Web gaming even Congresscritters would love…
I stumbled across a recent TechCrunch post and couldn’t help but think of some really interesting pseudo-gambling applications you could build right on top of this service! With the recent, very stupid anti-gambling legislation, it could be a really, really cool idea and pretty easy to mash something up.
If only I had some freakin’ time: there’s a truckload of money in those who can creatively warp the stock, futures and insurance markets into compelling games. Like any gaming, you keep a spread and it’s like printing money! Seems like a fun little concept to beat around sometime — but as far as quick mashups go probably wouldn’t fly. I doubt people would lay down real money without some service level guarantee.
My idea — an Oregon Trail-like role playing game drawn out over several weeks or months…
“Weather in Billings, Montana dips below 20 degrees: You’ve…got…dysentery”
You pick the route and eventually, the plot of land to settle — and you get to keep the money based on the weather for a given period. Heavy rains cause floods and can raise your risk when you ford the river, etc…it’s not gambling or gaming, it’s just very standard, legal hedging ..but seems f’ing sweet to me — and i bet could be a LOT of fun!
Update: Apparently Techdirt thought of gambling too when it saw this — not in the same way, but interesting none the less. Did I mention I heart Techdirt?