As a group, one of the first projects that we wanted to
undertake was to build something around the notion of ‘Gameplay’. Not just a
traditional or commercial video game, something a bit unique and different.
To start this process we looked at some examples to get the mental
juices flowing. Here are a few favourites.
Desert Bus
"Desert Bus was a minigame included in the unreleased 1995
video game "Penn & Teller's Smoke and Mirrors". Click here to go
to the Smoke and Mirrors Wikipedia page. Here is an excerpt regarding Desert
Bus:
The objective of the game is to drive a bus from Tucson,
Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada in real time at a maximum speed of 45mph. The feat
requires 8 hours of continuous play to complete, since the game cannot be
paused.
The bus contains no passengers, and there is no scenery or
other traffic on the road. The bus veers to the right slightly; as a result, it
is impossible to tape down a button to go do something else and have the game
end properly. If the bus veers off the road it will stall and be towed back to
Tucson, also in real time. If the player makes it to Las Vegas, they will score
exactly one point. The player then gets the option to make the return trip to
Tucson—for another point (a decision they must make in a few seconds or the
game ends). Players may continue to make trips and score points as long as
their endurance holds out. Some players who have completed the trip have also
noted that, although the scenery never changes, a bug splats on the windscreen
about five hours through the first trip, and on the return trip the light does
fade, with differences at dusk, and later a pitch black road where the player is guided only with
headlights.
Penn Jillette commented in his radio show that the overly
realistic nature of the game was in response to Janet Reno and the controversy
surrounding violent video games at the time."
Link - http://desertbus-game.org/
Zombies, Run!
"Get Fit. Escape Zombies. Become a Hero.
Join 750,000+ runners on an epic adventure that motivates
you to run further and faster than ever before - whether you're a beginner or
an expert!
Zombies, Run! works anywhere and at any speed. We immerse
you in an action-packed game and story mixed with your own music, whether
you're jogging in a park, running along a trail, walking to work, or even
running on treadmills."
Moosehunt
"The google map mash-up that started it all. A man (or woman)
in a moose suit is tracked as they make their way across country, sleeping out
and avoiding human habitation. Moose is tagged with a GPS tracker and players
can get Moose's current location on their mobile phone by texting a short code.
However, when a player does this, Moose is alerted and the players position
revealed. The objective is to capture a picture of Moose and upload it to the
map, before Moose snaps you. Prizes are awarded in various categories: first
sighting, best picture etc.
The game was first commissioned by igfest in 2008 and has
been run again in 2009, with three Moose. In each of these years the game was
used as a PR stunt to raise the profile of igfest in the South West region of
England. It was featured on the BBC regional news and on numerous radio shows.
Awareness for the game and for igfest was very high amongst the public and made
a significant contribution to the 2 million hits the festival website
registered that year. The game won a South West Media Innovation award in 2009."
Wheelchair Driving Simulator
"Experience life from an unexpected angle.
The Wheelchair Driving Game is a unique driving game that
allows the player to control a virtual wheelchair in the game using a real
wheelchair. Presented in the “Games un-conference 2009″, the game demonstrated
for many people the feeling of sitting in a wheelchair, and did it with a
smile.
The project caused a lot of interest in all kinds of areas,
from members in the Israeli government to startup entrepreneurs, and even won
an international design contest, named Design21."
