Gamification
Get flash to fully experience Pearltrees
Feature: Getting Past Analytics In Social Games
<a href="http://adserver.adtechus.com/adlink/3.0/5242.1/2382763/0/0/ADTECH;alias=Gamasutra_Console_PC_IMU1_300x250;loc=300;key='+adkeys+';grp='+adrand+'" target="_blank"><img src="http://adserver.adtechus.com/adserv/3.0/5242.1/2382763/0/0/ADTECH;alias=Gamasutra_Console_PC_IMU1_300x250;loc=300;key='+adkeys+';grp='+adrand+'" border="0" width="0" height="0"></a> In a new Gamasutra feature , game design veteran Chris Birke takes a look at how social games create "fun" from a neuroscience perspective, and urges developers to look past this simple construction to deeper, more meaningful design. Birke starts his analysis by asserting that the "fun" of a game is merely the controlled release and reception of dopamine in the player's brain as they come to expect in-game rewards. He goes on to describe how this process can change and weaken as the game experience gets more familiar.
From left: Pandora's Tony Conrad, Rovio North America General Manager Andrew Stalbow. Photo: JP Mangalindan/Fortune FORTUNE -- Angry Birds is the game franchise that just keeps on giving.
Angry Birds: 350 million downloads and counting
The stereotypical gamer is no longer a recluse in his basement who sits on his couch staring at the TV for hours. Thanks to portable devices, like smartphones and tablets, and games on Facebook, men and women alike are squeezing a few minutes of game play into their daily lives, which is actually leading to more social interactions in and out of the living room. Or at least that’s the conclusion of a new study released this week by Latitude, a research and consulting firm that counts DirecTV, Yahoo, Food Network, ESPN and other major media companies as clients. The report, which studied 290 smartphone owners, examined the future of gaming and tried to illustrate the portrait of the “new gamer.” This is not an economic forecast.
What Does the Future Gamer Look Like? - Tricia Duryee - Commerce
<a href="http://adserver.adtechus.com/adlink/3.0/5242.1/2382763/0/0/ADTECH;alias=Gamasutra_Social_Online_IMU1_300x250;loc=300;key='+adkeys+';grp='+adrand+'" target="_blank"><img src="http://adserver.adtechus.com/adserv/3.0/5242.1/2382763/0/0/ADTECH;alias=Gamasutra_Social_Online_IMU1_300x250;loc=300;key='+adkeys+';grp='+adrand+'" border="0" width="0" height="0"></a> In a new Gamasutra feature , contributor Simon Ludgate examines how social game makers are tweaking the free-to-play model to maximize both player value and developer revenue at the same time. Ludgate starts by examining the traditional MMO monthly fee subscription model, which left out players with lots of time but not enough money to devote to the game's fixed costs. Many social games instead use an "energy" model, where players could play for free for a limited time before being forced to pay money or wait for in-game energy to recharge before getting more play time.
Feature: How The Free-To-Play Model Is Evolving
Les jeux «freemium» rapportent gros | Applications
Une autre enquête de Flurry portant sur l'App Store d'Apple a établi que les applis freemium rapportaient plus aux développeurs que les applis payantes. - Photo AP Les utilisateurs américains de tablettes et mobiles iOS et Android qui effectuent des achats intégrés aux applications vidéoludiques peuvent dépenser jusqu'à 50$ -l'équivalent d'un jeu console ou PC- en une seule transaction, selon une étude publiée le 25 juillet par Flurry Analytics. Les plateformes de vente en ligne d'applications regorgent de jeux gratuits, mais la majorité de ceux-ci utilisent un modèle «freemium», encourageant les mobinautes à faire des achats au sein de l'appli (in-app), pour acquérir des niveaux supplémentaires ou débloquer des fonctionnalités. Selon le cabinet d'étude de marché Flurry Analytics, les consommateurs américains dépensent en moyenne 14$ par transaction in-game (au sein du jeu). 13% des achats in-app sont supérieurs à 20$ et plus de 5% atteignent ou dépassent 50$.
C'est la keynote inaugurale du volet "Interactive" de la conférence SXSW. Sans surprise, le Ballroom D du Austin Conference Center affiche complet, la file court sur deux niveaux et il reste toujours les salles de rediffusions en direct pour se replier. Dans une gaie odeur de bouffe (il est 14h à Austin), entouré des premiers iPad 2, on s'apprête à accueillir, Seth Priebatsch , 22 ans, "ninja en chef" de SCVNGR , un jeu mobile et social ancré dans le monde réel , floutant un peu plus les frontières entre monde virtuel et réel. Il a un million de membres, soutenu par Google et Highland Capital Partners. Et porte en vrai, comme sur ses photos, des lunettes de soleil oranges !
SXSW '11 : Seth Priebatsch, ninja en chef, SCVNGR
Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Rewards
Management implications of the interaction between intrinsic motivation and extrinsic rewards David Beswick, University of Melbourne Managers generally, and anyone formally or informally responsible for oversight of others who are engaged in work or learning tasks, will be aware that some people are participating more out of interest in the task than others are. Others gain their satisfaction principally out the way in which their performance on the task leads to rewards like pay or status or good grades in a course. But typically there is a mixture of motives for which a range of different incentives is relevant.
Engagement is a commonly accepted term in the web and online games industry to talk about how often a player is coming back into a game. It is regarded as the most essential sort of metric (also called retention, in fact just this afternoon by Nicholas Lovell in his latest post on Gamesbrief ) to really know whether a game has long term legs, or whether it is flash-in-the-pan. Online game companies measure and track engagement obsessively, and worry greatly when the figure dips. While the concept is less regularly used in console and PC games, the principle of how and why players play is much the same.
The Engagement Hierarchy - What Games Are
<img alt="Photo: Christopher Griffith" src="/magazine/wp-content/images/19-07/ff_gamed_f.jpg" title="How Online Companies Trick You Into Sharing, Spending, and Joining More." width="660" height="464" /> Zynga, Facebook, Apple, and many other online companies and services are refining techniques developed by game developers to keep you in their game. Photo: Christopher Griffith; brain created by Megan Caponetto/Apostrophe You’re not stupid, but you can be fooled.
How Online Companies Get You to Share More and Spend More | Magazine