We are used to the burger wars between McDonalds and Burger King being pretty greasy affairs, but now they are going all upmarket in an effort to improve the perceptions of the brands. Burger King has recently announced that they are to expand their stylish Whopper Bars, launched last year. The wannabe hipster hangout, Whopper Bars offer the traditional Whopper in more customisable outcomes (there is something like 80 different possible combinations). The King is clearly responding to McDonalds’ successful remodeling of their restaurants, which coincided with a menu revamp focusing on healthier options. Is it a ‘build it and they will come’ moment for BK? The new owners will certainly hope so. I kinda wish everyone would be less insecure and just embrace what they are, the perfect destination when stumbling towards the last tube on a Friday night.

Who isn’t up for a little bribe? Well, fans of UNIQLO certainly are, the Japanese clothing brand recently released a discount competition on Twitter, where the more people tweeted about a certain UNIQLO item, the more the price went down. It was the most tweeted subject on Twitter during its 2 day run. UNIQLO marked the end of the comeptition by launching its new UK online store. Clearly, the competition was a clever way to get people tweeting about the brand, but more so it was a great way to raise online interest and awareness of the brand on the eve of its online store launch. Others brands have embraced this strategy. Domino’s has recently attributed much of its profits increase to its new social media strategy, which includes rewarding all its Foursquare mayors with weekly free pizza. But at the same time, consumers are becoming wiser to the number of online discounts and can now find many of the be discounts without ever having to do much.

In a recent TED talk, Seth Priebatsch, the ‘Chief Ninja’ of SCVNGR (why can’t I have a title like that?) outlined how gaming dynamics will be used over the next ten years to encourage us to do stuff in the real world. One really nice example he mentioned was awarding patients points for taking their pills on time. Epic win, Apple’s app of the week this week, is another example of this thinking. It’s a combined to-do list and RPG (roleplaying game) that gives you points and loot for doing the stuff you’ve told it you should. THORIN AWESOME – my character – has just levelled-up for completing the task ‘Write Something for the weekend’. It was ‘A test of stamina’ worth 300 points. Could this be the answer to actually completing a to-do list? Or attracting new female and luddite, Moleskine-loving gamers?

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We seem to be entering a golden era for games design. Digital distribution platforms like Xbox Live and Apple’s App store have allowed smaller, more adventurous games designers to show off their talents. They can now bypass the creative restrictions of working for a big developer and work in small bands or go it alone. Some of the results are captivating. Limbo is a completely monochrome Xbox adventure game that my wife won’t look at because it gives her the heebie jeebies. Nelson Tethers, puzzle agent is a cute iPhone game designed by the cartoonist Graham Annable. And coming on PlayStation network we have Journey, in which the player takes a gorgeous-looking hike around a mysterious desert landscape. Lovely.


Image Credit:
thatgamecompany

I went to see ‘Scott Pilgrim versus the world‘ the other week. It was full of 40 year old gamers laughing along at the gaming jokes. Scott had a ‘Pee bar’ that went down when he took a leak. He was awarded a 1-up mushroom for good deeds. He took part in a ‘Bass battle’ with a man who had Vegan superpowers. It was great. But where were the actual gaming demographic? Where were the kids? I reckon I was the youngest there, and I’m 37. It made me realize gamers are now the establishment. Just watch some of the 2010 E3 presentations on YouTube. Those guys from the studios come across like CEO’s, not rock stars. If you’re thinking of creating a game for your brand, don’t expect it to be like a crazy college project. Gaming is all grown-up now.


Image Credit:
Splitreason

It’s an accepted evil. Studios buy the rights to the new Bond / Bourne / Batman and code up a piece of garbage, confident it will sell by the bucketload. Twats. Fortunately, a few bright sparks have spotted that the best way to monetize an entertainment brand might actually be to make a good game that allows fans to spend more time in the world they love. Batman: Arkham Asylum was one such cracker. And the sequel – Arkham City – looks no less substantial. These are not terrible plot-ports, but genuine additions to the Batman mythology. And coming in the next few months we have Star Wars: The Old Republic. What is it? Well, you know massive multiplayer online games like World of Warcraft? Well this is going to be one of those, but set in the Star Wars universe, so you can be a Jedi. Good idea, yes?

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You gotta love gaming for its regular technological dethronings. In the 80s SEGA ruled supreme, but they underestimated the power of PlayStation. Then Nintendo turned up and Wiied all over everyone. Who’s next? Sony look like they’ve lost it, poor bastards. The best they can muster is a me-too motion control system called ‘Move‘. Microsoft have levelled up and done away with controller’s altogether. Their ‘Kinect’ system launches shortly. The fanboy’s response? IMAGINE THE PORN. And Nintendo? Everyone’s going 3D, but they’re doing it without glasses! On a handheld! The Nintendo 3DS will be with us by Christmas. Have a look at these user responses at E3. And remember those are hardened gaming journos you’re watching. So, Nintendo for another term of office? We’ll see. Perhaps Apple can pull a fast one by shifting a load of iPads.

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Thanks to Loz Horner, who has had several gaming clients in his time, but seems to be without one currently.

Eulogy magazine provides advice, support, encouragement and a much needed laugh when you need it most. We have set out to challenge the convention that death, the process of grief and bereavement cannot be sensibly articulated or discussed as part of life. We have no religious remit, nor any social or political agenda. Eulogy is simply –  ‘The world’s first magazine to celebrate life and death’.

In Kerala, South India, people regularly visit the dying in their local community to provide them with physical and emotional support. Here, care for the dying is both a part of daily life – something young people give their time to – and a sufficiently glamorous cause for India’s celebrities. Bollywood stars attend fundraising events for projects such as Neighbourhood Network in Palliative Care, while the state’s poorest people donate Rupees and rice when they can. Back in the UK, we are dying lonelier than ever, usually in a hospital, while a distressed relative runs down a corridor to find a doctor. Macmillan nurses were set up to provide some of the humane face-to-face care for the dying, and over 100,000 people volunteer in hospices every year, but they can’t possibly help everyone dealing with death. In the UK, we seem to close the book on life without reconciliation. Worse – we leave it in the hospital waiting room. As in Kerala, we need to be brave enough to make death part of life.

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