The Freakanomics blog is worth subscribing to, if you haven’t already. Via it comes word of a neat experiment: in the psychology department coffee room at Newcastle University, prices for tea and coffee were posted on the wall, and an “honesty box” (i.e., in which to place your payment) was set nearby. This sort of experiment is fairly common, but the twist was that, in some weeks, a photo of flowers appeared above the price list. In other weeks, it was a pair of human eyes, staring directly at the person reading the price list. In weeks with eyes on the list, staff paid 2.76 times as much for their drinks.

This brought to mind my earlier post on the wonderful book Predictably Irrational, which noted that you could dramatically cut down on cheating in exams if you simply asked students to recall the Ten Commandments before they took a test, or — more pointedly — by reminding them of a school honor code. (You had to do this right before the test — it couldn’t happen weeks before and still retain the effect.)

A long time ago, I wrote an article for Gamasutra exploring the possible design of a feedback/rating system that would discourage antisocial behavior in MMOs. That system, which still may have merit, pales in comparison to the wonderful elegance and simplicity of these psychological tricks. And given that (1) one of the biggest challenges for online, anonymous systems like MMOs (and LIVE) is antisocial behavior, and (2) companies are spending tens of millions of dollars on these systems (if not more), why aren’t more companies hiring psychologists and behavioral economists as consultants or full-time employees? The cost seems justified, given the potential benefits.

(Actually, I’ve heard of a few MMO developers hiring economists, but I think that most are focused on the optimization of in-game economies, as opposed to tackling anti-social behavior. There is a relationship between the two, but they are not equivalent.)

Too wonderful for words. (Kim and Raph already beat me to it.)

Jeremy Liew posts an estimate that most successful free to play MMOGs will generate $1 to $2 monthly ARPU. Some commenters dispute that, claiming up to $5. As always, the truth is probably somewhere in between (though I’d lean towards the higher end for free MMOGs that do a good job of serving niche audiences and/or that have more creative revenue-generating mechanisms.)

Majesco becomes the first publisher to capitalize on the opportunity created by Nintendo when they stunted Wii Fit by not including streamlined, customizable fitness (and especially cardio) modes in the game. Hopefully Majesco doesn’t go too far in the opposite direction and forget the fun.

And speaking of Wii Fit, Nintendo claims that they didn’t create this video, but if they did, it’s one of the most brilliant marketing gimmicks ever. (And it looks like copycat videos will bring Wii Fit even more attention; Playboy just posted one. No nudity, but still maybe not safe for work.)

Ummm… and speaking of Wii Fit (again…) Danc writes an eloquent post accurately labeling it a great example of game design as a “transformational new product development technique that can turn historically commoditized activities into economic blockbusters.”

There are two design issues that I have been thinking about lately. One is the question of consequences, which smart guys like Clint Hocking and Randy Smith have lectured and written about. Are we robbing games of meaning (and/or eliminating the sense of wonder they can create) by reducing player choice, amping up positive feedback, and increasing the degree to which we hold the player’s hand? The second is the question of difficulty — how challenging should a game be, and is it “pandering” or “betraying the spirit of the game” to do things like offer a very easy play mode, design more forgiving checkpoints, add a hint system, etc? (Accessibility and difficulty issues are, in fact, a recurring theme on this blog.)

Read the rest of this post >>>

The Amazon pre-order page for my book is up. It feels wonderful, weird, and intimidating to see it.

It still doesn’t have a cover (thus the “no image” image.) That’ll hopefully get pinned down in the next couple weeks.

It’s strange… I want to say more, but I can’t think of anything worth saying. I mean, it’s out there now, for better or worse. And it’ll have to speak for itself. Right?

Oh, and for those of you who I bombarded with emails asking for feedback on the title of the book: thank you so much for your advice! How Ethan and I ultimately ended up with the current title, “Changing the Game,” is a long and dramatic story — drop me a line if you’re curious to hear it. (A teaser: the book nearly ended up with the name “500 Panama Canals,” but our publisher wouldn’t have it. Too bad — that one was my favorite by far!)

The LA Times, which has historically been quite critical of Second Life (at least, in regard to its usefulness to businesses) published an article last month showcasing the increasing use of SL as a corporate meeting space.

Ubisoft is making a game for the DS based on Allan Carr’s “Easyway” to Stop Smoking. Love it. Really hope it works. This could be great for our industry.

Valve’s Steam Cloud has been unveiled. Steam users will now be able to access game-generated data (such as save and configuration files) from anywhere. Nice.

For those of you who haven’t heard of it, DOTA is a hugely popular Warcraft 3 mod with an interesting development story. Very fun, too. A nice article about it can be found here.

Forbes publishes How Technology Can Save Retailers, which, in fact, is all about online games, not technology in general. The topic — using games as marketing and consumer research platforms — is something that I cover extensively in my upcoming book.

Sandra Day O’Connor is working on a video game that will teach children how the judicial system works. (Lots of great serious game-related links in this post, I’m realizing. It feels like an inflection point of sorts.)