You might think making games is all about putting 40 percent awesome in a box, throwing in a pinch of zazz and calling it a SKU, but that's not true. Games, you may have noticed, are all around us, all the time.

Carnegie Mellon professor and ex-imagineer Jesse Schell lays out a vision of the future in which our lives become, essentially, one big RPG.


Schell's discussion kicks off with some of the most unexpected gaming developments over the last few years, including:

• The sudden success of Guitar Hero.

• The Wii winning the console wars

• Webkins

• The incredible popularity of Xbox Achievements.

• Mafia Wars

"What do these have in common? A variety of psychological tricks," explains Schell, who then goes on to examine how these various gaming successes take advantage of humans instincts, and how we hunger "to get to anything real." He goes on to examine how gaming has extended to grading a class, driving a car, shopping and socializing, ending at a future where everything is a kind of game.

(via G4TV.com)