Kotaku reports that Atari Founder Nolan Bushnell is dipping his toes back into the gaming industry.
From the press release:
Designed for gamers of all skill levels, GameWager’s platform
introduces a reward system that lets gamers earn virtual tokens for
completing in-game actions like kills, objectives and team wins in
multiplayer PC games like Counter-Strike and Team Fortress 2. Earned
tokens can be redeemed for a chance to win sponsored prizes like
Alienware laptops, Nvidia graphic cards, a Hypernia hosted server for 1
year and much more. Nolan serves as an “executive advisor” to the
company that has seen over 60,000 gamers earn 25 million tokens since
its’ launch last July.
Xbox Live's achievements system never motivated me much, but I can see myself putting a few extra hours into a game if it meant a chance at a video card upgrade. It's a material reward, a big improvement from ethereal achievements. Of course, being good at video games only scores you a chance at prizes. They are guaranteed to no one, but the better you perform, the higher your chances of getting rewards.
With sponsored giveaways, GameWager's reward scheme is completely free. I'm not quite sure how they plan to profit, but if Nolan Bushnell's involved, expect plenty of corporate drama.
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Achievements and Trophies and Unlocking, Oh Meh