Wikipedia has been integrated into mobile cell phone applications for a few years now, but more efforts are being made to diversify the website's potential for mobile applications. The iPhone game 3 Degrees of Wikipedia costs 99 cents and rewards players with badges for completing goals, similar to FourSquare. So along with people being able to search Wikipedia articles from a cell phone, they can now play with other friends on different games related to solving Wikipedia puzzles. The players also create the games, being rewarded with top ratings results in being top of the list of puzzles.
The game is meant to be fun but also help cement the interesting ideas and connections discovered by the player through puzzle solving and jumping between hyperlinks to complete the puzzle. While the game is limited to iPhone-owners, I do feel that the game will be successful in tapping into the frenetic bouncing between links that most regular Wikipedia users engage in.
This game demonstrates how cell phone application technology will continue to expand and incorporate games that have been driven by user activity and creativity. The future for Wikipedia includes entertainment, education, and perhaps an infusing of the two.
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