Gamification 2.0

So now that everybody agrees that Gamification is the future of everything, I think it’s time to take it to the next level. I think the only reason for the initial hesitation from the community stemmed from the fact that the present discussion just doesn’t go deep enough into actual game mechanics. So here is the result from me loafing around and daydreaming a recent research project I conducted to explore the next step of Gamification.

1. So I’m sitting my car stuck in a traffic jam and I think “Damn, this is not Epic Win at all. Reality is so broken”. And I know exactly what the problem is. Games have taught me how to solve this. The thing is that everybody is punished for driving fast. This is all backwards. Reality needs to be more like Burnout. We should get, like, rewarded for driving like a madman. We also shouldn’t pay for accidents, we should actually get money for this. So everybody could afford sweet sports cars and get where they want to be really, really fast. It would be awesome!

2. So I’m arguing with my girlfriend and I think “Damn, this is not Epic Win at all. Reality is so broken”. And I know exactly what the problem is. Games have taught me how to solve this. The thing is that women need to behave like the chicks in games. They need to wear really revealing clothes and otherwise just shut up. They also should all have epic boobs. CT scans of brains have clearly shown that epic boobs are, like, totally related to epic win. Nuff said. It would be awesome!

3. So I remember back then when the cat I grew up with died because he got a tumor in his tongue. He had an OP but the tongue got infected afterwards because he tried to lick himself. It fouled off and he suffered a great deal for a day before we decided to put him to sleep. I thought “Damn, this is not Epic Win at all. Reality is so broken”. That was really sad actually. Um… In games… that never happens… Shit, I’m still getting tears in my eyes talking about this. Um… yeah.

4. So I’m reading this book by Jane McGonigal I think “Damn, this is not Epic Win at all. Reality is so broken”. And I know exactly what the problem is. Books are too long and too boring and you must think and concentrate and everything. But games have taught me how to solve this. Books need to be more God of War. With quick-time events. You just get really angry, play a couple of rounds of Simon Says and BAM – you put the book in your bookshelf and get the achievement for bragging with your friends without actually reading it. So I created a prototype and it actually totally works.

That’s how far I’ve got with it. I know, like, that is is all complicated with words and everything. Sometimes pictures say more than thousand words. So I have prepared a picture that illustrates the real idea behind Gamification 2.0.

I think we are on to something here. We can make it work.