The Playful Web

The Playful Web is title of my next work-talk that I haven't written yet. I'm going to be doing a sort-of wrap of GDC, ETech and SXSW, where I saw a lot of game-to-web (and vice versa) crossover. Big themes were coming out of these conferences, and one is this playful web idea: making the web more fun by using game mechanics, and equally, making games more accessible by using web 2.0 mechanics.

Cranngg. Two industries smashing together! New hybrid children on their way! Check out these panels at the Web 2.0 conf next week, as highlighted by Raph (who's on both):

Immersive Experiences: Lessons from Game Designers
Ben Cerveny, Director, Playground Foundation
Raph Koster, President, Areae, Inc.

Track: Design and User Experience
Date: Wednesday, April 18
Time: 2:10pm  - 3:00pm
Location: 2003

Game design has dealt with a lot of the interaction issues that designer-developers are just beginning to face today. Ideas like flow, easter eggs, and feature discovery have been used and refined for years by game designers to achieve some of the same user experiences web designers are pursuing now. This session looks to games and other related fields for both inspiration and practical strategies for improving web design.

Reality Bites: The Future of Gaming + Virtual Worlds 2.0
Susan Wu, Principal, Charles River Ventures
Joichi Ito, Chairman, Creative Commons
Raph Koster, President, Areae, Inc.
Lane Merrifield, Club Penguin
Craig Sherman, CEO, Gaia Online
Ginsu Yoon, Vice President, International, Second Life

Track: Strategy and Business Models
Date: Wednesday, April 18
Time: 3:20pm  - 4:10pm
Location: 2009

The next evolution for the Web isn’t about 3D. It’s about a sense of place. Already we see that Web 2.0 is pushing the notion of web communities even further into the foreground. What we don’t have yet is a sense of location, landscape, and proximity. The future of the Web lies at the intersection of massively multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft and social networks like MySpace. The age of the webpage is ending, and the age of the webplace is beginning. Come hear best practices for building immersive, engaging communities from some of the world’s best online game designers.

Some of the claims of the second one might be a bit .. mm, enthusiastic, but that's what galvanises audiences to turn up, right? I like the neatness of web place though, a lot.

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hi