Last night I attended the Y+30: Future of Gaming meetup. The Y+30 meetup is a futurist meetup, looking at how different industries will change in the next 30 years. As Sam (the founder) starts out every meetup, we know that we will almost always be wrong (to some extent) when we think that far out into the future, and it’s great to see why.
I have been thinking a good bit about gaming lately (from MadGab to Foursquare) and was particularly looking forward to hearing what the experts (and attendees) thought gaming would look like in 30 years.
Being in the advertising/marketing industry, I’m fascinated with how apps are using mechanics to ‘game your brain,’ to get you enthused and even addicted. While I love game nights, I’m not a hardcore video gamer, and perhaps that’s why I was a bit disappointed. All of the panelists were in the video game industry and there wasn’t much of a conversation surrounding anything outside of the video game world.
When I mentioned “playing” Foursquare, a friend asked what exactly I meant and I responded that I was just using the verbiage associated with a game. “But why?,” she asked.
Many people who are using Foursquare on a daily basis don’t even consider it a game. And yet part of the big reason we continue to check-in to venues is because built into this app, are mechanics of gaming: You are rewarded for certain behaviors; there is a competitive nature associated with the game/app; your social cred is at stake.
I was hoping to hear more about these games that fall into the non-traditional gaming space and thoughts on how brands will be accessing these mechanics in future initiatives. But alas, this was not the case. So I turn to you, instead.
Besides location-based check-in services, what are other apps that fall into this non-traditional gaming space? How are brands getting involved? Where do you think the gaming industry will be in 30 years?