here's something to chew on
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From: Marc C. <ma...@br...> - 2004-04-27 20:53:55
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1Up.com - an example of a DLA (digital lifestyle aggregator) The best way to understand a new technology is to have an example of it - and the new 1Up.com <http://ntnse.com/> is an great example of a DLA. 1Up is a videogame portal (with 26 front doors) combined with a social network, journaling, gamer and game matching, contests, clubs, an arena and many other fun filled features. 1Up brings gamers together, which then leads to gamers forming clubs, participating in conversations, sharing cheats and wallpaper and 'hooking up' to play together (whether it be on-line or in front of their game consoles.) 1Up.com has a rich body of reviews, previews, cheats, Top 10 lists, downloads, news and stories at its basis, as it is published by Ziff Media - which has 50% of the videogame magazine market. 1Up.com provides every member of the system (gamer) with a rich range of activities to choose from and their own game collection, which is then matched to other gamer's collections. Trade/Wish lists are matched up as well as gamers' status - for playing games on-line. Games can be tracked, reviewed, rated and all sorts of end-user's submissions can be attached to games as well. When one gamer lands on another gamer's page - they're immediately told what matches they have together, what games they should be playing together and what OTHER games they might like. The social network is immediately put into a context. A PeoplePlace search feature enables gamers to find other gamers, based upon what games, genres or platforms they're associated with. Personal publishing is in it's natural setting as well, as gamers like to talk about games, their rigs, review games, share images and videos about games and now with 1Up.com post to their private and club journals about games (and gamers too!) 1Up.com has message boards associated with each game as this is how gamers have traditionally communicated with each other. 1up.com goes further with message boards by combining them with the notion of Clubs (similar to Tribe.net <http://tribe.net/> ) and providing the ability to subscribe to these boards via RSS feeds. Each gamer also has their own private journal and there are also journals for ever club (creating a sort of 'group voice'.) 1Up.com's built-in points mechanism rewards gamers for every action they partake of in the system, from making friends and joining clubs, to submitting reviews, posting images and to message boards. These points are then used for contests, Easter eggs, karma compiling and eventually for redeeming products and prizes. 1Up.com has an image gallery which is used to manage all of the gamers images. So if a gamer used an image for a journal post or arena submission, they wouldn't have to upload it again to use it in as their avatar face image, in product review or for a club journal posting. 1Up.com supports FOAF - so entire networks of gamers can be imported or exported to other social networks and cell phones can utilized to post to the system or receive updates, messages or alerts. 1Up.com will eventually offer a wide range of web services available, such as connecting into on-line gaming systems like Xbox Live and downloading music and videos. 1Up.com will also become a road show - which will travel from town to town offering tournaments and prizes to attendees, which will also enable on-line friends to meet in meatspace. The underlying notion driving the design and architecture of 1Up.com is that by relying upon built-in constructs; such as points, galleries, games, friends, reviews and feeds - incredible new kinds of end- user experiences were possible. 1Up.com integrates many aspects of the digital lifestyle of the gamer - into one comprehensive environment - fine tuning certain features and functionality to the unique needs of the gamer. Not only does 1Up.com create new revenue models and opportunities, but it also defines the notion of what a DLA can and should be. |