Jesse Schell’s mindblowing talk on the future of games • Hacker News Board

Re: Jesse Schell’s mindblowing talk on the future of games

#31

Post by nickpp » Tue, Feb 23, 2010, 10:01 AM UTC

supermetroid wrote: post #30

nickpp wrote: post #12

You know, I've been playing the game he's describing since I was born. Is called REAL LIFE and its point system uses money. Spend on upgrades (education) get new powers and eventually earn more. Spend in shops, get new toys. Etc. This is not the future, it is the present.

Sounds sort of boring. A great video with a lot of exciting ideas (even if they're articulated somewhat stormily at times). This is definitely a viable advertising platform--one that makes good use of the attractive qualities of capitalism, by inspiring competition and desire for collection within consumers, trading exposure--and (hopefully) real human currency--for fabricated (yet, if implemented correctly, complete…

Actually, the current efforts with Universal Health Care and general Social Security in developed countries are trying to make sure there is no "Game Over".

And as for boring - I guess it depends on the player. Personally I find video games incredibly unfulfilling. Lots of fun while playing but leaving an empty feeling afterward, of time completely wasted. While real life is AWESOME! Everything I do and create improves my life and that of the people around me.

But again - it depends on the person.

Re: Jesse Schell’s mindblowing talk on the future of games

#32

Post by nickpp » Tue, Feb 23, 2010, 10:03 AM UTC

misuba wrote: post #22

nickpp wrote: post #12

You know, I've been playing the game he's describing since I was born. Is called REAL LIFE and its point system uses money. Spend on upgrades (education) get new powers and eventually earn more. Spend in shops, get new toys. Etc. This is not the future, it is the present.

Damn, I've been trying to accumulate happiness points. Is there a patch I didn't download?

For happiness points, spend your money on personal improvements and your time on other players.

Re: Jesse Schell’s mindblowing talk on the future of games

#33

Post by robfitz » Tue, Feb 23, 2010, 11:08 AM UTC

nickpp wrote: post #12

You know, I've been playing the game he's describing since I was born. Is called REAL LIFE and its point system uses money. Spend on upgrades (education) get new powers and eventually earn more. Spend in shops, get new toys. Etc. This is not the future, it is the present.

Explicit, short-term rewards trump implicit or long-term rewards. Immediate feedback with points will enable much faster & more effective behavior change.

Re: Jesse Schell’s mindblowing talk on the future of games

#34

Post by nas » Tue, Feb 23, 2010, 10:41 PM UTC

lsd5you wrote: post #16

klon wrote: post #13

Sounds like a pretty dark future to me.

Yes. It was pretty weak when he tried to tie the whole thing together with an optimistic message at the end... His plan for a better future is mindlessly optimistic: everybody is observed -> everybody behaves better. Apart from being bad in and of itself, it is actually pretty unlikely to come about in any way like he described (if you think about it), and it is fairly insidious to place it on an equal footing, rheto…

I laughed that the iPad joke even though I think he missed the point of it. The iPad represents the iPhone software model applied to personal (netbook like) computers. Installing software and keeping a computer is beyond the average person. The draconian control Apple exerts over iTunes is seen as a solution.

Anyhow, back to current topic, I too see his predicted future as a bad thing. It is a scientific fact that people are fairly easily manipulated by certain reward schemes[1]. With current technology, marketing people are getting good at applying those theories. With all due respect to honest people doing a job, those people don't give a shit about making the world a better place.

1. Sorry, I'm too lazy to dig up papers. Basically frequent small rewards given over randomized intervals are extremely compelling to people. This theory is applied to (or explains the success of) many gambling games.