Posts Categorized: Gamification

Kontagent kScope Social & Mobile News Weekly Roundup

Author icon Catherine Mylinh|Comments icon 0

Mobilewalla found that mobile apps released on Sundays statistically performed the best.

Launch your mobile app on Sunday
According to new research from mobile analytics service Mobilewalla, Sunday is the best day to release a mobile app; however, Wednesday appears to be the most popular day among developers. Find out the worst day to release your app. (Hint: It’s different for Android and iOS.)

A tiny gaming company has Zynga in its crosshairs
Rumble Games wants you to “swing your sword or fire your gun, not decorate your castle and spam your friends with invitations.” It was a big enough idea to prompt investors from Google Ventures and Khosla Ventures to drop $15 million into the company in its first round of funding after it was founded less than a year ago.

This is what the company has to say about the current state of social gaming. Kixeye wasn’t amused by Rumble Games’ comments, calling it “smack talk.” Read Kixeye CEO Will Harbin’s response. (Disclosure: Kixeye is a Kontagent customer.)

On a related note, a recent move by the Justice Department could give Zynga a new billion-dollar opportunity. Continue Reading…

Gamers Saving Real Lives? How Gamification is Solving Medical Mysteries

Author icon Catherine Mylinh|Comments icon 1

Foldit is an online puzzle video game about protein folding. It is a collaboration between the University of Washington's departments of Computer Science and Engineering and Biochemistry.

Much to the satisfaction of teenage boys gamers everywhere, playing online games can pay off in the real world.

Gamers have used Foldit, an online video game created by the University of Washington in which players compete to design the most accurately folded proteins, to help advance research in the cure for AIDS. Foldit players were challenged to figure the structure of a protein that causes the virus in monkeys. Playing the game, they were able to do in 10 days what had stumped scientists for more than a decade.

How did this happen?
Continue Reading…

Gamification in Brand Marketing

Author icon Catherine Mylinh|Comments icon 0

Gamification is a hot topic these days. The technique, which involves using game mechanics and dynamics to create rich, engaging and long-lasting experiences for end-users, got its start in social gaming. Now, gamification is making its way into the mainstream, from social sharing to leader boards to badges to digital currency.

Kontagent CMO Dan Kimball attended the Pivot Conference in NYC, where he spoke with brand leaders who are using gamification to engage their audiences in an effort to bridge the gap between their brands and the rising social consumer.  Dan was joined on stage by other noted experts in the space, including:

Continue Reading…