In what seems to be a stoke of craziness, 50,000 coins and 7,000 collector sets will be minted, from pure silver.  The currency will only be legal tender in the Niue Island.

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Besides the blatant love of Star Wars, why would anyone want to make a coin collection depicting the iconic characters from the film?  Possibly the imminent release of Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray would jump to mind, is it a publicity stunt, or sheer plagiarism?

The Star Wars brand has been used in every conceivable product on the western hemisphere.  From Playstation 3 Lego Star Wars games, to fluffy teddy bears with sounds.  The brand has, in my option, been stretched to its limit.

Since the film’s initial release in 1977, there have been numerous films, TV series, cartoons, spin-off shows and has totalled an impressive $4 billion dollars in revenue (films only).  Star Wars has a life span, as with all brands – and I feel as though it shall be nearing its demise soon.

The question is, how much more publicity can one brand take?  There has been some horrendous products released under the Star Wars name, as well as some rather awesome ones.

With George Lucas at the helm, clearly having approved the Star Wars currency above, what else is can be squeezed from the Star Wars brand? In the history of films, ignoring recent Harry Potter movies, no other product has came close to the popularity Star Wars has seen, spanning nearly 30 years.

The Force May Be Strong, but not strong enough to last beyond three decades.  Justin Lee Collins tried to Bring Back Star Wars in 2008, with few members of the Star Wars cast willing to participate in the program.

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Brands have an expiration date, and creating coinage for a film that was born in the ’80s is a little disappointing for a generation that should be looking to the future for great ideas.  Looking on the past, while beneficial, can also hinder designers and creative types.  Instead of investing millions into Star Wars coinage, the NZ Mint could have donated funds towards the One Laptop Per Child fund, helping third world countries develop.

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.

You can “take over” buildings owned by other users by sending in more troops to “attack” the building than they have “defending” the building.  The app is simple and easy to use, with the delight you feel by attacking and “ousting” a user from a certain building extremely pleasant.

The social aspect of the game takes a league of it’s own.  With most modern iOS games, a service called “Game Center” is available to earn points and achievements with most iOS games tapping into the service, offering challenges and tasks that the user can accept and complete.

With FoursqWAR, achievements range from destroying enemies troops & equipment to advancing in the ranks from Private to General.  Leader boards are also present to show the worldwide statistics, comparing your number of buildings and the your amount of units with other users.

Beside comparing your score with other users scores, their is no interaction with your “enemies”.  This provides safety, comfort, and piece of mind, as to some parents letting their children play “online” can be dangerous.

Compare this simple multiplayer action to Call of Duty on the Xbox and you can see the dangers.  Between text and voice chat, gamers can receive a torment of abuse (or praise), demoralising and discomforting words which could place some susceptible users at risk of depression.

What Apple have done is simple, they have kept the competitive gameplay alive, while removing the need for “parental” supervision.  All modern games come with this feature, so with piece of mind I can give my little boy my iPhone to play “Worms” online and not worry that he is too young to play “online”.

Without a doubt, I can tell you there is a Facebook page, or a Twitter profile for your product.  Why I hear you ask? It’s simple – brand awareness.

The smallest businesses and the largest firms are taking to the information highway to build themselves a stronger “brand awareness”.  In the days gone by, word of mouth, advertising and TV campaigns were common methods of promoting ones self, or business.

With the digital age well and truely apon us, and with companies struggling to return profits, businesses are resorting to any and all means to be successful.

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So why social media?

It’s simple; it’s hugely popular.  With 2 Billion people connected to the internet around the world, social media is an easy to use service that enables companies to connect instantaneously with millions of other users.

So what if people are connected have the internet? They won’t buy my product!

Twitter has nearly 200 million user accounts and Facebook has more than 750 million users, with a shocking 700 billion minutes spent on its service per month. To a business, there are nearly 950 million potential customers to interact with.

With the social media tools above, companies can create a simple “profile” to enable other users to view what the business has to offer.  Traditionally businesses are very silent when it comes to talking to customers, but in recent years, “service design” teams have been created within large companies to handle the new online networking opportunities.

What businesses are online?

Nearly every business, from Red Bull on Facebook to General Motors on Twitter.

Many businesses go down the route of offering “special deals” to their digital followers.  For example, Amazon MP3 on Twitter offer “daily deals” – these daily deals are a mixture of different music types available for download.

Other businesses, such as Galgorm Resort & Spa, a luxury hotel located in mid-Antrim, utilises Facebook to offer discounts and special offers to their 4,000 + ‘fans’.  ”Fans” is a term used on Facebook to indicate one’s delight with a product, business or ideology.

Social media is a unique and powerful tool that businesses can take advantage of to improve their product or service.  Many firms misunderstand the idea of social media, thinking of it as a “game” for the younger generation, but they are mistaken.

With the millions of users and potential customers connected through social media, businesses have the opportunity to tap into this technically “free” service.

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.

Audiences should be given a buffet for the senses – mixing sights, sounds, smells, touch and taste.  The gentleman below decides to spice up his pitch by sining Jay-Z’s “99 Problems”, but remixed with the line, “I got 99 problems, but a pitch ain’t one.”

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_M6trwsm0bg

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Last year, at a Build Conference workshop, hosted by The Standardistas, users were treated to something a little different – an activity of sorts; the audience were split into groups, asked to draw ideas on paper and research topics to create new ideas for “paper prototyping”.

The recent Harry Potter film, “The Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ was released in July, with the official press conference taking place at Kings Cross Station.  The location of the premier was selected carefully, as Kings Cross Station in London was an integral part of the Harry Potter Station; where Hogwarts students left through a magical doorway.  The sights and sounds from the film would have blended well with press photos and videos, making a fantastic buffet for the senses.

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.

Is this good? Should I let my friends (on Facebook) know that I’m enjoying a breakfast in Nobel’s (on Gowalla) containing eggs, beans, a lincolnshire sausage (on Twitpic)?  Should I not invite those friends that I am informing via the social networks to go to breakfast with me, sit around and have a well educated conversation?  Is society grasped in the clutches of technology so tight, that we can not have a dinner without letting others know where to find us?

Maybe I’m being a little harsh.  The idea of the social networks in the beginning (according to The Social Network) was to connect users.

I love the idea of knowing what my sister is doing half way around the world in Australia, other wise I would have to contact her by an extremely expensive telephone call, or a very slow letter.  I don’t, however, want to know what my friends baby looks like today.  And the day after.  And the day after that.  I’m sure he hasn’t changed.

The same could be said for my addiction to “checking in” with Gowalla & Foursquare.  I’m sure people are sick of seeing that I have checked in down the local pub, enjoying an ice cold beer.  However, there is the possibility of an actual social activity, where my friends could join me in my drinking adventures.  I would have used social networks to tell people where I am, so they can join me for a drink.  I believe this is what social networking is all about.

Maybe I’ve got the wrong online “friends”.  Maybe an online “cull“, as it is known, is needed.  Should their be restrictions to what people are posting online? Maybe you can only update your “status” once a day, and any more will get your banned?  There’s an idea for a new social network.

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From the “social explosion” grew several positive things – improved social contact with remote family, reunions with old school friends, and organising social meet-ups.  Bad things also grew – those who want to abuse system, online predators, or those who gather materials to harm others.

Since the days that online message boards and forums were the shnizz*, so were people who wanted to have more “posts” to their name than anyone else.  With new social networking, it seems even easier to cheat your way to the top.

It has recently been found out that Newt Gingrich, an American Politician, has an unbelievable number of fake accounts following him on twitter.  According to a previous member of Gingrich’s staff;

“About 80 percent of those accounts are inactive or are dummy accounts created by various “follow agencies,” another 10 percent are real people who are part of a network of folks who follow others back and are paying for followers themselves”.

Most shocking of all, Gingrich bragged that he had “six times” as many followers on Twitter than the other candidates combined.  He is right, as with roughly 1.3million, he out shone his competitors, who haven’t even reached 100,000.

If it was a race on Twitter to the top, he would have won, but as a supposed “respectable” politician that the American people are suppose to have faith and trust in, should he not be penalised for abusing the system?  Since he cheated on Twitter, what would make him abide by the rules in an actual election?  If Obama can tweet without cheating the public, so can he.

To admit that the social networks are flawless would be a mistake, as can be seen from the “Followgate” scandal.  They are in their infancy, and never being able to be completely secure may be their ultimate downfall.

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Being a child born at the start of the internet-at-home (more or less) era, and having been at the point of begging my parents to allow me my own private Hotmail email address, I for one will be very excited to see where social networking will take us over the next 10 years.  Forums were once popular, then MSN Messenger, now Facebook & Twitter.  What will be next?

* Technical term for ‘awesome’.

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.)

For conference organisers, surprising your audience is generally a good idea, as everyone wants to line their pockets with free goodies to remember the day.

For last year’s Build Conf in the waterfront, Andy McMillian (Organizer) sent out super-special “Build Schwag” to the conference speakers; consisting of pencils, stickers and beautifully crafted notebooks.  If you were lucky enough to be a speaker (of which you probably weren’t) you wouldn’t have had the best chance to grab these goodies.  Some extra gifts were available on conference day, but were snapped up very quickly.

Other conference’s take the same approach, with DIBI offering T-shirts & stickers, and New Adventures Conf distributing a unique newspaper just for attendees.

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Recently I have bee thinking about my own small company, SoulHosting.   I started the company last year to offer web hosting packages to Interactive Multimedia Design students at UUJ.  I found that web hosting from large companies charged exorbitant prices, which did not suit student budgets.  I researched being a “host reseller” and found that it would be extremely beneficial, for both my wallet and clients seeking hosting with web design.

I aimed the hosting at university students, specifically Interactive Multimedia Design, creating posters and business cards with “eCoupons”.  I distributed the flyers around the IMD labs in UUJ and posters around Block 16 (the computer blocks) with permission from Dr Peter Nicholl.

This year, I have taken a different approach, targeting students with hosting while offering “extra little bits”.  I have created a first draft poster, seen below, offering students the chance to win something close to their hearts – alcohol.  Even though I’m not the biggest Vodka fan, for students I believe it to be the No.1 drink on their list when going out.

Once the final draft has been created, if allowed, I will print the posters off on high-quality photo paper and place them in suitable positions around the IMD lab.

Offering a hosting service to students who need it (final year students with Major Projects) while offering an extra “deal” with high chances of winning should attract customers.  Through the use of Twitter, I have set up another competition that is free to enter with a prize of 1 Year’s free hosting.

Targeting web designers/developers through physical flyers and digital media should, in theory, grasp extra cliental.

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Other businesses do the same thing, the most famous, Virgin Atlantic.

Since its conception in 1984, Virgin Atlantic has 7,500 members of staff, 5,921,766 customers and 40 planes.  Joe Ferry, Head of Design at Virgin Atlantic Airways believes “Virgin Atlantic has no right to exist and the fact that it does and is successful is entirely due to the fact that it is different”.

This is somewhat true – if you take the average Joe off the street, ask him to name a “high class” aeroplane service, he will undoubtedly mention Virgin Atlantic.  Sir Richard Branson, when creating VA, wanted something different, something that would compete (and win) among the other aeroplane carriers.

Borne was the “First Class” service, offering expensive drinks, relaxing seats, a place to sleep and always on-hand stewards.  Ticket prices obviously would reflect the service received, aiming for business men and women who wanted to fly in peace.

In 2002, after September 11th attacks, Virgin undertook a multimillion dollor upgrade of the “First Class” experience.  This jolt boosted VA’s sales the following year, returning profit for the first time since the Twin Tower attacks..

Since then, VA have spent millions investing in creating “the ultimate” experience for passengers, from Economy to First Class.  They have a dedicated “Service Design” team based in the UK working with ex-cabin crew and closely with the Branding Team to deliver the upper-most designs, brochures and experience.

In recent years, VA has produced stunning promotional videos, the most recent of which is available here.  Combining James Bond-themed theatrics and music from the well re-known Muse, the video was a huge success for the Service Design team, promoting the red-dressed company to their fullest.

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.

Zuckerburg created Facebook to connect communities, much like Jack Dorsey when he created Twitter in 2006.  The idea of connecting users via the internet wasn’t anything new, but creating a system that would enable all users to easily use the service was key.

Forums were always bulky and complicated – from early 2000 until now; there was a complicated signup process, administrators had to “review” your application to the forum and there was very little room for interactivity between users.

When Facebook & Twitter entered the fray, you were given an “identity” where you maintained photographs, relationships and content.  There was no sub-folders to read about TV shows or the best films, everything was displayed in a simple order that was easy to understand.

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In recent months, Google (never one to miss out on a fad) have launched their social networking tool, named “Google+”.  Google plus has all the essential ingredients to make a good socialising platform; ability to add pictures, categorise friends and of course, 10 million users.

Having been on the social networking platform from an early age; navigating, writing and adding friends to a new social platform is not as task someone takes on lightly.  Between annoying Google+ emails I that and others seemed to receive, even if you weren’t on Google+, I eventually took up the challenge of starting a Google+ account.

There is nothing special with Google+, I can do the same, if not more on Facebook, and dare I mention it, Bebo.

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This article isn’t about deciding which is best, it’s about the community structure that all these web services provide, and the changes from the old fashioned “forum posts”.

The community feel and aspect of the old style forums are still present in the new social platforms – people talk and debate about different topics, from Facebook pages dedicated to reducing tuition fees, to Twitter accounts informing users of breaking news.  Friendships are made, and broken on the social networks, with many taking to the networks to voice their opinions on hot topics and personal feelings.

Social networking can be thought of as a mini blog, with personal entries being written by the same user every day.  Forums were usually full of useful, interesting material, as you had to go to some length to write a post or article, but now it’s so easy – almost too easy to write something for the world to view.

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 weigh, colour, touch and streamlined design of this box has been well thought out.  With the top of the box sliding off smoothly with a satisfying “pop”, to the extremely pleasant to the touch, the experience is superb.

Let us now compare this to a standard DVD, Season 4 to be specific – see the picture below.

Upon first holding the DVD, the rough plastic cover is noticeable, well worn and little care shown to it over the years.  You can hear the DVD sling in it’s carriage inside, worrying you slightly that it may be out of its holder.  The weight is odd, feeling slightly lighter than it should be, but easily carried in one hand.

Compared to the super-sleek Collectors Edition box, it’s a wonder why anyone would ever care to purchase a single season.

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Let’s now move from DVDs to computer games, namely Halo 3 – the third in a series of games released on the Xbox 360 in 2007.  Microsoft, the developers, released two different limited edition boxes, one entitled “Limited Edition” and the second “Legendary Edition”, the latter of which is pictured below.

For a mere £150 on the 27th September 2007, the release day, you could own this “Legendary Edition” box.  Within the helmet (made famous by the main character in the “Halo” Franchise, ‘Master Chief’) there were 3 discs, each with “limited edition” material unavailable elsewhere, including “Making of” DVD and cutscenes of all three Halo games organised in chronological order.

The beautifully decorated helmet, plastic to the touch, but metallic to the eye stands out from the base unit which contains the DVD discs.  The helmet pulls upwards in a unique manner, reviling a simple, yet efficiently designed holder for the content.  The holder is designed as though it was part of a space ship, which ties perfectly into the game, based partially on starships.

The “Limited” part of the “Limited Edition” was a little exaggerated.  Gamestop, a computer game shop in the UK announced there was only 1,000 of these helmets available.  Later in the year, Microsoft were still producing new helmets, with the model above having serial number 485,179.  Not so limited.

If one didn’t wish to spend ridiculous money on a helmet which will never fit, the original game was available for sale at the standard £40 charge, similar to the game pictured below.

Every Xbox360 game is issued in the identical green DVD case, manual and disk held securely within.  When Microsoft first released games in this manner, it was extremely different from the standard black DVD case, standing out from other games and films in your collection.  The case is simple and does what it says on the tin – but as with the West Wing DVD, years of abuse can easily be seen on the cover, from grubby fingerprints to torn plastic.

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Understanding the physie of people collect limited edition items is difficult.  I for one enjoy the handiness of a box set of DVD, firstly, for space, and secondly for containing all of one TV show, or set of films in one place.

Many people find owning a “Limited” item empowers them to boast about their ability to spend money in social contexts.  With few ever watching the “extra” material on bonus disks contained within “Limited Edition” DVD’s, I find it truly difficult to understand spending exorbitant amounts of money on a movie, TV or computer game.  You are paying for the experience, an experience that will hopefully allow you to immerse yourself within.  You are paying for the actors ability to convince you that his plane is going down, or that the environment that you are racing within is life-like.

Others would disagree, claiming that the “opening” of a game, DVD, or electronic item is a sacred process – with every moment an experience to savour, with many heading to YouTube to show you their box.  I can understand this view point for handheld items, such as an iPhone or car, something that you will use on a daily occurrence – but not for a film that will be watched once, and disregarded to the bottom of the DVD rack, never to be watched again.

So what do we make of the endless box sets and cartons of expensive equipment?  I believe it is a money laundering process, with developers and manufacturers flexing their muscles and prowess over the simpletons who insist on buying crap as it as a “Limited” sticker.  A prime example is Harry Potter franchise, which has benefited from this “lets make as much as we can” attitude, splitting the last movie into two parts, then again in two different screen types – 3D or 2D.  Others are following this process, with the final Twilight saga being split into two.

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.

People generally think that kids who sit in front of the TV for an extended period of time have an “addiction”.  Where this may be true in some cases, the majority of kids are simply “hooked” for a period of time.  When they grow older, and continue to play computer games, ignoring family and friends for the pleasure of the television set, “online” friends and leaderboards – this is when the this is when the term “addiction” may be relevant.

Playing games from a young age, I always enjoyed escaping from reality, from driving a Ferrari through the imaginary streets of Rome, to battling mythological creatures in dungeons.  Not once did I ever think that I was addicted, or hooked to playing games, regardless of what others thought or said.

When I grew up, computer games took a back seat in my life, but with others, they remained dedicated to playing games day and night to further themselves electronically.

With the new portability of gaming devices, addiction has changed shape.  From being on the bus, toilet, bank queues to flying across country, people are using their mobile devices to disconnect from the world for a short period of time.

This “short” period of time may help some to reduce their gaming activities to manageable time periods, hopefully leading them from a world of addiction.

Being a lover of games, it is hard to say I’m not addicted to games.  However, over the past several years my time dedicated to games has decreased from daily doses to barely once a month.  I realise where my job, work and social life rank on the scale.  Others are not fortunate enough to know, or have not experience something to dedicate their time too, such as reading books or religious activities.

There is help out for people struggling with addiction, from the rehab centres mentioned above, to talking to friends or work colleagues.

See, I am still a bloke, even though I watch Glee.