Will Wright, acclaimed designer of classics Sim City and The Sims, is looking to create a new type of game. Dubbed “personal gaming,” Wright is trying to create games that shape themselves after the person playing them.

“How can we make a system that understands enough about you and gives you situational awareness? It could take into account what time of day it is, where you are, how much money is in your pocket. Imagine if you could open Google Maps and it shows you things that are interesting to you on the map.”

The details around the new game, HiveMind, along with his new company, also named HiveMind, are scarce at the moment. Data mining isn’t particularly new, but while most seem willing to give up some information to add to Facebook and Google’s Rolodex, I have to wonder whether we’ll be as accepting of a company actively using our data to cater to us. Just looking at the targeted ads down my Facebook page asking me to play Dolphins Dice Slots, I also have to wonder just how effective this technology is.

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– Filipe Salgado