IBM + Others Release (some) Data on Gaming
I’ve had a browser window open for nearly a week now, with most of the items from a post by Tony. Some good stuff all around, although I had hoped for more data in the IBM PDFs. The claim? People learn about leaderhship in MMOs such as World of Warcraft. This claim has been made before (and I firmly believe it, being a GM and Officer in a couple end-game guilds over my WoW tenure), but this is the first real data I’ve seen supporting the claim.
Anyway, you can read all about that stuff in Tony’s post, I’d rather write about IBM’s management game, Innov8
The best part:
The game will be available free of charge to universities around the world. No price has been set yet for corporate customers because it will depend on how much IBM has to change the game to accommodate a particular business process a client might want to improve.
I’m already pestering some ex-IBMers here in my office to try and get us into the mix ASAP. I can’t judge much from the trailer, but here’s my initial take from a design standpoint:
- The player is actually running through an office. Personally, I think this is a great design move. Is it realistic? No. But do players want to move through the game environment at a snail’s pace? That’s an emphatic NO.
- Power-ups! There appear to be some sort note cards with information that the player runs across towards the end. The idea of power-ups is a time-tested design mechanism that’s been successful for a LONG time.
- The game looks to be based on exploration and information gathering by all the whiteboards, computers, and other objects the player is interacting with. Is there any ‘action’, or is this completely exploratory?
Designed to help tech managers better understand the roles of businesspeople, and vice versa, players go into a virtual business unit to test their hand at ventures such as redesigning a call center, opening a brokerage account, or processing an insurance claim.
That’s a great premise. I’ve never worked IN an IT shop, but I have had to work closely with IT shops to get projects off the ground. It’s a strange dynamic: trying to innovate in an IT-driven space vs. trying to support and maintain an IT infrastructure. Unfortunately, those two initiatives sometimes conflict with one another. If this game can address that issue and show personnel on each side of the equation how the other side works…that would be huge.
