Augmented reality is booming as new advancements appear every day. This one really blew my mind yesterday:

Sure, Augmented ID by TAT may raise certain privacy issues, but the fact is that we can probably set a privacy rule such as a per request access to the information (bluetooth like) that avoids everyone having access.

Aside from that, this is really cool!

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.

I was watching a videogame review the other day – I really can’t remember the game but it was this really childish and simple game that I thought would be quite enjoyable for most kids. In the end, the reviewer gave it a really small score, saying it wasn’t that good of a game and it wasn’t worth your money. At the time, I thought to myself – “Who isn’t this game good to?”
The fact is that videogamers have evolved through time. While most still consider the videogamers a grey mass of players who simply differ by their genre preference or time invested playing, the fact is that the videogame target has definitely changed though time – and it has evolved deeply.
To simplify it, we can consider we’ve had 3 generation of videogamers – the ones before the videogame crash, the Nintendo generation and the new age gamers. And inside each we have different profiles and tastes. But what is more interesting is that each generation, like in everything, criticize the new generation by becoming a moral order and condemning the values the next generation is gaining by playing those games. So, those who are now criticizing Grand Theft Auto were the ones who were playing Super Mario in their NES at home a few years ago. And those who judged the Super Mario fans at the time were the ones playing Pong and Space Invaders in the arcades in the dawn of games. This leads me to two points: Continue reading ‘Online and Videogame Targets – Are you targeting correctly?’