Give The People What They Want - Interactivity and Stats in RDR
Not being as young as I once was, and having what's generally known as "real world" responsibilities to attend to, playing video games is not as high up on my priority list as it once was. Reading about video games however is still right up there.
Video games and the technology around them is always enlightening to me, it's a battleground for interactivity and I think gaming experiences and gaming platform experiences can - and should - feed into and inform the online world. Especially for a company like ours that loves online interactivity and have a strong background in flash and motion online, video games give us new horizons to dream on...
The latest horizon for me (and Jonny from Radiohead) is Red Dead Redemption. From the makers of Grand Theft Auto, RDR takes you to the wild west where you are free to roam and rassle and rustle and basically do what you want. Apart from the game itself - and I won't bore you with details - what's interesting is how Rockstar have built into the game online tracking, so they have stats from almost all players ranging from how many people you've shot, how many hands of poker have been played, how many horses you've stolen, how far you've travelled and so on - the ultimate version of Google Analytics!
RDR sold 1.5 million copies in May according to NPD and may have cost as much as $100 million to make, both amazing stats in themselves, but not as amazing as these tidbits:
Within the first two weeks of gameplay:
• more than 131 million people have been murdered
• 1.8 million horses stolen
• 861,000 people robbed
• $3,333,118,608 was spent in the game
And plenty plenty more... just check the graphic, it's mindboggling. Indeed, the introduction of tracking and stats across a community adds another dimension to the overall experience, much like Uncharted 2 for the PS3 could integrate with Twitter and auto-tweet your achievements! It's more than just intergration and immersion though, these stats are invaluable for Rockstar as they look to continue to create downloadble contnet to maximise the lifespan of the game - they know exactly what people love doing in the game so it's a no-brainer for future expansions.
The moral of today's story then? Read your web stats, they'll tell you a whole lot more about your service and products than people will (to your face at least!). Also, considering for example the popularity of games on Facebook and iPhones in particular, the ability to interact and play online may not be as frivilous as once thought. Interactivity in the broadest sense is actually one answer to the eternal question of how to keep your visitors on your site for an extended period of time.
Oh, and finally, maybe video games can be art after all?!
Righto, it's nearly home time, I think I'll crack a bottle of ginger beer and go play a few more hands of poker, maybe steal a new horse or two.... yee haw!
