Recently, the New Zealand Goverment thought it would be a jolly good idea to put some Star Wars characters onto coins and allow it to be legal tender. Although appealing to coin lovers and Star Wars fanatics, at $469 for a Limited Edition set, and $23.50 for individual coins, I sincerely doubt they will be using it as currency.
Get People Competing.
With the advancements in recent mobile technology, playing games have became less of a “lonely-boyish-activity” and more of a social interaction between millions of users all over the world.
In recent weeks, I have been playing a “checkin” game, FoursqWAR. The idea is simple; users can take over Foursquare spots using a digital “army”, sending a mixture of foot soilders, tanks and spies into a building to claim as your own.
Spark Engagement.
How do you engage an audience? Let’s take for example at a web conference – you have a crowd of 500 people sitting in front of you, sore from uncomfortable seats, anxious to hear the next speaker and looking forward to the closing remarks. What would you do?
If you have attended an ice hockey match, the interval is filled with semi-clad women shooting T-shirts and Subways at the crowds – nice and simple.
The Social Explosion.
From the boom of Facebook, to the every-day use of Twitter, the world has been over-come by what I term as “The Social Explosion”.
As I have written in a previous blog post, social contact online used to be one of a strenuous process of writing a well written forum post, “posting” the article, then sitting back and waiting for other users to comment on your thoughts, be it days or weeks later.
In the modern society of today, I can take a picture with my smart phone, and have it on my social networking profile within seconds at the click of a button.
Service Design – Rewarding Users.
Surprising your users, be them clients, friends or business partners, generally always brings out a smile.
I for one, love the “extra little bits” that come with products I buy. From Tesco giving you 5 pence off a litre of petrol for spending a certain amount of cash instore, to McDonalds offering the chance to win house’s, Mini Coopers, and large cash prizes* to lucky food-munchers.
*(Haven’t seen/hear/read of anyone winning anything from McDonalds. Ever.)
Building Communities.
From the days of forums and message boards in the early naughties, people have used technological means to communicate to each other.
I created my very first forum 8 years ago, in 2003 when I was a young 14 year old chap – and very surprisingly, is still active today.
The forum was a place for myself and school mates store our opinions, thoughts and views on games, films and “other shit”. 2003 was a year when free text messaging didn’t exist, Facebook was only a twinkle in Mark Zuckerburg eyes, and Apple wasn’t in control of the world.
Collectors Editions.
What is so special about “Collectors Editions” of DVD’s, games, and electronics?
What appeals to peoples emotions that they “need” the overly-priced collectors edition, compared to the standard edition? Is it the beautifully designing packaging? Or the handiness of everyone you need (and only watch once) in one box? Lets take for example, the West Wing DVD box set.
The Gaming Addiction.
People can become addicted to games. Very easily.
The big-wigs, those who conceive money-making ideas generally don’t think about the detrimental influence of creating a game that seems “addictive” to play.
While on a recent trip to Croatia, I visited a rehab centre for men who have suffered from many kinds of addictions, including alcohol and drugs. When I visited, there were two recently added addictions to the occupants; internet and gaming addiction. The stories they told were powerful, from life altering decisions to abuse substances, to families urging them to seek help. Talking about addiction is a tricky subject, so I will try and tread lightly to make it relevant to my field.
Soap MacTavish = Puckerman
After a few seasons of watching Glee, I’ve finally realised who that Puckerman character looks like – it’s John “Soap” MacTavish from Call of Duty, Modern Warfare.
See, I am still a bloke, even though I watch Glee.