There has been a lot of talk on the web over the last few days about Google App Engine. We've analyzed it here on ReadWriteWeb. Now it's your turn to have your say. We've created, via a new app from Impact Games, an interactive game that will let you model Google App Engine's impact in the marketplace. You can play the game below:
How it works: in this particular game you can choose to play the role of any of 4 different players: Google, Amazon, Microsoft, a Market Analyst. Then you can either predict what will happen, or voice your opinion about what should happen. Or both. If for example you choose to play as Google, you can predict that Google will open up the languages beyond Python. If you voice an opinion, you are guided by several "advisors" - in this case we have RWW, CNET and Dave Winer. The difference between predicting and voicing an opinion is that you may not necessarily agree with what you predict Google will do, so you can then cast your opinion about what you think Google ought to do!
This is the first in a series of games that we'll run over the next few months on ReadWriteWeb. If you have ideas for other games, please let us know in the comments below.
Disclosure: one of our writers, Sean Ammirati, is on the Impact Games advisory board.
Comments
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Interesting idea... sure the future can be predictable :-)
Posted by: 113.com | April 9, 2008 7:39 PMI like the game, although it could use some explanation. It wasn't clear at first what the point of answering the questions was. I wonder if my predictions will be right... :)
Posted by: Dan Grossman | April 9, 2008 8:43 PMGood call Dan, I've updated the post with more explanation.
Posted by: Richard MacManusGood game, both subject and execution, one comes away with a better understanding of the subject. Keeping track of how your predictions play out might provide some interesting insight into bias that may influence your perspective on other topics.
Nice work IG team..
Posted by: Joe | April 10, 2008 10:06 AMWe’ve received inquires from RWW readers as to why we require registration for PlayTheNews. As Richard noted, there are two parts to every role played: (a) voicing your opinion ("What Should Happen") and (b) casting your prediction ("What Will Happen"). The opinion part is always open for non-registered users and can serve as an anonymous casual experience where the votes of the community are tallied for showing the popular opinion of what the players would like to see happen.
The prediction portion is built around the idea of seeing how accurate you are and comparing your knowledge to that of others. To do this we need to know who you are. One of the benefits of the experience is that we will send you a notification on games you’ve played when something happens in the real world so you can see how accurately you predicted the outcome. This ongoing engagement with the story also helps to keep you informed of breaking developments in the issues you have participated in.
Similarly to Fantasy Sports, you can then follow your track record of predictions on a variety of news topics, and compare these with other members of the community. We would love to hear your feedback and are excited to create additional tech games with ReadWriteWeb in the following weeks to highlight other breaking news stories.
Posted by: ImpactGames | April 11, 2008 10:23 AMThe game provides a very engaging take on this story. Keep it up!
Posted by: Mary Specht | April 12, 2008 2:32 PM