Keith wasn’t as boisterous during our second filming of the app as he was the first time. Hopefully you guys get the idea.
So what is Booyah and what does it bring to the iPhone that no one else has done? Before we dive into that here’s a little background info on the Palo Alto, Calif.-based startup. Founded by three former videogame industry vets from Blizzard, Activision and Insomniac Games, Booyah looks to shake things up with real-life achievements for the iPhone (and iPod Touch). Booyah CEO Keith Lee is an industry vet having worked on Ratchet and Clank, Diablo II, Resistance: Fall of Man before parting ways with Blizzard to launch Booyah with Brian Morrisroe and Sam Christiansen. Booyah’s main goal is “to motivate people to pursue their real-life passions while positively impacting themselves and the community around them. It’s the first achievement system for life.”
Achievements are earned by way of various real-life activities, like going to the gym, uploading photos to Flickr and whatever else we do on a daily basis. They can be shared via Twitter and Facebook if you’re into that sort of thing. Lee compares it to earning merit badges in the Boy Scouts. Booyah Society is more or less a twist on modern Social Networks. It encourages you to share what you’re doing with others in Booyah in an attempt to earn achievements and badges. Booyah Society isn’t so much a game as it as a new way of interacting with friends and strangers. What sets this app apart is the customizable 3D avatar that evolves with your daily habits and unlocked achievements. Your avatar can even interact with other Booyah Society member’s avatars. They’re surprisingly fully interactive. At launch there are 108 achievements scattered throughout various categories.
When asked how Booyah will make money since Booyah Society is free, Lee said they have various business models in the works. Whether they generate revenue through CPC remains to be seen. Booyah was recently awarded $4.5 million in Series A funding through Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers iFund.
It’ll be interesting to see how Booyah expands and what new features will be incorporated into the app. From what I saw it seems like a viable business and clever app. I encourage the iPhone and iPod Touch owners to give it a whirl. Who doesn’t want to brag about achievements earned and such?
Booyah Society [iTunes]
http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/8059/200812291.jpg
Obama already installed the application
Blurring the lines between goals and narcissism. Brilliant.
Okay…So next time any interviewer asks me “What are your achievements?”…I just gotta pull out this app!!!
This company will probably do well, it’s just sad that uploading photos to Flickr is somehow an achievement?
Sounds like a really ingenious motivational system. Best of luck!
Do I really need an app to tell me how much I’ve acheived online? Are we running out of good ideas that people have to create apps like booyah?
Looks like a pretty impressive app, I wish just the guy presenting would sound a little more excited and use his voice.
Curse you for writing about an obviously stupid and completely time-wasting app.
I must have this.
I think you meant Keith Lee not Kevin.
Peter Ha has just unlocked the typo achievement!
I only can hear ‘achievement…mmm uumm….’ and I have no idea what this application does. Better to re-film or VO the video or add subtitle to it.
Lame…
What are we, 5 years old? Besides, I don’t think most slackers can afford an iPhone with at&t’s rates
just downloaded it on my iphone and tried it out . meh…i just don’t really get it. Are their any set achievements…this app just seems too useless to me…its like a crappy twitter. The only achievements that i realise is basically using the app.
It would be different if there were certain set achievements, like using the GPS to locate which state you’ve been to. So if you travel a lot, you would get traveler achievements etc.
Anyone anyone? I dunno. Maybe it’s because I just woke up and my brain isn’t functioning fully.
Someone help explain a little more?
Hi Joe,
My name is Lexy and I am the Community Manager at Booyah. In Booyah Society, you can unlock some achievements simply by posting, so you can get rewarded for what you already do. You can also unlock more difficult achievements, but these require social validation (through comments and likes on Facebook). Currently in the app, you can earn sets of achievements along 9 different activity zones. If you any other questions or comments please email us at feedback@booyah.com. We would love to hear from you. I hope you have a great day.
-Lexy
This should definitely make use of GPS. It could make maps and log your times for runs and cycle rides then connect you with people of similar abilities in the same area.
Hi Ro,
Thanks for your feedback! This version of Booyah Society is just the first step in a much larger vision. We really want to work with the community and hear its feedback and see where the app might grow. We would love to hear your thoughts on achievements and validation. Please send any feedback to feedback@booyah.com. Thanks!
-Lexy
Not knocking Booyah. Just grappling with the sad commentary on life. We’re managing to eradicate the last vestige of self-motivation.
“Should I lift my ass off the couch? Dunno… how many (virtual) gold coins will I get?”
“Would somebody please acknowledge that I got off the couch!”
Seems like we are on our way to being like the blobby humans in Wall • E. When do we get those cool floating chairs?
Not the first achievement system for life – an earlier example is Scientology.
shhhh! Hey, why is he whispering?
“Who doesn’t want to brag about achievements earned and such? ”
I submit that would be someone who is not a douche
Meh. Formula for getting funding = broken.
I guess this will work well with the twitter crowd and those whose entire social lives are based around the internet.
What a waste of $4.5M! I can tweet or put on Facebook my personal achievements. Do we need yet another app that looks like it was written for a 5 year old to share our life experiences? What a sad commentary on society if our noteworthy achievements come down to posting flickr pics.
+1
Well said….
Booyah’s main goal is “to motivate people to pursue their real-life passions while positively impacting themselves and the community around them. It’s the first achievement system for life.”
WTF!
I was following Booyah since it was a “stealth startup”, supposedly working on a killer app.
Is this what they came up with? God… this is actually killing me.
Very similar to foursquare. http://www.getfoursquare.com
I feel this is something like akoha (featured on techcrunch) where you get karma points for doing activities
Great stuff, Booyah! We are pumped to be working with you @wildfireapp
Brendan
Post notes to earn achievements? Seriously? You’re gonna have to come up with something more creative/interesting than that if you want to be more than just another boring app.
I just wish they’d quit using my company name.
+1
“This application can only be used on an iPhone.” Hey, who needs those slackers with their iPod Touches. Those are some real geniuses running things at Booyah.
Hi David,
To clarify, Booyah Society is actually available on the iPhone and the second generation iPod Touch. If you have any feedback or questions about the app please email us at feedback@booyah.com. Thanks!
-Lexy
Could you possibly make a more out of focus, in the dark weird whisper pillow talk voice app review video?
No achievement points earned.