AllThingsD » reality

McGonigal Launches Social Chocolate to Make Life "Gameful"

Liz Gannes — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:07:40 +0000

I’m here at the Gamification Summit in San Francisco to interview game designer Jane McGonigal. In addition to her new book, “Reality is Broken,” McGonigal is today launching a new company called Social Chocolate to create games that make reality engaging.

Social Chocolate is seed-funded and led by McGonigal (as creative director) as well as former Zynga designer Chelsea Howe, Black Rocket ad agency founder John Yost, brand strategist Adam DeVito and Hot Studio CEO Maria Giudice.

McGonigal’s thesis is that we can harness game play to solve real-world problems. And likewise, Social Chocolate’s mission is “making worldchanging games powered by the science of positive emotion and social connection.”

Says the company’s Web site: “We are in the middle of developing radically new social adventure games based on breakthrough scientific findings from psychology, neuroscience, and sociology.”

Some of the games McGonigal has been working on, as detailed in her book, include Top Secret Dance-Off, which challenges players to videotape themselves completing dance missions modeled on massively multiplayer online role-playing games, and SuperBetter, which she designed to help motivate herself to recover from a serious concussion. She is also creating a game in partnership with the New York Public Library to attract young people with an overnight book-writing session.

I’m about to go onstage to interview McGonigal and will add more details after our discussion.

Update: McGonigal said SuperBetter is to be the San Francisco-based Social Chocolate’s first game, with clinical trials starting in a few months.

The game solicits the participation of close family members and friends to help people who are injured or suffering from a chronic condition. The idea is to return to health by accomplishing goals and connecting with people. In McGonigal’s case of a brain injury, her recovery was being hindered by anxiety and depression about not recovering, and turning her recovery into a game gave her a positive outlook.

If I can get McGonigal away from her swarms of adoring fans at the conference, I’ll shoot a video about her plans.

Viral Video: Undercover Karaoke With Jewel

Kara Swisher — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 07:15:54 +0000

The set-up for this new Funny or Die video, described thus, is flawless:

“Jewel, disguised as a mild mannered businesswoman, drops by a local karaoke bar and performs some of her classic songs to a completely dumbfounded audience.”

It’s been so popular, with 2.8 million views so far since it debuted six days ago, the concept might even become a new reality television show.

Oh, just watch the video:

Undercover Karaoke with Jewel from Jewel

Viral Video: Kathy Griffin Laments Fake Boyfriend Levi Johnston's Engagement

Kara Swisher — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 07:13:23 +0000

One of the better bits on her terrific television reality show, “My Life on the D-List,” is comic Kathy Griffin’s antics with fake boyfriend Levi Johnston.

As in, baby father to Sarah Palin’s grandchild. Johnston and the Palins had been on the outs, until it was announced this week in a turnabout that he was now engaged to Bristol Palin, the baby mother.

Never to miss an opportunity, Griffin naturally fakes breakup heartache, using Johnston’s nude cover shoot from Playgirl as a prop.

"My Life on the D List" Meets All Things D

Kara Swisher — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 07:15:32 +0000

While in Washington, D.C., this week, BoomTown got to go to a dinner in honor of comic Kathy Griffin.

Griffin’s reality television show is called “My Life on the D List,” and we’re proud to share the same terrific letter.

She made much hay of her relationship with Apple (AAPL) co-founder Steve Wozniak on the show, so there’s yet another tech link.

And, in the video–in which she talks about her lobbying on Capitol Hill to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy regarding gays in the military–she also uses a very naughty term for tweeting on Twitter.

So, apropos of it being Friday, here’s the video of Griffin, who also told me she is a big fan of the Flip digital video camera:

[ See post to watch video ]

Viral Video: The Real Situation (Yes, More "Jersey Shore"!)

Kara Swisher — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:04:40 +0000

Yesterday, BoomTown posted some of the very funny spoof videos related to MTV’s appalling-yet-riveting “Jersey Shore” that have been popping up online.

Here is an even better one, with some of the actual cast members of the reality television show perfectly mocking themselves in yet another terrific Web video from Funny or Die, which seems to be on a roll of late.

The video contemplates the very deep concept of what if “Jersey Shore” is all a joke that those dopes are actually in on.

Incredibly, Mike “The Situation” (it’s all about his very nice abs, seen above), Pauly D (it’s all about his gel-saturated hair) and Snooki (it’s all about her hair too, except it’s the poof) do a surprisingly good job of acting.

Here’s the video:

The REAL Situation (Feat. MTV Jersey Shore’s The Situation, Snooki, and Pauly D) – watch more funny videos

Viral Video: Alyssa Milano Photoshopped Into Snooki of "Jersey Shore"

Kara Swisher — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:40:13 +0000

Whatever you think of “Jersey Shore,” the blithely offensive reality television show on MTV, its broad-brush depiction of Italian-Americans makes it perfect for online video spoofing.

Thus, here is the best of them from Funny or Die.

It’s a clever technology-fueled transformation of actress Alyssa Milano into Snooki, the program’s dumb-as-a-box-of-hammers “guidette.”

See here (as well as another funny Snooki segment from this week on “Saturday Night Live”):

Alyssa Milano’s Evolution: Jersey Shore from Alyssa Milano

D & AllThingsD.com: The Reality Show

Kara Swisher — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 10:51:37 +0000

Sure, we’re not Laguna Beach and we’re not going to eat slimy bugs and we have no Tim Gunn and we’re definitely not going to do any ballroom dancing. (Well, maybe a waltz now and then.)

But I got such a good response to the movie I made about my home-based office for the AllThingsD.com site and also the D: All Things Digital conference (though I suspect it was the addition of singer Jill Sobule to the video that made it work), that I thought: Why not just egregiously take every aspect of our start-up experience and use it to feed the blog beast?

Oops, let me rephrase that more cogently: We’re experimenting with radical transparency here, showing you traditional media company types trying really hard to digitize their work and livelihoods and commit great journalism in the process.

We have already posted all the interviews and demos from D5 on the site, which I am highlighting daily, because we think–despite the conference being a tough ticket to get–that it’s important to deliver our content to as many people as possible and however they like it.

So we’re here on this site. And in email and RSS. And now on Facebook. And soon to be on iTunes and YouTube and who knows where else? Thank goodness we haven’t widgetized ourselves yet–like USA Today announced yesterday, but we’re open to all kinds of options.

Given that I wasn’t shooting video at nascent stages of the site or the conference–although I did several video posts behind the scenes at D5 in May that are also reposted below–I thought I would introduce you to the crew at our first annual D/ATD BBQ and Rodeo event.

Not much happens in this first episode, although you can meet the team D. But keep hoping for a future catfight between the Johns (Paczkowski and Sullivan) on our staff over email names or perhaps a major meltdown from Lia Lorenzano-Kennett over what kind of scones to serve at D6 breakfast or perhaps a staged smackdown between me and Valleywag’s Owen Thomas.

And maybe the creation of even some new forms of high-standards reporting and analysis will be depicted, delivered in innovative ways. We hope so.

Sorry if I get a bit too party-swirly with the shooting (vertigo anyone?), but I am testing out the new version of my tiny video camera. So hold on, it might be a bumpy ride!

[ See post to watch video ]