On The Ground Looking Up

Turning Recycling Into A Game

The intelligent minds at TheFunTheory.com came up with this smart and fun way to modify the behavior around recycling glass.

<Via> and @alpaykasal

If We Only Knew Then, What We Know Now

Nicked from <3 it.

Is XBOX's Project Natal Trying To Be Wii2.0?

Interesting future video for XBOX which shows how some see gesture and motion/face/voice recognition as the possible future of interactivity.Code named Project Natal.

Pretty rad ideas here if they can make them happen, though there are some weird little elements that sort of freak me out.

Poker As A Guide To Business

Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos wrote an insightful post about applying what he learned playing poker to how he runs his business. I have played for years and in the last 3 years have been applying techniques I learned in game theory to running a business and client relations. Strategically, poker and business are very similar. Tony says it better than I though, so read the full post here.

Some key insights:

• If there are too many competitors (some irrational or inexperienced), even if you're the best it's a lot harder to win.
• Help shape the stories that people are telling about you.
• The guy who wins the most hands is not the guy who makes the most money in the long run.
• Don't be cocky. Don't be flashy. There's always someone better than you.
• Have fun. The game is a lot more enjoyable when you're trying to do more than just make money.
• Just because you win a hand doesn't mean you're good and you don't have more learning to do. You might have just gotten lucky.

and there are many more to learn from in the full article.

<via>

You Know You Are A Dork When

You cannot wait for Lego Universe. Finally a virtual world with purpose.

They Put The Guitar In Guitar Hero

Starpex. Full size wood guitar for GH and Rockband. It only costs a little more than the game. How soon before the GH/Rockband star begins to fade and will the after market opportunities dry up before hand?

Advertising In Videogames Doesn't Work? Who Knew.

"More people are playing these games instead of watching TV, so a lot of advertisers see it as a way to reach people," said Queensland University of Technology PhD student, Kerri-Ann Kuhn. 
"However, my research showed that while product placement in video games may be noticed and brands recalled, it does not influence attitudes towards a product, or the image of the organisation."

So let me get this straight. All that money spent for those virtual billboards in car racing games does NOT induce purchase?? Well now I need a new marketing strategy.

LINK: Video game ads have little effect

Future Of Gaming?

Coming on the heels of the incredible drawing program Phun, comes Crayon Physics Deluxe, an etch-a-sketch type game that uses the physics of shape and gravity to clear levels by drawing your own objects and catching a star on screen. The background paper feel and classic crayon lines also make it feel reminiscent of childhood and should be an easy transition for kids once the bugs are worked out.  I feel like this is the coming form of gaming, using real world knowledge and nature to influence in in-game play. I can't wait to play with these types of programs...if only they made them for a mac.

Another Large Company Misses The Point

What's all the pandemonium (Score 18)? 

Why are the big toy corporations so up in arms about Scrabulous (Double word score: 28)? The New York Times printed an article yesterday about the Scrabulous craze and how Mattel and Hasbro are going after the two Indian brothers who created the on-line version. The two companies are up in arms at what they believe is violation of copyright and they do have a point there, but what I do not like is how they are approaching it.

This reminds me of NBC and then they told YouTube to take off the Lazy Sunday clips from SNL. For once in recent memory SNL had become relevant to a younger audience, in the medium of their choice and instead of embracing that this could get them huge attention and drive viewers to the late night show. As Boing Boing so aptly put it -

NBC's lawyers are beating YouTube with a DMCA stick because the viral content distributor helped facilitate NBC's biggest viral hit, ever.

Well this time it is Hasbro and Mattel. As the article points out -

To some online marketing experts, Scrabulous represents a turning point for the board game industry, which has struggled for years to recreate itself as new generations turned to alternatives like the Xbox and the GameBoy.
“If you’re Hasbro or Mattel, it isn’t in your interest to shut this down,” said Matt Mason, a consultant to the entertainment industry and author of “The Pirate’s Dilemma: How Youth Culture Is Reinventing Capitalism.”

Protect your product yes and I understand that you are developing your own product (largely on the success of this one), but instead of being the big bad brand that came and shut down what over 3,000,000 users are heavily invested in, try and get on board (pardon the pun). Both companies should be making a deal with the developers. The brothers are making about 25k a month in advertising (Score: 18) on FaceBook and at the least, the companies could work with them to bump those up. But the real win will be selling more board games, helping to develop the future of board game play, both on-line and off-line and most importantly, not pissing off 3 million potential consumers (Score: 13).

The key to playing in this new world of marketing is adapting and being consumer focused, even if on occasion that means giving up some control of your brand and here is one case where the old company is making a long term mistake by trying to get a short term win.

   

My Scrabble© Score is: 32. What is your score? Get it here.