But where Rift really sets itself apart is its integration of social media into gameplay. Rift allows you to Tweet, and create and share both pictures and videos from inside the game. In the in-game chat bar, you simply type “/tweet” and your text is posted to Twitter. You can capture screenshots and post them to Twitpic or Yfrog, or you can take video of what you’re playing and post it directly to YouTube.
Why would you want to take video of what you’re playing? Well, it allows you to make tutorials for other gamers, or to show off your mad skills — or your avatar’s crazy dance moves. And that, my friends, is priceless. I think.
Furthermore, Twitter, as Charlie Sheen so adequately demonstrated, is a tool for promotion — especially among brands and celebrities. And now for gamers. “Players have achievements and accomplishments in Rift’s game world, but we want to take that beyond the game world into the real world, so that friends and fans and followers can be a part of that as well”, Buttler said. “We want to allow gamers to become celebrities, in-game and in the real-world”.
And Rift is making a pretty serious splash; gamers are buying in. Prior to its launch in late February, over 1 million people created accounts and gamers have spent more than 2.5 billion minutes gallivanting around Telara. That’s nearly 42 hours per person. What’s more, since the game’s launch, users have sent over 600,000 Tweets. And more than 15,000 YouTube videos have been uploaded since video functionality was launched just over 10 days ago.
Not only is the online game developer trying to break down the barriers between gaming and the real world, it’s taking on other entertainment mediums as well. Building on the success of James Cameron’s Avatar, Trion is partnering with the Syfy Channel to create a TV show that is part fictional drama, part game. The project, tentatively called “One World”, will follow a group of main characters as they travel through an alien world. Their story will be concocted by screenwriters, but the battles that rage in different cities among competing factions will be determined by those playing the game online.
Now I might not like Rift, but then again we don't have to minimize or close the game when we want to tweet. Full story at TechCrunch
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