coap2006
Latest
Off the Grid: Crossroads and avant-garde gaming
Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column on gaming away from the television screen or monitor.Though physically separate from the rest of Come Out & Play, area/code's Crossroads most definitely had a presence at the New York City festival, drawing players out to Pier 40 in the West Village for a chance to see GPS technology applied successfully to a fast-paced game of territorial control.Developed as part of the Van Alen Institute's The Good Life exhibition, Crossroads sets players or teams loose in a 4x6 grid of streets, where they must capture intersections using GPS-enabled phones. Their opponents, meanwhile, are attempting to do the same thing, with the hope of having the most intersections in their control at the end of thirty minutes. With phone in hand, a player can capture an intersection by remaining stationary in it for thirty seconds.Both teams, however, must keep an eye out for the Baron Samedi, an invisible spirit inspired by voodoo culture who wanders randomly through the game-space, flipping control of any intersections he crosses. The Baron is only visible on the players' phones, which also display a map of the play area and other relevant information.In an added level of strategy, players can influence the Baron's movement through the grid by placing offerings, which the Baron will then follow and devour. The Baron has no allegiances, however, and will temporarily deactivate your phone and steal your offerings if you cross his path.I was fortunate enough to have a chance to play Crossroads during my time in New York. The experience was revolutionary, though admittedly not without some technical problems.
SnagU impresses NYC crowds with addictive gameplay
With over 20 large-scale games to choose from over the course of three days, the first ever Come Out & Play Festival offered more gaming than one person alone could take in. With the help of some resident New Yorkers, however, I've compiled impressions of what can only be described as a mere sliver of the weekend's offerings.SnagU, winner of Cisco Systems and mtvU's Digital Incubator Grant, is a photo-based scavenger hunt using camera phone technology. Players must take pictures matching selected keywords, and submit them via phone for review. I talked with Noelle Weaver, member of a local communications firm, who played SnagU casually over the course of the weekend. She credits her continued interest in the game to its lack of needed attention: "I love the idea that I can play no matter where I am," Noelle says, "be it the line at the DMV or just walking down the street." Each time she sends in an image, a new keyword gets sent back to her phone. There is no rush for her to send in as many images as possible, as points are rewarded based on creativity, and not just on speed. The game also encourages unique interpretations of the keywords. The word 'eye,' for example, illicited both an image of someone's eye, and a doppler radar image depicting the eye of a storm.
