The Game is on

Earlier this week, I had the privilege of being one of the first people to get a sneak peak at something that has been in the works for a long time now. I’ve come to know a few of the people working on this project over the past year and have been patiently waiting to find out what they’ve been up to over at Strutta.com. They have been dropping little hints all along and now that I’ve seen what they’ve been working on, many of those little hints start making a lot more sense…like a big puzzle finally coming together as something recognizable.

I had my own thoughts as to what Strutta was. Given it’s name, the clever taglines on T-shirts (“What, ou think you’re better than me?”) that have been popping up at various events around town and the kinds of things people working inside do and don’t hide, I was beginning to piece together what was going on.

So what the hell is it?

Without giving away all the secrets that I’ve been sworn to keep, Strutta is a place where people that have ANY kind of skill (that can be captured on video) can compete with others to be the best at that skill.

Using a lot of cool technology, people will be able to upload (or link to) their videos and others will vote on them using a number of different methods. Videos will be grouped into ‘games’ which you then play by ranking the entries in that game.

What impressed me the most wasn’t this basic premise (which I’m over simplifying), but rather the myriad number of ways you’ll be able to participate in the ‘games’ without other stuff getting in the way. I won’t get into detail here (mostly because I’m not completely sure how descriptive I can be without Jordan busting down my door), but suffice to say, you won’t be able to miss Strutta when they take off. They’ve thought about this a lot and have all the bases covered. They also have a pretty kick ass team working on it too.

This has the potential to get huge because it appeals to people’s competitive nature in a way where you don’t necessarily have to be an uber-athlete to compete and the gameplay mechanisms are quite intuitive. Anyone with a skill or something they (think) are the best at can play. I’ve been racking my brain to think of something I can do. I’m sure I’ll think of something you can make fun of me over later.

Here’s the official, Jordan Approved™ screenshot of what the site currently looks like which I think doesn’t do it justice since you really have to play with it to get a feel for it….and I’m told you’ll get a chance to do that very soon.

Of course, the screenshot features Alexa as the ‘Best Guitar Hero Player’ – which is totally unfair because Strutta has a dedicated room for her to play GH in during work hours. She is so hardcore, she even dresses like the characters in the game while she plays. Their team meetings must be fun.

I’m looking forward to seeing the full Strutta unveiling over the coming weeks and months and people starting to use it. Great job so far and thanks for giving me a sneak peak!