Gartner: Gamification will ... gamify 50 percent of companies by 2015

Boy, there sure are a lot of folks looking at 2015 already, huh? The hype train known as the gamification movement (thanks, Foursquare) has officially left the station now that Gartner, technology research and advisory company, foresees the game layer blanketing at least 50 percent of companies in just four years.

Gartner analysts also see gamification becoming as important to companies' marketing departments as Facebook, Twitter, eBay or Amazon. Some might see the idea of the game layer as over-incentivizing human behavior or replacing feelings of inspiration and ambition with an overwhelming carrot-on-the-stick mentality.

Who knows, they could be right, but it's comforting at least that non-game environments such as innovation, marketing, training, employee performance, health and social change [will be affected]," said Brian Burke, an analyst at Gartner. The firm was even so kind as to provide tips for developers to drive engagement through gamification.

    Gartner identified four principal means of driving engagement using gamification:

    1. Accelerated feedback cycles. In the real world, feedback loops are slow (e.g., annual performance appraisals) with long periods between milestones. Gamification increases the velocity of feedback loops to maintain engagement.

    2. Clear goals and rules of play. In the real world, where goals are fuzzy and rules selectively applied, gamification provides clear goals and well-defined rules of play to ensure players feel empowered to achieve goals.

    3. A compelling narrative. While real-world activities are rarely compelling, gamification builds a narrative that engages players to participate and achieve the goals of the activity.

    4. Tasks that are challenging but achievable. While there is no shortage of challenges in the real world, they tend to be large and long-term. Gamification provides many short-term, achievable goals to maintain engagement.

Well folks, this is it. These people are serious about changing the way in which you live, for better or worse. Whether you gel with the idea of your interactions with not only brands, but services and ultimately people being, well, gamified is worth some thought. Because, believe it or not, the game layer is already here (Zynga and RewardVille, no?) and--if Gartner's right--there's plenty more of it around the corner.

[Via VentureBeat]

[Image Credit: VentureBeat]

Are you a fan of gamification already with apps like Foursquare and SCVNGR? Where do you see the game layer going, and does that excite or worry you?

The Sims creator reveals HiveMind, and we'll have what he's having

Seriously, you'll want to know what he's eating (or otherwise) after reading this VentureBeat exclusive. Will Wright, the man behind both classic city-builder SimCity and family-builder The Sims has revealed HiveMind. Also the name of Wright's new startup, the game designer calls HiveMind a new evolution in games: "personal gaming," according to VentureBeat.

From what's gathered in the terribly cryptic, nebulous announcement, HiveMind will be a mobile social game that will possibly launch on Facebook as well. The point of the game, in theory, is to further connect gamers to reality and enhance their experience by personalizing game play. But don't call it an augmented reality app.

"Rather than craft a game like FarmVille for players to learn and play, we learn about you and your routines and incorporate that into a form of game play," Wright said to VentureBeat. Later Wright said, "If we can learn enough about the player, we can create games about their real life. How do we get you more engaged in reality rather than distract you from it?"

Alright, so that sounds a lot like augmented reality (and nothing like what we first heard about). But services like Foursquare largely serve to distract players from the world around them. According to Wright's vague description of HiveMind, the game will actually help players be a part of interesting happenings around them.

"This has to do with where gaming is going," Wright told the website. "We had our eras in console gaming and social gaming. A lot of this personal gaming will happen on mobile devices. The question here is how can we learn enough about the player to create games about his or her real life." Alright Will, time to give us the hook up.

What do you think the SimCity maker is even talking about? Do you think he could herald yet another new genre in gaming?