Vancouver’s Strutta makes a game of home-made videos
While I’ve been catching up this week Strutta came out of stealth and Techvibes got the first post/scoop on this new online video-based game:
Strutta is an arena, a platform for video competitions, called “games”. A game is created with a theme, such as “Best George W. Bush Impression” or “Best Surprise Wedding Dance”. Users can submit videos for that theme, watch others, and vote which they think is the best. A key rule is that a user must submit their own video: either they appear in it or are holding the camera. A broad set of categories makes space for almost any video. Leaderboards and graphs provide comprehensive statistics. I was impressed with the clean and functional interface design. Users can start using the site right away and register later.
The site incorporates Web 2.0 features well: videos can be recording from within a browser, uploaded, and embedded from YouTube. Contacts can be added from Facebook and LinkedIn. Its built on Drupal, and powered by Amazon’s EC2 and S3 services, ready to scale. Source: Strutta comes out of stealth: a different kind of “video game” | Techvibes Blog
I don’t have an invite in, yet, and I didn’t see a way to request one on the homepage. No matter, I’m sure I’ll be able to get a look at it soon enough.
This takes YouTube and Seesmic to the next level. Who can be the most creative on a given theme? Who has a great video stashed somewhere to share? This, to me, is a sign that computers and connections are ready for online video as a solid source of entertainment. Or is it?
Have computers and connections really caught up?
I hang out with a lot of non-geeks (shocking, I know) and it seems to me that there are a lot of computers out there that can’t really handle this kind of video. Believe me I’ve tried to help (though I’m starting to play dumb when people ask about their computers), but sometimes an older machine with barely enough RAM and a basic or “lite” Net connection just can’t have a decent experience with online video.
So geeks might be ready…but the rest of the world? I don’t know.
This isn’t to say that this isn’t cool and great. In fact the more cool and fun things (okay and useful stuff helps too) there are online, the more people will want faster machines and faster connections.
Other Strutta coverage:
- Strutta - The Game is (Almost) On
- What is a Strutta and is the game on yet? » Miss604’s Vancouver Blog
- Vincent Janelle » Strutta.com launch
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POSTED IN: Multimedia, Props to Canadians, Technology, video
2 opinions for Vancouver’s Strutta makes a game of home-made videos
Jordan
Mar 3, 2008 at 11:10 am
Hey Tris,
Thanks for the mention. I promise to get you hooked up with an invite very soon.
I found your comment about computers not being up to speed interesting, and it’s quite a valid concern. Could an idea like this have worked 3 or 4 years ago? Not likely.
We believe that the median level of technology is ready to support it now- with higher average screen resolutions, faster processor speeds and the emergence of cheaper digital cameras and built-in web cams.
Now we just have to work on that massive gap in the ratio of folks that just view videos, and the ones who upload. We’re hoping that some of the features on our site make it even more accessible.
Cheers,
Jordan
Director of Community Relations
Strutta.com
Tris Hussey
Mar 3, 2008 at 11:56 am
Awesome Jordan, thanks! Can’t wait to try it. Yes, there is a huge gap there between consumers and creators. There will always be that gap, of course, but if we can get more voices into the stream, I think that’s a good thing.
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