We don't need no stinkin' badges: How to re-invent reality without gamification

Editor's Notes

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsdZKCh6RsU&feature=related
2. “points, levels, badges, and leaderboards do not a true game make. What they do make is distraction, confusion, and obsession with "fake achievement”
3. Making things gameful means giving players new powers in real life
4. Good morning! Good morning! Well, if it’s okay with you, I’d like to tap into your curiosity and your imagination this morning. I’d like to ask you a question you’ve probably never been asked before – at least not by someone with a straight face. “Do you have superpowers? And if so, what you should you do with them?” Now, if I’d have to guess, I’d say that the majority of you here today have no idea that you have a superpower – in fact, not just one superpower, but four superpowers. But don’t worry. My goal in the next 30 minutes is to show you exactly what your potential superpowers are – and to start brainstorming ways that you use these powers for good in your everyday life. Of course -- we’re not talking about fantasy superpowers today, like X-ray vision or the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound. At the Institute for the Future, when we say “superpower” we mean something a little more practical than that.
5. Here’s our definition of a superpower: It’s a skill that so far surpasses any previously demonstrated skill that is effectively changes our notion of what is humanly possible – especially when millions of humans develop this new skill at the same time. Early on in human civilization, some of the superpowers that emerged were harnessing fire. Written language. Farming. Building cities. Connecting to the Internet. Human superpowers, it turns out, usually have to do with technologies of extreme-scale collaboration. And what we’re seeing in our data at the Institute for the Future is that humanity may be on the verge of developing its next great superpower, of making the next great leap forward. And, surprisingly, it’s all thanks to games.
6. We spend 3 billion hours a week, as a planet, playing computer and videogames. To put this number in perspective, in most parts of the world, this is on average 9x what we spend reading books. And according to more than a decade’s worth of scientific research, these 3 billion hours are changing who we really are – and what we’re really capable of. And by the way… this is the ONLY reason to make the real world work more like a game, in my opinion. Now this probably seems like a strange idea – that games could give us real-life skills and abilities – especially if you’re used thinking of games as a way to escape our real lives, not to change them….
7. And after all, this is what most people believe – that games are a waste of time. Even gamers who LOVE games talk about having “Gamer’s regret” – that feeling you have after you’ve spent the better part of a weekend playing a game and wondering where all the time went, and if maybe you should have been doing something more productive. But it is possible that playing games, far from being a waste time, is actually one of the most productive things we can do – because they produce powerful positive emotions and social relationships that can not only change our lives, but actually help us change the world?
8. This is not usually how we think about games. Instead, we worry that they’re addicting: a distraction from what really matters, real life. But what if games aren’t distracting us from real life? What if they’re preparing us for life’s biggest challenges?
9. I’ve been researching that question for 8 years. And it turns out the answer is yes.That’s the big idea I explore in my new book Reality is Broken – that games do make us better, and do help us develop real-life superpowers, that can help us change the world. And I believe that many of you in this room are on the path to do just that.
10. … We need a definition that isn’t specific to a particular technology. Gameplay is fundamentally human. But why?
11. We don’t normally think of games as work, because we play games – and after all, play is supposed to be the opposite of work. But it turns out we play games precisely when we need some good, hard work. We don’t play games to relax. We play games when we want to feel challenged and productive.
12. Over 50 million downloads, more than 50 million people who have signed up to avenge the honor of these poor birds.
13. CEOs, productivity
14. Call of Duty Black Ops has generated sales of more than a billion dollars….
15. 700 hours to level up to the highest level in the game, where the fun really starts..
16. It’s because of how unnecessary obstacles make us feel.
17. When we’re depressed, according to the clinical definition, we suffer from two things: a pessimistic sense of inadequacy and a despondent lack of activity. If we were to reverse these two traits, we’d get something like this: an optimistic sense of our own capabilities and an invigorating rush of activity. There’s no clinical psychological term that describes this positive condition. But it’s an absolutely perfect description of the emotional state of gameplay. A game is the opportunity to focus our energy, with relentless optimism, at something we’re good at and enjoy. This is a crucial point, so I’ll repeat it: Gameplay is the direct emotional opposite of depression.
18. It’s because of how unnecessary obstacles make us feel.
19. ESM tests show this to be true – we’re never more happy or satisfied than when we’re engaged whole-heartedly in hard work… as long as it’s self-motivated.
20. We really crave a certain kind of work. Work that brings out the best in us.
21. That’s why compared to games, reality is too easy. Now partly, this is just good for us to get this boost of eustress. There are all kinds of mental and physical health benefits. And the emotions can spill over into real life– if we let them. This is one of the important skills we need to learn. Because when we’re putting our strengths to better use… we develop some extraordinary abilities.
22. This is how we do it.
23. This is how we do it.
24. To put it in superhero terms: With great gaming comes great responsibility. When you have extraordinary abilities, you have the opportunity to do real good with them. I believe gamers have a responsibility to use their superpowers for good – to do real good in the real world.
25. To put it in superhero terms: be a gamer is like getting bit by a radioactive spider – you know, the spider that bit Peter Parker and turned him into Spiderman.
26. It’s because of how unnecessary obstacles make us feel.
27. It’s because of how unnecessary obstacles make us feel.
28. Main symptoms: terrible headaches and vertigo, dizziness, memory loss, inability to think clearly, no tolerance for lights, crowds or computer screens
29. Picture of
30. Making things gameful means giving players new powers in real life
31. THAT’s how you know you’re making it gameful. THANK YOU.