Tuesday, March 11th 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Jane McGonigal Creative Dir, Avant Game
http://www.avantgame.blogspot.com/
Make the real world more like games vs. taking video games to the next level (better graphics etc.)
There is much going on in the area of happiness research – positive psychology. This newer field answers the question, what makes us function well? What makes us happy compared to the core of game design. This field has come up with many new metrics for measuring happiness.
Are developers (or game developers) in the happiness business? By the year 2013, quality of life will become a metric for evaluation of all brands. Communities will begin to form around different visions of a life worth living. Value will be defined a a measure of the quality of life. Happiness is no longer defined with the image of a warm puppy.
What makes us happy?
- satisfy a work to do item
- experience of being good at something
- spending time with people we like
- chance to be part of something bigger
*nothing gives you these more than games*
*multiplayer games are the ultimate happiness engine*
Signals:
“I’m not good at life” we can do things in games that we can’t do in the real world.
-better instructions in games vs. real world
-better feedback in games
-better community in games
Problem: global mass exodus towards game worlds. There is a perception that quality of life in games or the virtual world is beating reality.
ARG games:
ChoreWars – points for doing chores in real life
Zyked – exercise
Serios – pay for certain tasks at work ($ for a meeting etc.)
Citizen Logistics – game to help other people
World Without Oil – what would the world be like?
“To imagine the future, always look back at least as far into the past.”
Soap kills germs 1931 ad. Why not think the same way about games? Games kill alienation/anxiety/depression
How ARG’s amplify human happiness:
-Mobbability – ability to collaborate on a large scale
-Influency – ability to adapt persuasion based on a person or personality
-Cooperation Radar – track strengths in certain people and see their individual values
-Ping Quotient – ability to reach out and network
-Multi Capitalism – different capital gets you different returns
-Protovation – rapid fearless innovation – the more you fail, the more you learn
-Open Authorship – able to give things away and modify in a positive way
-Signal Noise Management – know which info is relevant
-Longbroading – zoom out and see the big picture
-Emergensight – spot patterns as they pop up
*all of these optomise the quality of life*
Where to go next? Twitter is a good interface. The Nike iPod needs a game interface. How about the sniff network for dogs? Trackstick GPS tracker, SFQ.com
Thelostring.com – olympic ARG to find a new sport never played before.
-soon we’ll be in the happiness business
-games are good for improving our quality of life
-AR signals the need for all of us to redesign reality