Gamepocalypse: Are You Ready?

Amy Nelson, Associate Writer

April 5, 2010

The Gamepocalypse is coming! Stockpile food! Hide the children! Buy toilet paper in bulk! Arm yourselves! University professor and game designer Jesse Schell has single-handedly identified this new threat to our society and gives regular updates on society's descent into the Gamepocalypse.

What is a Gamepocalypse, you ask, and is it contagious? According to Schell, Gamepocalypse means, "Advances in technology will soon make all of life a game. Or has it happened already?" As Professor Schell details all the ways that companies are already turning our lives into a creepy preschool-esque brownie point system that rewards behaviors that the teachers deem desirable, the reader quickly realizes that the entire world is being unwittingly led, like sheep to slaughter. Email systems that analyze our emails, private and public, and send intrusive yet desirable ads--because they are based on our deepest, darkest secrets. Eeek! Scales that send our weight out to the world--sure, that's optional now, but the day could come where overweight people are sentenced to daily weigh-ins and the ridicule of their peers, or worse. "I'm sorry! I just wanted a cheeseburger so bad! Please don't hurt me!" Spending habits monitored, first to track credit, but who knows how far it will go. Buy six shots in an hour at your brother's bachelor party? It's rehab for you pal, and the po-po will probably drag you away before the stripper too. Gaming systems with built-in cameras are already popping up--to enhance your gaming experience, of course. But what's to stop them from enhancing while you aren't even aware of it? Forget protection during naughty game night and the feds might enhance you straight to the public health clinic. No happy ending for you, pal.

The man is taking over and is watching us--our personal habits, our emails, our weight--and we don't even notice. Every day, they gain more and more access to our private lives, and we are letting them. Aaaaahhhhhhh--it's the Gamepocaplypse! Save yourselves! No, wait--save me first, then save yourselves! We! Are! All! Going! To! Die!

Ahem, sorry about that. Freaked myself out a little bit there, but Professor Schell has a pretty good point going. We are allowing companies into our lives, and they reward us for following their commands like good little monkeys. There are already many companies using reward systems for desired behavior--consumers get points each time they perform, which are then turned into rewards. These bananas (aka rewards) run from the mundane--a toothbrush that flashes you a smiley face when you brush correctly and a sad face when you do not--to the truly invasive: credit cards that track every bit of spending that you do and allow you to choose your bananas based on how well you have performed. When you look at it from the big-brother angle, it is easy to see how this sort of thing could get out of hand. With the spotlight on obesity lately, it isn't too far a jump to imagine a time when your Cheetos purchase is declined because you have reached your daily caloric limit. No! Not the cheetos!

Already, many of us are allowing our move to be catalogued. Apps that transmit your location are quite common, and have even led to a spin-off, "Rob me now, cause I'm not home" site. The iPhone game Four Square is based entirely on tracking your locations, and visiting them more than the other people in your group. Cause World logs each time you enter certain stores--ostensibly to donate to charity, not so ostensibly to annoy all your Facebook friends with when you go on a shopping spree. Companies are using this information to come up with devious ways to part you from your precious, precious money. Like children standing in the candy-filled checkout line, you won't be able to resist them putting what you want the most right in front of your face. These companies do not have your best interests at heart either--they have their best interests at heart. Imagine a time when you buy nicotine gum to quit smoking, and Philip-Morris sends your cigarette-deprived self a free carton of smokes in the mail. Crisis averted--for them anyway. How could that happen? Of course, Philip-Morris has a contract with your credit card company--they are both soulless, so they understand each other, and it is not a big leap to imagine such partnerships down the road. New RFID tags are coming out that can be printed cheaply right onto cereal boxes or cartons of ice cream. Soon, the grocery stores will be able to track every purchase, and they aren't likely to use it for your good. If you think advertisements give you the hard press now, wait till Baskin Robbins starts texting you pictures of your favorite flavor right at lunch time.

The Gamepocalypse is coming--some would argue it's already here. What can we do? How can we stop this enormous invasion into our private lives? I have no idea, but at least we can look on the bright side--maybe if you buy your toilet paper in bulk, Charmin will send you a coupon for free burritos. After all, they've got to protect their bottom line--and yours.