Last post we talked about some of the lessons we can learn from the strategies that Phil Harrison of Sony is attempting to implement in their plans for the future.
The key to it all according to Harrison is this "What makes those destinations (eBay and Amazon) popular is the user-created content. We have not had that two-way communication system applied to games yet, and we`re excited about it."
Electronic Arts, knowing the lack of enthusiasm for most of the offerings made to the gaming community, is also pursuing this same model vigorously as they are going to their legendary heavy-hitter, Will Wright to create a game and experience that will employ these same principles.
Red Herring gives an excellent report on this saying:
'Now, broadband-dependent games are writing the future of the industry. While connected games are hardly new, a mainstream game that takes a cue from the Internet model is. Mr. Wright calls Spore “a collaborative building effort that is loosely moderated.” It builds upon aspects that he created in The Sims, where players create content—character traits, settings, and goods—and interact online. But Spore takes the Sims model one step further by modeling “wikipedias,” he says.'
'Spore’s evolving species, tribal battles, and intergalactic colonization provide the cerebral backdrop for Mr. Wright’s new technology and ideas. While he’s stingy with details of the game play, he says the numerous levels that take a one-celled species to an advanced galactic race pay homage to his favorite games. For cellular organisms, think Pac-Man; the creature level is a nod to Diablo. Spore also echoes his own 1990 Maxis game, Sim Earth, which required players to nurture a one-celled organism through evolution.'
If you are able to think of creative ways to incorporate these ideas into your own online business, it could really make your business take off.
I'm not talking about the gaming side of things, but the user-created content side. What creative things could your customers take part in and create on your online site?
Do you know why this is so potent as a business model? What a person creates, they buy into. How hard is it to get someone to sit down and watch a video of a vacation that they took where they are all over the screen; they're the star.
The same principle holds here. What people put onto your online site, in whatever way that enhances what your business exists for, they will buy into it, and not only come back over and over again, but bring others with them, who will then repeat the same thing, and invite their friends, and on and on...
I hope you read the article I sent you to on the last post and go and read this one also. It really gives the inside look and overview of where things are going for years into the future.
Comment Preview