https://dateplay.co/

Not too sure if this has been already posted but she is making a go of the Date Play idea.

Do enjoy how on the site specifically for her there isn't a mention of The Apprentice or anything

Normally most ex-candidates plaster that everywhere they possibly can to get some sort of publicity or general recognition.

On the Collaborate page, she's inviting game designers to give her a free sample of their game in exchange for exposure in her app. I'm not sure how attractive that would be, but it's a new wrinkle in her quest to reduce development costs.

I don't know but it looks a bit basic to me, not going to sign up as i have an other half but it just seems a bit unpolished, but having looked at the developers other sites when they're using Doge to try and find people all i can say is 'many wows' and 'much amazement'

Lord Sugar ridiculed the idea by saying that Vana must hope that in five years time a couple would be in a pub reminiscing how they first met on level 5 of space invaders.

The website has a touch of the Jukt Micronics about it.

What is Doge...?

I would have thought that would increase costs as well as increase time to market.

Now you are going to have to support an API and also have to deal with third-party developers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doge_%28meme%29

I thought the "games" were meant to psychometric tests and the like and not gamelike games. You were meant to find out about the person via the "games".

Vana was too clever for her own good, having been in uni in Beijing and sundry other places, she spoke a load of gobbledigook at machine gun pace with an insincere smile and manner. I thought she was ghastly from the off and couldn't fathom how she could be in the final 5 let alone final 2 with that ridiculous idea. Can't get onto the Dateplay site at the mo.

Interesting that it doesn't seem to be a limited company, neither does her wine business.

Check out the directors of Personal Dating Agent Limited. Also take a look at Vbyv Ltd.

Bit odd thought that they don't give company details on the website.

I agree on this, ghastly woman and to me the idea was ridiculous, I could be wrong I'm not her target market. She should have been removed well before the final imo. She just had no idea how to act at times, like in her interview taking the lead.

I see the domain name was registered in 2010, but it might not have been by her of course, she may have since bought it:

https://who.is/whois/https://dateplay.com

I think 'Play Date' would be a better name.

There are costs, but their own games can use the same API and having that element of separation and modularity is probably a good thing. Even supporting outside developers ought to be cheaper than developing new games from scratch, if the games are to be any good. Then again, they may just be offered existing game levels that are already available for free, which may not be compelling. I'm not saying it'll work, just that it's an interesting idea - and one of the few new things that struck me from the site.

In America, a play date is something parents arrange for their children. I would want to keep any association with children well away from an adult dating site. Partly for the paedophile connotations, and partly for the commitment connotations. Most people don't want to be thinking about children on their first date.

She has been a director of Personal Dating for 2 years, it may be she's running the new business under that ltd company I suppose.

Vbyv foxed me as she's listed under a slightly different name!

Yes, those would be the benefits to it. Personally, I would go with the third-party developers once something's been actually launched and the concept has been proven.

Ew, thanks for correcting that for me. Had no idea.

Delete

No. They were meant to be "gamelike" games. But that doesn't mean that they cannot be psychometrically based. She said that it'd be things like how aggressive, the choices made in the games, etc. It's meant to be games that people enjoy playing, but that dating data is abstracted from.

The Minipops of Android apps. And we all remember the 7 year old doing the Sheena Easton cover....

With respect, I disliked how Sugar handled that. He completely dismissed the idea that playing computer-based games could ever be mainstream, when in fact it already is.

Even old people in care homes play their wii sports, all those games like Candy Crush and Farmville are already stereotyped as games that middle-aged women play, and of course, aren't all young men stereotyped to play various kinds of games on their phones and/or standing consoles? Video gaming has gone far beyond space invaders and Lord Sugar made himself look a fool by saying that I thought.

I think it's a good idea in principle that maybe needs some work, but if she's working with a company she'll be advised on it. People love online quizzes and doing them with their friends - look at the rise of Buzzfeed - so doing them with dates isn't that far away, a logical next step. To be honest I think the way Lord Sugar kept talking about it and poo-pooing it confused the issue.

To be frank,
1) it was more personality quizzes and choice-based games she was talking about playing in the first place, which is an idea she's got from e.g. Buzzfeed quizzes that are extremely popular, but:

2) even if it was more traditional videogames she was talking about playing, those are already a huge market and no doubt some younger couples DO already play them with their partners just the way older couples would go to the cinema or watch tv together

Good luck to her, I say.

One firm who contacted me through Reed once managed to get me to attend a recruitment session by saying that their initial idea was on the Dragons Den .

When I attended the recruitment session it was revealed that this idea was not accepted by the dragons and the actual job I was applying for was door to door sales. I wasn't too keen being out at 11pm at night bothering people as they are getting ready for bed.