1. Keynoting my first conference
2. Attending my first Gamehotel event

It was a super fun event. Not only did I get to become a smidge reacquainted with Zurich (a lovely city that’s really worth exploring) but I got the (unexpected) surprise of anchoring the event with Chris Hecker. What could be better?

The theme of the event pivoted on my keynote talk, which really focused on an overview of the Funware concept - particularly as I’ve refined my “Great Unifying Theory” of Funware in our lives. I also deconstructed the current economic crisis in the context of an MMOG - which was super amusing. I also suggested that economic policy design should include game designers with MMO economics experience - they’d know how to anticipate and counter cheating.

Separately, many interesting presenters were part of the dialogue, and we had a wrap-up panel discussion at the EOD that asked some great questions about games and the world around us. Probably the most pointed was when the topic of “self-policing” communities came up. I’ve come to the conclusion that there is no such thing - and apparently, so has Alan Greenspan. I struggle to find any community application (MMOG or otherwise) without a substantial moderation and enforcement infrastructure.

Although the notes are not included, you’ll probably enjoy the slideshow below, courtesty of SlideShare.

Here are some of the ones we’ll chat about:

Headup - Start at 00:59

SemantiNet Introducing: headup from SemantiNet Ltd on Vimeo.

Click here to view the Browser

Delve Networks - Semantic Video

Click here to view the Delve Demo

Me-Trics (like Metrics)

Click here to view the screens

10/17 - Moderating a Great Panel at Web3 in San Jose
10/24 - Keynoting GameHotel in Zurich - discussing the future of games and Funware
11/18-19 - Presenting rmbrME at the VentureWire Technology Showcase Event

And some more, yet-to-be-announced events.

Come join us for the discussion! It promises to be a lot of fun.

TechCrunch has its coverage of the service here.

I had the pleasure of attending on behalf of GameZebo to review and analyze the field for interesting casual game and Funware applications.

Interestingly, two of the four “game” category finalists, Grockit and Akoha are both Funware apps - using games to accelerate a business objective. Learning in Grockit’s case, and “Pay It Forward” Samaritanism in Akoha’s.

And while the panelists’ questions reflected a general lack of knowledge of game design and game theory, it was obvious that the products touched a nerve - both innovative and visceral. Grockit was even a Top 5 company!

I’ve written an editorial for GameZebo that delves more deeply into these products and my experiences at the event. We’ll be doing a chat with Akoha and Grockit shortly as well - so stay tuned.

The most interesting thing for us - other than the sharp rise in usage over the past week - has been the plethora of ideas that have emerged from our users and the commenters. People are polarized on the idea of an electronic business card (less so its implementation), though that sort of polarization has yielded some interesting gems of insight for us already.

There was a Jon Stewart-quality “Moment of Zen” in the TC article’s comments that really brought home the need for rmbrME and who its targeted at. This is a photo that Michael Arrington (TC EIC) uploaded of his desk drawer. Check it out and read his caption:

Although I don’t presume to have the same social obligations and interactions as Mike, his experience of cards, and the poignant comment he made were the exact reason we launched the rmbrME service in the first place. For those of us in the high-volume social/business meeting context, the process of dealing with new contacts after meeting them has stopped being fun.  You may notice a pattern here…funware to the rescue, anyone?

And while making real life experiences fun is the province of this blog, the sheer volume of activity at rmbrME has necessitated the creation of a separate blog focused just on that product. If you want to follow what we’re up to at rmbrME, go to http://blog.rmbrme.com/ and you can keep tabs on our progress/leave your feedback.

Thanks again, and we’re very much looking forward to keeping the Funware momentum going!

The $50Bn+ diet/exercise industry hasn’t generally done a great job of making itself fun - even though it’s obvious that it would benefit from it.

But, with the advent of the Wii Fit, we’re beginning to see a greater realization that games and weight loss/physical fitness can be effectively combined. Like most funware analyses of the world around us, the games have (generally) always been there - it’s just our changing perspective that lets us see them as the games they are.

Clive Thompson makes one such realization in his solid article about Weight Watchers RPGishness in today’s Wired. What’s interesting to me is that Weight Watchers has always been an RPG - their basic system is unchanged since its inception. Even the use of points (see the diabetes association as well) - which Thompson finds surprising - should come as no shock. It’s not exactly like we invented the idea of keeping score in game design.

The Wii too has seen a fair amount of coverage relating to its effect on people’s exercise habits. ConsumerAffairs talks about an enlightening experiment at Dalhousie about the real health benefits, while Time weighed in with its well-written analysis of the wii making workouts fun!

While most people are focused on the obvious connection (workout-fun), I’m increasingly pleased at the way that our knowledge of games and game design is being put to spectacularly good use to understand the world around us.

Yes - if you make working out fun, people will do it more. You can substitute any activity for working out that you’d like. The axiom is always true.

Jon Stewart (TDS’ affable host) made reference to the McCain Space Invaders/Pork Invaders Game in which you blast pork-barrel spending and can compare the Obama and McCain camps on that issue (I’m sure they readied a Hillary version too). Here’s the game’s embed, for your amusement:

He then proceeded to joke not only about how old the senator appeared to be (by making a lame game, I suppose) but took it a step further and showed us McCain’s abortion-rights game (Pong with fetuses) and Obama’s health care game (FPS with Obama head shouting Yes. We. Can).

Part of the precedence for Funware is the idea that people start - even in jest - conceptualizing games that do more and go beyond the point of pure entertainment. The Daily Show’s satirists took a specific Funware application (the McCain game) and then imagined both how they’d build an anti-McCain game (FetusPong) and a pro-Obama game. They were using game design, though more visual then mechanistic, to get a point across.

The best part: the audience completely understood the meaning that both of the satirical games were trying to convey.

There’s also an interesting blog post that I wrote for the CNBC folks on the future of winning that you can read here if you’re so inclined.

All in all, it was a great experience, and a big shout out goes to the CNBC production team for their foresight, the makeup crew for not making me orange, and my fellow panelists for being hilarious and genuine.