GAAHHHH REAL WORLD ACHIEVEMENTS!?!?

wake

http://www.scvngr.com/

Click "watch how to play" and you'll see what I'm talking about.

After Jesse Schell opened the door for this I suppose it was only a matter of time before it actually happened, but still.

To be honest, I'm impressed with the implementation-- iPhones and its ilk are perfectly suited to this kind of thing-- but this terrifies me. Achievements getting you to do a bunch of stupid shit you probably weren't going to do are bad enough in video games, but now that they're crossing the threshold into daily life I worry about the societal ramifications should their use become widespread. "oh boy, if i take pictures of my fat face eating this hamburger in 4 different locations, I'll get 50% off the next one!"

Talk amongst yourselves, I'm interested to hear other people's opinions on this.

seforin

Cant wait for the "Get girlfriend/Boyfriend achievement"

I only need another 2000032042384032842348234823043 points for that

Del

~ This is brilliant.

By brilliant I mean; terrible.

By terrible I mean; it's only a fantastic idea if the prizes are real world too.

e.g. If I get a supreme achievement I expect a real trophy, or a brazilian supermodel for a night of high score action.

Joao Sapiro

achievements are just ego boosters , worthless and dumb down games for bragging rights.

eld

Johny wrote: »

achievements are just ego boosters , worthless and dumb down games for bragging rights.

or maybe they are a fun metagame that shouldn't be taken too seriously.

sampson

haha i like this guy, eccentric. I thought the public transport for tax benifits is a really good idea, and could easily be implemented with like a swipe card system or something.

Yozora

downloaded to see what kind of challenges are nearby, theres none for my whole town

plus a force close message pops up quite often, but it isnt the program itself... so its force closing something else and I have no idea what it is

edit: ok the force close message constantly pops up now even when I dont have this app open... uninstalling fixed it


Just for the record, I like the idea of this. Could be enough motivation needed for social retards who have a achievers gaming mentality to get out there and do stuff...
Plus I actually prefer if life were more like a game anyway, its more fun The alternative to your 4x fat face burger photo example is no photos at all, which is boring and normal.

imyj

Although it's not entirely the same, here is an app created with the help of one of the graphic designers on Little Big Planet: www.epicwinapp.com it's pretty sexy!

Xoliul

There's more like this: FourSquare is one of them, that's been around for at least a year. The location thing makes it stupid, as if there's only stuff for major US cities like LA...

Purplepaint

Will be trying this out when i get my android in a month!

However: im assuming that the cashier etc at wherever you are for your challenges will know about these rewards some how?

Disco Stu

eld wrote: »

or maybe they are a fun metagame that shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Yeah i enjoy knifing 5 people in counterstrike source but i enjoy it even a little more
when a bliiiiing achievement pops up without expecting it.

Malus

http://www.chorewars.com/

Wahlgren

me and a bud had an idea like this, mostly his idea but still.

I for one applaud achievments. They have shown me shit i'd never see , given me new ways to do stuff that i'd never do and surprised me with awesomeness when you stumble upon a totally random hidden one.

Elyaradine

So, like, I was trying to get the "Run 'n Gun" achievement that required running down the street and shooting random people, except I got shot in the leg. No problem, it's a game, I can relo--

--ohshit. MY LEG!

kat

Just goes to show what people can be sold if you make it shiny enough. It's quite funny and ironic how paranoid people are about website 'cookies' and yet here they are using apps that track what they do in real life, generating a tonne of valuable demographic meta-data that's collated for advertising - the actual purpose is to generate a 'profile' on you that is then sold on... what you do being monetised, making millions for the companies that develop the programs, sold to you as 'fun'. All you get in return is a shiny virtual trinket. Peoples 'lives' can be bought so cheaply these days.

danshewan

kat wrote: »

Just goes to show what people can be sold if you make it shiny enough. It's quite funny and ironic how paranoid people are about website 'cookies' and yet here they are using apps that track what they do in real life, generating a tonne of valuable demographic meta-data that's collated for advertising - the actual purpose is to generate a 'profile' on you that is then sold on... what you do being monetised, making millions for the companies that develop the programs, sold to you as 'fun'. All you get in return is a shiny virtual trinket. Peoples 'lives' can be bought so cheaply these days.

Reminds me of an article I read at wired.com about the security of personal data when using some Android phone apps.