In September 2007 we wrote an article about Browser based games. We showed you some examples and why they were growing – basically in a stresstetained world, users have less time to completely focus on full-fledged videogame. Browser based games were an intelligent and obvious solution to this problem as they would allow users to spend very little of their time on each login.
Two years later, we live on the Mafia rule. The article in question shows the rise to power of the Social Networking-based game Mafia, which spreads from Facebook to Myspace to the IPhone. The question that comes to mind is – although Browser Based Games were already strong, how do Social Networks helped them (in this case, the Mafia franchise) grow to a point where you can’t check your Facebook Notices without coming across a Mafia post?
Browser Based games took a natural evolution towards Social Networks due to their strong friend need component. Most of these games require the user to have friends in order to help grow your power – be it having more power in fights or gaining rare items, for example. Before entering the Social Networks, the users had to add users manually via e-mail addresses. Now you just post on your wall, broadcast to your friends or send massive invites and see how bites.
Not only is this, but the app itself is programmed to broadcast certain comments to users when you do specific actions. You can deactivate these posts via the app options, but most users will let it happen because they want other users to help them grow. It is a definite proof that, if it benefits the user and makes sense in the app nature, then they don’t mind letting brands or product communicate via their account.
Sure, it sounds obvious that this evolution was natural, but it doesn’t seem so obvious for some Brands who still aren’t dwelling on the Social Networks. The raw potential of users and their involvement can make wonders for a product or brand. Today Mafia is known by practically every user on Facebook – be it because they play on it or they have at least one friend who does. The bottom line is that they play Mafia, but Mafia also plays them.
When Mark Weiser coined the phrase “ubiquitous computing”, he wasn’t thinking only on the pervasiveness of computational devices. He was mainly concerned about the age of calm technology, when technology recedes into the background of our lives.
Fast forward 2 decades and we can’t help realizing how physical computing has become a part of the lives of the western world. Yet … we still have a long way to go in creating the kind of experiences that make us calm instead of driving us (consumers) mad. That’s were UX (User Experience) kicks in. From the more traditional field of interaction design, the discipline is now making waves in other fields. From digital ethnography to service design, UX is the missing link between technology and business, and were brands (do i really need to say Apple) have a chance to create a sustainable advantage.
Give customers/users a seamless, no friction, calm experience and they will become your salespeople. Don’t just focus on technology, for hype’s sake. Even if the video above seems really cool with their great use of augmented reality, i can’t help wondering: how complicated would that experience might be out of the lab? How could we make it easier for non-digerati to enjoy it? Our task as experience designers, is to create new ways of interaction that make technology a quiet, invisible servant.
Living in the West Coast of Europe has its perks: the sun, the food and most of all, the people. Growing as a child in the North of Portugal, studying Business Management in the Center and now working in Lisbon was Armando’s crash course in cultural ethnography. As diverse as the people he met, is his interest in several disciplines: from marketing to Actionscript or Buddhist teachings.
Since 2006 he’s been writing the blog asourceofinspiration.com, one of the most influential European blogs on marketing and advertising, is a guest author at osocio.org, the worldwide reference on social marketing and co-hosts a Portuguese videocast about technology and communication.
He loves when people get together because, not despite of technology. If you don’t find him on Twitter, then it’s probably because he’s grabbing a cold Super Bock beer and some fine appetizers by the seaside, just a few minutes walk from FullSix Portugal’s office.
Multi-touch screen that can be used by many users at the same time, RFID to recognize registrants and deliver personalized information based on their profile. This looks awesome. I wanna play with it. Is it too late to register for the Cannes Festival???
PS: SXSW organizers, you’d better be working on something like that for next year festival!
A bit of auto-promo. Back in March, Tyler and I were in Austin for SxSW, since PleaseFixtheiPhone was up for a SxSW Web Award. And we met with Jim Hopkinson from Wired magazine for an interview about the site and its impact on the development of the next generation iPhones. With the launch of the 3.0 Software Update announced this week, it was the perfect occasion to release the interview and have a look and which Top Wishes were taken care of by Apple. Article available on Jim’s blog, and podcast on iTunes! Thanks Jim!
Facebook just made official what they had told us few weeks ago: starting at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Saturday, June 13, you’ll be able to choose a username on a first-come, first-serve basis for your profile and the Facebook Pages that you administer by visiting www.facebook.com/username/ so if you want to avoid the trouble of dealing with cybersquatting for your brand (company) and if you have a pretty common name, make sure you stay a bit sober on Friday night and don’t plan to hit the bars before late! More info here ›
One thing that always strikes me when I go to London is the importance of the after-work team gatherings at the local pub near the office. And British FullSIXers were no exception. For years, the Freemasons Arms pub in Covent Garden hosted their decadent Friday night parties.
And during one of those boozy nights, two former Fullsix employees, Simon Blezard & Thomas Vansteen came up with the idea to create a virtual bar network, or more specifically to launch the world’s first global social networking site dedicated purely to the drinks and hospitality sectors: barexchange.com
More and more employers turn to social networking sites to help them with their recruitment needs (we, at FullSIX NY found our PR agency via LinkedIn and hire our designers and developers on Facebook!). So are job hunters.
BarExchange is also a great tool for spirit/drinks brands to target barmen and barmaids and share with them professional content and offers. Almost 800 profiles were created in the two weeks following the launch, and the site has already signed an impressive number of pub, bar and restaurant chains as partners.
We wish you guys all the best luck!
More info about BarExchange:
Bar Exchange is a social networking forum for the bar & hospitality industry. A place to find work, recruit staff and share knowledge. Find a bar job in a pub, club, bar, restaurant, hotel or event local to you. Follow the Bar Exchange training videos; learn basic bartending skills or discover how to make a new cocktail with the latest drinks brands. Match your skills with employer vacancies who will come to you with their latest bar jobs. Bar Owners – recruit trained and skilled bar staff. Brands – connect with bar staff who will promote your brand. Community – meet with fellow bar staff in your area, attend events and parties, join in with competitions and groups.
We all know the Wii has started a whole new way of interacting with videogames. Sure, it doesn’t have the most advanced graphics engine, but it’s simple, clean and fun, as well as it brings a whole new level of interaction never before seen on a home console.
As you’d expect, competition is soon following. The two titans of the home console industry have presented on E3 this year their proposals for engagement – while the PS3 has a prototype Motion Control wand that interacts with the PS3 Eye Toy and is very similar to the Wii’s control, Microsoft has presented something completely different – the Project Natal.
Project Natal is a motion sensing system that will be compatible with every Xbox out there. It has full body motion control by tracking 3D movement and it recognizes voices, thus totally immersing the players into the game. What it promises is amazing.
So now we have three players in the home console market that have motion control. While interesting at first and definitely exciting for the consumers, one big question rises – how will game developers react? I mean, if you were a game developer, would you develop a game just for those who bought a bonus feature for the console? One thing is the Wii which is a motion control console PERIOD. Another is a add-on that not all consumers will buy – which means you’ll only be targeting some consumers. On another hand, how will you port the games to the three consoles when you have three totally different motion control schemes?
We do not know what the future holds for the motion sensors, but it does show us something – hardware developments in the gaming industry need the game producer’s feedback. Without them it is unwise to go on. I do not know if Sony and Microsoft tried to talk it over with the producers, but one thing I do believe – it will still be hard to overcome the Wii on that field.
The TrendWatch is the collective postings of some of the FullSIX Group’s designers, strategists, and consultants on new media and marketing trends. It is meant to be an impromptu think-tank, and is a way for us to share theories and beliefs about how we think communication and connectivity is evolving.
We work for The FullSIX Group; a leading full service marketing agency with digital DNA. From our 15 international offices with over 600 employees, we constantly embrace and encourage innovation to make integrated marketing and communication campaigns that are more accountable and efficient for our clients.
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