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Too Much Free Time

by Mike Masnick

Thu, Feb 14th 2008 1:23pm




Filed Under:
fish, games, japan, mobile phones


Catching Real Fish With Your Mobile Phone

from the don't-play-with-your-food dept

Well, here's an amusing one. Some folks in Japan have put together a game for mobile phones that lets you go fishing for virtual fish. That, alone, isn't particularly interesting of course. What makes it worth writing about is that when you catch a virtual fish, you then can get a real fish delivered to your door from a local fish wholesaler. There's a bit of luck involved, as once you've "caught" the fish, you then have to have numbers match up on a virtual slot machine, but it could get people thinking about more creative ways to make ordering any kind of product more fun. We've already seen various crazes for "virtual pets" come and go -- but why not attach them to real life outcomes? Need fish? Catch a fish. Need bread? Manage a virtual farm to successfully grow wheat. Want a dog? Successfully take care of a virtual one first. Obviously, some of these ideas are a bit silly, but you could see some more interesting ideas developed out of them, potentially offering people discounts on the actual products if they partake in some of these games that either have subscription fees or advertising.

11 Comments | Leave a Comment

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    Anonymous Coward, Feb 14th, 2008 @ 2:30pm

    is there a way we can make it so mike's posts don't show up in the rss feed?

     

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      Anonymous Coward, Feb 14th, 2008 @ 7:30pm

      A Mike-filter on the rss feed

      Yes there is, but it's pretty new biotechnology that has only been tried on baboons. It involves grafting a layer of epidermis from your posterior to the inside of the meninges between it and the brain. This "headware" appears to meld with your brain's surface dendrites triggering a cascade of brain network change allowing user-selected filtering of all sense and emotion.

      Luckily for you, you should find it's just a matter simple consciously activating the filter, as it's quite clear you're already a complete arse-hat.

       

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      inc, Feb 15th, 2008 @ 6:38am

      Re:

      ya, don't read the feed

       

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    Jota, Feb 14th, 2008 @ 2:35pm

    duh

    As a game, it sounds like a fine idea. As a way to "order any kind of product" it sounds lame. If I want a t-shirt I don't want to have to play some stupid flash game that has me sheer a sheep, spin the wool, make the shirt and dye it. I want to click the shirt, put it in my shopping cart, and checkout. Why do you think the patent on one-click checkout is such a big deal? People don't want to have to do 40 clicks to get what they are looking for.

     

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      Mike (profile), Feb 14th, 2008 @ 7:41pm

      Re: duh

      As a way to "order any kind of product" it sounds lame. If I want a t-shirt I don't want to have to play some stupid flash game that has me sheer a sheep, spin the wool, make the shirt and dye it. I want to click the shirt, put it in my shopping cart, and checkout. Why do you think the patent on one-click checkout is such a big deal?

      Indeed. I wasn't suggesting that it was a way to order products that you wanted to just buy. I was thinking of it more in the sense of the game... making it more fun to buy products, and offering different options as a way to buy something. Note that, in the fish game, individuals don't have to buy the fish they win -- but they're paying a subscription fee for the game. Effectively, they're getting a subscription to both the game and the fish...

      Anyway, I don't think it's practical at all. I just thought it was amusing and different.

       

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    Anonymous Coward, Feb 14th, 2008 @ 3:02pm

    This strikes me as CueCat for ordering product: a way to insert needless hassle into a process that is already decidedly simple. Count me unimpressed.

     

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    Anonymous Coward, Feb 14th, 2008 @ 3:02pm

    This strikes me as CueCat for ordering product: a way to insert needless hassle into a process that is already decidedly simple. Count me unimpressed.

     

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    Mark S, Feb 15th, 2008 @ 12:58am

    Competition prize slot machines

    Sounds like it would just be a hybrid between a lottery and a competition. Though for it could have a lot of appeal say to a travel company or car manufacturers where the winner gets a holiday or wins a new car. I can envisage branded slot machinges/ games etc. Maybe one for Vegas?

     

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    Enrico Suarve, Feb 15th, 2008 @ 4:23am

    Depends on the game I guess

    So I should be really careful about playing Leisure Suit Larry on my phone when the wifes in? ;0)

     

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    Anonymous Coward, Feb 15th, 2008 @ 7:37am

    This makes about as much sense as flying around the world to get from Chicago to Indianapolis...

    Apparently people don't have enough REAL things to do.

     

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