What's to come in Week 14: Mobile, Gaming and Location-based apps.

This weeks topic in our Intro to Online Communities class is, “New Developments: Mobile, Gaming, Location-based apps, etc.” Our guest speaker will be Josh Lovison who is the Practice Lead for Mobile and Gaming at IPG Emerging Media Lab and is a contributing writer for the Lab and MediaPost blogs.

According to its site, IPG is a marketing consulting company that works to, “…drive marketing innovation by empowering IPG agencies and clients with digital media insight, guidance and hands-on experience.” One thing I can’t help but notice while perousing the site is their futuristic “Lab Space.” It’s made up of a variety of physical spaces showcasing new and emerging technology as it may be integrated into homes, offices, dorms, etc (similar to the in-store Ikea room models, but for tech geeks). There’s even a live-stream camera so you can see its visitors interacting in these futuristic environments. Unfortunately, they’re closed at the time of this writing so I can’t see much of anything, but I digress…

In preparation for class, we were to watch Jane McGonigal’s TED Talk video, “Gaming can make a better world.” Jane’s plan to “save the world” through gaming is something I have a hard time swallowing. Really Jane - hunger, poverty, global conflict…SAVE THE WORLD? Now, I’m going to share a bit of information that I’ve never publicly shared before. I used to be a Call of Duty addict (pre-APOC). It was bad folks, real bad. So I had a hard time seeing how gaming could effectively work towards bettering society. I mean, perhaps the tactical skills learned through COD could better equip me in a post-apocalyptic world, but to save the world is a bit of a stretch. That is, until I checked out Evoke.

Wow. The visuals, the voiceovers...amazing! I could feel the dormant COD receptors in my brain come to life while "investigating" the week's mission. I had to cut myself short, otherwise I would never get around to doing my work (or eating for that matter). Jane's really onto something here. Definitely got me thinking twice about game mechanics. Bravo Jane, bravo. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to tonight’s class…