including parks and attractions and the potential there is for merging them together. “Building…
Clinton Bonner brings up some really interesting ideas about gamifying the movie theater experience in his recent blog post “Please Turn Your Cell Phones On! – The Future Movie Experience“. There have been many different attempts over the years to make watching films more interactive, from 3D glasses to the gimmicky catalog of director William…
“How long till life is one big video game?” asks Ivor Tossell in his recent article in the Innovation section of The Globe and Mail. In the piece he gives and introductory definition of gamification and quotes Gabe Zichermann for his insights as someone “at the forefront of a new strain of marketing thinking” and…
Everyone born after 1975 has grown up gaming. And everyone born after 1990 has grown up online. Between these two points of fact, many young American adults have forgotten how to be social. As in IRL. (Or maybe it’s just everyone I know?) Sure, we’ll “friend” each other on Facebook, play cooperatively in Farmville, IM…
Ed Note: When it comes to social media, online interactions and gamification, many people often overlook how the law factors in. Working in an industry surrounded by ever-changing technology and innovation, legal precedents and regulations are also in a constant evolution in order to keep up. These laws exist to protect users, developers and business…
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…
Gabe Zichermann participated a great deal in Social Media Week, New York. On Monday he gave a talk at Time Inc. called “The Year of Gamification” where he discusses the trends we can expect to see in 2011 and the possibilities for the future of gamification. You can see the presentation slides here. He was…
Gabe Zichermann has a new op-ed piece on The Huffington Post that just went up today. It’s called “Can Games and Gamification Fix Washington?” It’s about how the many issues that are currently plaguing the US often seem too vast and overwhelming for any real change to occur. Gamification can be used to engage an…
