Blogger For Frogger

October 8, 2006 |

I like video games. I grew up in the “Nintendo Generation.” I still like video games. It is for that reason that I own an Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 is the latest in a long line of video game consoles. It is the most powerful video game console that money can by- for now. You see, that is part of the problem. It is true, the Xbox 360 has taken video gaming to an entirely new level as far as graphics and sound performance is concerned. On the immediate horizon, however, is the next system, the Playstation 3, which promises to raise the bar on performance. So, before my Xbox 360 reaches its first birthday, something newer, and some might say better, will have already come along. This scenario is familiar to anyone who uses any type of computer technology on a daily basis. Innovation and advancement occurs at such a blistering pace that items like cell phones, computers, and televisions are often made obsolete before their owners even know it. The story of my Xbox 360, however, will still have a happy ending, at least for me.

You see, the one thing that Microsoft did that sets their console apart from the highly touted Playstation 3 is the development of Xbox Live and the Xbox Live Arcade. Xbox live is an entire online community of video game enthusiasts. It allows people to meet, communicate, and most importantly, challenge each other to online games. This is good for me, since when I do play against another human, it is my brother. Since he is at college in High Point, NC, Xbox Live gives us the opportunity to play against each other, and with the use of headsets, talk trash to as if we were sitting next to each other on the couch. Xbox live is certainly a feature of the Xbox that I enjoy. Nothing, however, compares to the enjoyment I get from the games in the Xbox Live Arcade, and that is where the Xbox takes a strange twist.

The Xbox Live Arcade is filled with games that users can download for about $7-$10 each. These games are simple, yet wildly addictive. One of my favorites, at least right now, is a game that most of you will recognize—Frogger. That’s right, that little green frog hopping through traffic and riding the logs has made its way onto my Xbox. Contrary to what you might think, with all the technological advancements in graphics, sound, and controls made over the last few decades, the Frogger on my Xbox 360 looks and feels exactly like the Frogger found in arcades and pizza joints throughout the 70’s and 80’s. If I am not mistaken, downloading Frogger cost me something like $7. I can tell you one thing for certain, I play that $7 Frogger more than I play all my other $55 Xbox 360 games combined. The same is true for many people that have ever visited the Xbox Live Arcade. Once you find a game in there, you are hooked. I have found myself staying awake far longer than I should just to try and get a higher score on Bejeweled, or blast just a few more triangles to smithereens on Geometry Wars. For all the high performance and unbelievable graphics the Xbox 360 can produce from games that took tens of millions of dollars to develop, I will continue to be a loyal Xbox 360 user because of simple games that took only thousands to develop.

In case you are thinking that my addiction to Frogger has nothing to do with the real estate industry, you are sorely mistaken. It has everything to do with the real estate industry. Our industry has undergone more technological advancement in the last decade than at any time in its history. On top of that, the technological advancements of the internet and Web 2.0 have pushed us even further since just the beginning of 2006. Things are developing at a rapid pace, and VC firms have poured millions of dollars into companies that promise to revolutionize the industry even more through use of technology and the internet.

The rapid technological innovation recently seen in the real estate industry is not unlike the innovation seen in the video game industry. The one thing that remains to be seen in real estate, however, is how it will all shake out. Sites like Zillow.com, Trulia.com, and Redfin.com are only in their infancy. Their impact on the industry remains to be felt. My feeling is that all of these companies can learn a little something from their neighbors at Microsoft. Sure, all the pretty graphics, Zestimates, heat maps, and instant access to information are cool and fun, but content is king. Once the newness wears off, and the innovation spreads to other sites, what will be left? How will they be able to set themselves apart from the competition, as Microsoft has done with their devilishly simple Xbox Live Arcade? In the end, people might enjoy the cool graphics and neat features, but what makes people stay, or spend, is information they can USE. When consumers start to search for informative content that they can really use, they will inevitably wander into the blogoshpere.

Blogs are to Web 2.0 as Xbox Live Arcade is to the Xbox 360. Blogs offer the consumer what he or she really wants, instant access to information that can truly help the consumer. On top of being easy to find, easy to understand, and occasionally enteraining, the information is broad enough that its usefulness never ceases. Someone can go to any one of the great real estate blogs that are out there, and find enough good information to make your head spin. This information is updated every day, and it never goes away, and its usefulness never expires. Just try this. Go to any of the blogs in my blog roll. Once there, go through the posts from a few months ago. I guarantee you that you will find something useful in those posts. Plug your favorite real estate search terms into any search engine, and a blog will probably come up in the results. Blogs have the potential to be the most powerful force in the Web 2.0 movement that is sweeping through real estate right now. It is true that most people may not be aware of the real estate blogs just yet, just as it took many gamers a while to find the Xbox Live Arcade, but once they do discover the blogs, there will be no turning back. The ability of blogs to give credibility to their authors and build loyalty amongst consumers is unmatchable. For all the talk of disintermediation that circulates around the real estate industry, the well-written and publicized real estate blog has the potential to turn the tide and firmly entrench the real estate agent as an expert and an invaluable consultant.

In one of my many favorite Seinfeld episodes, George Costanza attempts to orchestrate a hair-brained plan to preserve his high score on a Frogger game about to be extinguished. Playing Frogger evokes that type of devotion in people, and I have had the sore thumbs to prove it. Hopefully, the sore fingers brought about by my blogging will yield similar dividends in the age of increased technological advancement brought about by Web 2.0. If bloggers are smart enough, they can dodge the traffic of an unpredictable real estate market, and avoid the alligators of Web 2.0 that seek their disintermediation to enjoy the fruits of their labor safely on the other side of the stream.

[tags] real estate, realtor, charlottesville, web 2.0, disintermediation, frogger, xbox, xbox 360, trulia, zillow, redfin, blog, blogging [/tags]

Posted by Daniel | Filed Under Blogging, Industry Issues, disintermediation 

Comments

One Response to “Blogger For Frogger”

  1. Carnival of Real Estate: Creams and cheeses . . . | BloodhoundBlog | The weblog of BloodhoundRealty.com in Phoenix, Arizona on October 10th, 2006 3:06 pm

    [...] Drop your keyboard and grab your game controller: Daniel Rothamel of The Real Estate Zebra is a Blogger For Frogger. [...]

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