Weekend Reading: More Niches, More Games

I am a creature of many interests and I live in a modern world where I can get information, live events and experiences based on most of them, and where I have already signaled to the rest of the world what my hobbies are.

Yet, despite the fact that I follow at least one national team, England, and the World Rugby Federation along with its competitions on Facebook, I have not yet received an offer to play a management game or some other experience created around this sport.

I also have a deep interest in political theory and the current electoral cycle that is taking place in the United States. Yet, no entrepreneur has taken it upon himself to create a micro-transaction-supported social game where I can match my tactics and political ideas against those of other junkies.

These kinds of niched and targeted experiences are doable in the modern gaming world, as exemplified by the fact that I can enjoy various experiences, from a simple fantasy league to a web-based game and a full-blown simulation, based around cycling, one of my other obsessions (I have quite a few of them).

An integrated experience built around one person’s hobby has the potential to improve his life, because it gives him more time with his passion and increases his happiness level, increase audiences for niche activities, which can in turn generate revenue for those who engage in them, and keep occupied a number of developers, designers and marketers.

I am sure that many potential players and enthusiasts would be annoyed to be constantly targeted by experiences designed around information that they have shared via social networks or their Internet use, maybe without knowing.

But I, for one, don’t have the time and the energy to search for all of my experiences and it would be nice to get them delivered to my account by interested niche targeting companies.