Recently, people wanted to gamify things. That's "game-i-fy," as in "turn stuff into games," which more or less meant "add points to stuff we don't like to do to make those things more fun."
In 2010, professor and game designer Jesse Schell gave an amazing talk at the DICE gaming summit that went viral. His topic: the gamification—the adding of points and play systems—to everything imaginable. He imagined a crazy future where we got points for everything from brushing teeth to giving each other high fives.
The idea of user-generated content is nothing new, and success at implementing the concept has ranged from the niche (inFamous 2) to the wildly successful (Minecraft). Just this week, game designer/Carnegie Mellon professor/all around interesting and smart guy Jesse Schell launched a kickstarter campaign to support…
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--mk1Il3Gq--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/1864isonwi88ljpg.jpg, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--fDE21qGJ--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/1864isonwi88ljpg.jpg, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--5SM3bYal--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/1864isonwi88ljpg.jpg, (large)])
It can be a challenge to buy a gift for your brainy, science-obsessed friend. What kind of games might he or she like? The science brains among us can be so intimidating, partly because it's always scary buying things for smart people, but partly because who knows what those science people even like? Do they want…
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--cN7yNjsW--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/18hehb9l9ddwdjpg.jpg, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--WbMnpT78--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/18hehb9l9ddwdjpg.jpg, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--3cv5j9wV--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/18hehb9l9ddwdjpg.jpg, (large)])
Our guy in Tokyo has descended upon San Francisco's Game Developers Conference. We asked him for a report. This is what we got.
], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s---3XcbO58--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_358,q_80,w_636/18j3z2yg8tfbbjpg.jpg, (small)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--tUEwKin9--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_180,q_80,w_320/18j3z2yg8tfbbjpg.jpg, (medium)], [http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--oK0O5D80--/c_fill,fl_progressive,g_north,h_77,q_80,w_137/18j3z2yg8tfbbjpg.jpg, (large)])
People keep Tweeting and e-mailing... did you see this speech? Yes, I saw it. This is today's must-watch about the future of gaming — and the future of life.
