Changing the Game: How Video Games Are Transforming the Future of Business

by David Edery, Ethan Mollick

Use Video Games to Drive Innovation, Customer Engagement, Productivity, and Profit! Companies of all shapes and sizes have begun to use games to revolutionize the way they interact with customers and employees, becoming more competitive and more profitable as a result. Microsoft has used games to painlessly and cost-effectively quadruple voluntary employee participation in important tasks. Medical schools have used game-like simulators to train surgeons, reducing their error rate in practice by a factor of six. A recruiting game developed by the U.S. Army, for just 0.25% of the Army's total advertising budget, has had more impact on new recruits than all other forms of Army advertising combined. And Google is using video games to turn its visitors into a giant, voluntary labor force--encouraging them to manually label the millions of images found on the Web that Google's computers cannot identify on their own. Changing the Game reveals how leading-edge organizations are using video games to reach new customers more cost-effectively; to build brands; to recruit, develop, and retain great employees; to drive more effective experimentation and innovation; to supercharge productivity...in short, to make it fun to do business. This book is packed with case studies, best practices, and pitfalls to avoid. It is essential reading for any forward-thinking executive, marketer, strategist, and entrepreneur, as well as anyone interested in video games in general.In-game advertising, advergames, adverworlds, and beyond Choose your best marketing opportunities--and avoid the pitfalls Use gaming to recruit and develop better employees Learn practical lessons from America's Army and other innovative case studies Channel the passion of your user communities Help your customers improve your products and services--and have fun doing it What gamers do better than computers, scientists, or governments Use games to solve problems that can't be solved any other way

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Games, Gaming, Teaching, Game Design, Audiobook

237 pages, ebook

First published November 11, 2008

Reviews

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

這本書有點顛覆我之前對電玩的看法.
原來電玩也可以是創造生產力及協同合作的訓練工具, 但是也不要期望它是一種達到完全訓練的工具, 以80%娛樂性加上20%學習功能的設計, 讓人在類娛樂中學習.
另外, 它也可以是篩選出你想要的人的平台, 像破解密碼一般找出想要找的那個人.
重點是, 你想清楚要如何利用這個工具, 而不是讓工具來利用你!

[Robert Wray]

A bit dated but still relevant for today.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Video) games people play at work

Video games are so commonplace that you probably don’t see them as a launching pad to the next frontier of innovation, but David Edery and Ethan Mollick will make you think twice about that. They present an eloquent, persuasive case for the enormous potential that video games have to transform business. The authors illustrate the way that a growing number of organizations are utilizing virtual worlds to advertise their goods and services, train their workers and attract potential employees. They’ll amaze you as they recount how rapidly video games have progressed since Pac-Man and Space Invaders first appeared in bowling alley arcades. getAbstract applauds the authors’ scholarship and research, and their ability to illuminate this topic for a corporate audience. Anyone involved in technology innovation, or personnel training and management, could learn a lot by playing along. Video games are serious business and they generate serious money.

[Caro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book - highly recommend it to anyone interested in games. While the authors address the topic of video games, almost everything they say applies to games in general. The book is written with an audience of business people in mind, but it would be interesting to anyone who wants to know more about games. The authors talk about a number of aspects of games, including using games as prediction models, to increase productivity, to help people learn, and to engage the public. They give specific pointers as to what makes a game work for a specific purpose or not. They go into the psychology of games to talk about what works and what doesn't. They have a website set up so that you can go online and see examples of the games they are talking about. The book isn't long, but it's interesting from start to finish and I recommend it. Teachers and business people might be especially interested.

[Tim Jin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though this book was published in 2008 or earlier, it is even more relevant now because we all play video games on our smart phones, social media, tablets, and of course game consoles. The market of yours standard bland billboard is not good because it's static and unmemorable. Think about driving to Las Vegas and seeing a billboard for mobile Poker games, that you play on your way to the Strip and you can redeem a voucher for a free buffet dinner, visiting that casino that was on the billboard. The authors made a valid point of what happened to Sony and PSP. Sony tried to lock their game systems down by copy protection, and yet PSP was stilled hack, after multiple security patches. The market is in gaming and it is very interesting to see what was then and what is now.

[Leader Summaries · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desde Leader Summaries recomendamos la lectura del libro Cambio de juego, de David Edery y Ethan Mollick.
Las personas interesadas en las siguientes temáticas lo encontrarán práctico y útil: innovación, internet y nuevas tecnologías, gestión del tiempo y técnicas de productividad.
En el siguiente enlace tienes el resumen del libro Cambio de juego, Cómo los videojuegos son utilizados de forma ingeniosa en multitud de empresas: Cambio de juego

[Philip Athans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting, but too short, and ultimately insubstantial mini-review of a subject that required three times the pages. The industry on which it's reporting moves too fast and the shelf-life of this book is rapidly expiring, so get it while it's hot. Still, a valuable overview for the video game industry outsider.

[Jeromy Peacock · Rating 2 out of 5]

5 stars = Yearly re-read
4 stars = Re-read eventually
3 stars = Very Good
2 stars = OK
1 stars = Pass on this one.
0 stars = Couldn't finish it.

[Serge Boucher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent though uninspired and slightly dated overview of "serious games". It's not a compelling read but you'll probably learn a few things from it.

[Mohammed Algarawi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a half-assed marketing book. No solid content. Just a couple stories and studies that don't yield in anything useful.