Borderlands 2 Mobile App: Turn QR Codes Into Loot

Just learned from Engadget that Gearbox software, developers of the Borderlands series of games, has just released an interesting companion app to their Borderlands 2 title. For the uninitiated (I imagine all three of you who read this blog), the Borderlands series is a first person role-playing shooter. Kind of a mash of Halo and Diablo. The crux of this game is loot acquisition: weapons, shields, and power ups that make your character a beefier and more formidable loot acquisition machine.

With Loot the World, the new app, you use your iPhone or Android phone to scan a QR code, and it generates an item you can use in game with your character. It’s a tremendous way to extend the lifespan of a game and will most likely draw players back in who may have completed the game moved on to different titles.

With that bit of exposition out of the way, I wanted to point out our online barcode generator at https://www.posguys.com/barcode/ is a fun and easy way to make your very own QR Codes to create items. Items are specific to the code you scan, so theoretically you could find a great item, and send that QR code to friends who may want the item themselves.

For Android users, if you happen to scan a code and get an item you don’t like, you can click and hold on the product and it’ll bring up an option to remove it from your inventory.

QR codes support a ton of characters per code, including non alphanumeric. So you could dump some Emoji into our QR code generator and you’ll get some new results.

Update: Further testing let us get items by scanning any barcode. But wouldn’t you rather convert the Modern Major General song from Pirates of Penzance into great loot?

QR Code Hotel

Because all my friends claim I “work on barcodes,” they send me links to goofy data capture stuff they come across. Sometimes it’s great fodder for sharing, like this poast at The New Aesthetic about a hotel room decorated in QR codes.

The Modez Hotel in the Dutch city of Arnhem sports this room, where everything, curtains, comforter, you name it, is covered in QR codes of varying sizes. I doubt these were designed to take advantage of regular 2D barcode scanners and are really for you to scan with your smartphone, as the codes take you to more… risqué content: steamy written messages, pictures, etc.

QR codes aren’t necessarily controversial, but there is a lot of pushback from various tech outlets. It’s great to see them used in a unique and useful way, as it provides a good counter to many of the poorly implemented QR codes out there.

World’s Largest QR Code is A-Maize-Ing

Image credit: Whitehotpix/ZUMAPRESS.com

I had to go with that pun. I mean seriously, that is one gigantic maize maze, and to turn it into a QR code is terrific. A family in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada owns a farm they turn into a corn maze every year, and this year they decided to turn it into the world’s largest QR Code. I’m not sure how many people will be able to scan it, but they say the code takes people to their website, giving potential visitors a rundown on all the fun activities there.

This is a pretty unique way to get your name out, one because it’ll be in the Guinness book of records, and also because you can now use the picture of the maze, QR code and all, in promotional material and save a tremendous amount of space in your marketing collateral.

Imagine a sidebar ad in an travel mag, 80% of the ad can be the QR code and the link takes you to more information, including schedules and booking. Potential visitors don’t have to enter in your website info nor call for more information, just scan the link and they get straight to your site.

It’s great to see businesses using QR codes for more unique purposes but still getting the point across. I know more than a few people who have pushed back against QR codes, bringing up wtfqrcodes as examples why it’s not the best technology, so useful counterexamples are fantastic.

Tastiest QR Code Ever, the QReo

Some fancy nerds over at Red Pepper have taken QR codes in a new and tasty direction, building one out of Oreos. Called QReo, it’s a cookie-representation of a QR code that should scan with most QR reader apps. I tried with my iPhone and the Motorola DS9208 at my desk but couldn’t get a read, it might be the contrast of the vanilla cookies to the white background. I have a feeling if they used lighter cookies as negative space it might work more easily.