"Big Games" guru melds games, real world
Over at Gamasutra, Bonnie Ruberg has an interview with Frank Lantz about "Big Games," his term for games that break the bounds of a board or a computer and use the real world as the play space. The most well-known example of the form is probably Pac-Manhattan -- which uses the streets of New York in place of the classic maze grid -- but Lantz's company Area/Code has put together games ranging from a phonecam treasure hunt (ConQwest) to a massive, massively-multiplayer board game (Big Urban Game), and more.
Traipsing around the streets of New York in a pink ghost costume may seem a little silly, but there's a somewhat philosophical bent to Lantz's work. In the interview, Lantz says he wants to use make games that use technology to emphasize the idea of "living with one foot in the real world and one foot in Wonderland at all times." It's a beautiful idea, and one that has the potential to change the way we look at the world. How many video games can say that?
