The Games Have Begun

The Games have begun

Remember this guy? He is the embodiment of an entire generation’s first contact with the world of video games. I remember playing it for days on that exotic ‘Little Master’ till I completed all the worlds. It created its own environment, characters, world and a compelling simple storyline. It is the ultimate uber-game and I know of many 35 yr old guys who still play the original dos version.

What has happened over the last 10 years with video games, is nothing less than a tectonic shift in how people consume media.

Our grandparents were introduced to radios as a source of entertainment. As a result it became not just part of their culture, but also affected their world view. With news, sports and other such programs radio became one of the mediums of personal development, knowledge and entertainment. The other was books, newspapers etc.

But it was our parents, the generation before us, who really grew up with the radio. And this medium became pervasive, simply because it had always existed for them and hence was the default medium. Admittedly the written word was and still is a major way in which we consume information.

In the same vein, TV became the primary technology of consumption for us and being the lucky generation that we are, we also co-opted the internet in the same way. So now most of us depend on both.

However, it’s the generation/s after us who will consider a new way of consuming media as the default/primary mode of. Video/Social/Smartphone Games.

The change is already happening. Most developed/developing countries already have the 10 to 20 year demographic playing more games than watching TV (wow) or reading books (no one is surprised by that).

Imagine what that will mean for our future. With gamification, already a buzzword being thrown around in Board of Director meetings, the pervasiveness of games in our lives, personal and social, will only increase. Schools have already started successfully co-opting them and xbox’s, smart phones, social websites (FB, Twitter, Orkut) etc are now in millions of hands and homes. Gaming already pulls in more revenues than Hollywood and Bollywood combined. Battlefield 3 by EA, one of 2011’s hottest releases (including movies and games), sold a whopping 5 million copies in its first week. More than 1.5 million people queued at 13,000 shops at midnight on to buy Modern Warfare 3, another great video game title, in 2011. They have grossed 1 billion dollars in just the last few months. Each.

To put that in perspective, as per today’s forex rates, Battlefield 3 made Rs. 5,132 Crores in 3 months. If Vijay Mallya was making video games instead of beer, he could have paid off Kingfisher Airlines debts. And saved face. Oh and by the way, Modern Warfare 3 made that money in 16 days. Infosys, with 1,40,000 employees made 6 billion in 1 year.

Popcaps. A company that makes games like Plants Vs Zombies was sold for 1.2 Billion Dollars. Rovio, the guys who made that adorable little game called Angry Birds, sell 1 million stuffed toys a month. I won’t even bore you with their revenues.

So are we really ready for a future, where most content will be in the form of games? Better make sure your kids are good at video games. You don’t want them to be left behind.

Have fun watching these trailers. Call it education.

Gamification. Last year’s most abused/exploited term.

If you haven’t heard about ‘Gamification’ till now then let me educate you.

Gamification, as defined by me, is the use of game mechanics, game design and game thinking to solve every day problems.

Its supposed to make stuff that we find hard, easy to do, by introducing elements of a game in it.

Examples of Gamification?

That linkedin bar on your profile which continuously indicates that you have only completed a certain % of your profile.

The awarding of badges on foursquare. And that meaningless irritating number (for twitter users primarily) called the Kluot Score.

Various disciplines of Human Physcology, Game Design, Intrinsic Motivation, Sociology, Organization Behavior etc all play a part in the substance behind this buzzword.

To know more. Google. Or wait for me to write Gamification 101.

For those of you, who have taken the pain to read this far and still don’t know what I am talking about. Please read the below line.

Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, Google, Nike, Universal Studios, Linkedin, Hallmark, Salesforce, American Airlines and .. ahem.. Playboy are just some of the companies who have used Gamification successfully.

Still a little apprehensive?

“Gartner Group estimates that by 2015, 70% of the Forbes Global 2000 will be using Gamified apps”

I didn’t make that up.

The Problem?

Since this is a (dare I say science) new and evolving field of study, it has its share of issues.

The reasons are as follows

1. Just like the present swings in the stock market, most people have a vague idea of what it means, a few know what it does and almost no one knows where it’s headed. Including me.

2. Most intelligent, respectable, sober, law-abiding and highly placed people feel that this is just a fad and will go away soon enough. I am tempted to agree. However they said the same thing about Rap Music and that wonderful ear-grating, cocaine induced, profanity filled ‘music’ is still around. Alive and Kicking.

3. While its champions are successful and intellectual beings (See Dr. Amy Jo Kim, Ananth Pai, Rajat Paharia, Gabe Zichermann etc) the hordes are filled with Game Designers, Social Media Fanatics, Gamers, Advertising Types, Anti-Social Internet types and worst of all… Premier B-School Students.

4. While it may be said that the Airlines and Credit Card companies have been using Gamification for decades by introducing loyalty points, that’s like saying Gravity was discovered by the first caveman who dropped a rock on his foot to try and get his wife to stop nagging him. In both cases it was a desperate need and no great science was involved. Gamification is only a few years old.

5. A constant, creeping, broadening of the term is diluting its actual core. Like someone who recently said “Lets make school fun for children by giving them points for all the good stuff that they do”. And I said “Yeah? Like what?”. He said – “Like doing homework, reading up on your chapters, participating in sports, wearing a clean uniform, etc. A perfect example of Gamified learning.” I wanted to hit him on the head cause that’s called ‘Continuous Evaluation’ aka Long Bloody School Exam. Not fun.

6. No one has come out with a P/L statement that has 7 black ink figures under Gamification Services.

Due to the above reasons and more.

It is Last year’s most (drum roll…. trumpets… farting audience) abused/exploited term.

Stay tuned for more.