janemcgonigal

Reality is broken!

In the book on December 25, 2010 at 1:27 am

Find out why games make us better and how they can change the world. Order your copy of the New York Times bestselling book Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World now.


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Get the Kindle edition!

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Get the book from an indie bookseller!

“As addictive as Tetris, McGonigal’s penetrating, entertaining look into gaming culture is a vibrant mix of technology, psychology, and sociology, told with the vision of a futurist and the deft touch of a storyteller…. McGonigal makes an inspiring case for the way games can both enhance our personal happiness and help society.” – Publishers Weekly, starred review

I’m on tour!

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: March 1, 2011: TBD: Co-hosting Gamification Day at the Serious Games Summit (conference registration required)

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA: March 9, 2011: 7PM: Discussion and book signing at Computer History Museum (free event)

BOSTON, MA: March 11, 2011: TBD: Keynote at PAX East Game Festival

AUSTIN, TX: March 12,2011 : Featured speaker and book signing at SXSW interactive (conference pass required)

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Watch videos

In videos on December 21, 2010 at 7:46 pm

“Gaming can make a better world”

The best hope we have for surviving the next century on this planet? Games. In this 20-minute TED talk, I explain why we need to achieve 21 billion hours of online gaming a week by the year 2020. That’ll be just an hour a day, every day, for half of the people on Earth…

On the Colbert Report

In which I attempt to convince Stephen Colbert that playing games is the single most productive way to spend our time.

“How a game saved my life”

In 2009, I suffered a mild traumatic brain injury. I was more hopeless than I had ever been in my life. Then I turned it into a game. This 5-minute Ignite video explains all…

“Blissful Productivity”

Throw out your to-do lists. This 45-minute School of Life sermon proposes a radically gameful way to get the most out of each day.

“Gamers tackle the world’s most urgent challenges”

7 minutes live on CNN news! This was a major epic win for me – and for the EVOKE game, which officially became the first alternate reality game in the genre’s ten-year history to make it on to live national news.

Watch more videos.

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Achievements: Unlocked

In achievement: unlocked on December 23, 2010 at 9:14 pm

My #1 goal in life is to see a game designer nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. I’ve forecast that this will happen by the year 2023. Of course, it’s not enough to just forecast the future — I’m also actively working to make it a reality. (And you can too — join Gameful, the Secret HQ for Worldchanging Game Developers.)

In the meanwhile, on the way to that epic win, there are plenty of other achievements to be earned. Here are a few I’ve unlocked so far:

New York Times Bestselling Author of Reality is Broken (2011)

“Top 100 Creative People in Business” Fast Company (2009)

“20 Most Inspiring Women in the World” Oprah Winfrey for O Magazine (2010)

“Top Ten Innovators to Watch” Business Week (2009)

“The Most Important 50 Game Developers” Game Developer Magazine (2010)

“20 Most Important Women in Videogaming” Gamasutra (2010)

“Top 35 innovators changing the world through technology” MIT Technology Review (2006)

“Top 20 Breakthrough Ideas of the Year” Harvard Business Review (2008)

“10 Breakthrough Ideas in Science” New York Times (2010)

“Entertainment Breakthrough of the Year” World Technology Forum in association with CNN, Time and Fortune Magazine (2010)

#1 Social Impact Game of the Year Games for Change (2010)

#1 Bright Idea of the Year BrandWeek (2008)

Most Important Futures Work of the Year Association of Professional Futurists (2008)

Activism Award from SXSW Interactive (2008)

Innovation Award from the International Game Developers Association (2005)

The Gaming Award from the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (2005)

Year in Review honors from The New York Times (2004)

And two unusual honors that I’m particularly proud of…

#1 Spot on the Annual List of Top Ten Sexy Geeks from Violet Blue (2011) (this is the geek equivalent of making People magazine’s most beautiful people issue, or Barbara Walter’s most intriguing people of the year!)

Ranked #16 All-Time Most Engaging TED talk out of 835 all-time TED talks (as of 2010) .. and that’s one ahead of Bill Gates, who’s ranked at #17 :)

(Want my full bio?…)

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