Snake the Planet! An Urban Gaming Experiment.

März 5th, 2012 • Experimental, Games, Urban
Tags: cities, Cool, Creativity, Experimental, Funny, Games, Urban, Vintage

This morning I got an email from my old friend Tim Büsing, Creative Director at Publicis Mojo in Sydney. Tim sent me a link to one of their latest, pretty explorative projects which is a real-world version of the classic Snake game. Yes kids – that’s what we played back in the days.

But Snake the Planet is quite different. It takes the classic Snake game and adopts it to the urban canvas. Each level is generated based on the architecture of the building it is projected onto. Windows, doors and signs become the boundaries and obstacles in the game as animated objects collide with and bounce off them using real-time physics simulation. The multiplayer game also has a Tron-like competitive element, where one player can intentionally block the others’ path to win the game.

Nintendo. Can you please fucking google it?

August 25th, 2011 • Advice
Tags: Advice, Brands, Funny, Games, Gaming, Nintendo, Service, Wii

So it seems as if Nintendo is not willing to answer certain game related questions at the hotline anymore. A good alternative: google it, you moron.

I love it. Russia’s History told by the worker of a Tetris Factory.

Mai 14th, 2011 • Politics, We like
Tags: Cool, Creativity, Funny, Games, Gaming, history, Ideas, Lifestyle, Music, Politics, Russia, Tetris, visual, We like

I guess the following film tells one of the smartest stories in a music videos that I have seen so far. It was created by the ‘world’s best neo-post-post-music hall anti-folk band’ Pig with the Face of a Boy and it stages the story of Russia from the perspective of a worker…well…who is responsible to spin the Tetris blocks that fall down from the sky. A great metaphor to describe life in Russia since the 1870s and a very nice, clever song. Well done guys. I hope you become really, really successful. Check out the band here…

Yahoo’s Bus Stop Derby. Digital Out of Home Galore.

Dezember 7th, 2010 • 1 comment Brands, Experimental, Social
Tags: Brands, Campaign, Cool, Display, Experimental, Games, Gaming, Media, Out of Home, Tech, Touch, We like, yahoo

Traditional brands go digital? Well, it’s vice versa as well. After Foursquare has taken over Times Square Yahoo now goes local with this nice and engaging idea – the Yahoo Bus Stop Derby. In this two-month challenge 20 bus stops (unfortunately all of them in S.F.) are turned into social gaming hubs with interactive 72-inch touch screens. The winner wins the ‘world’s biggest neighbourhood party with OK Go’. To be honest, I get sick by these kind of incentives starting with ‘the world’s biggest XYZ’. But I think Yahoo made a good job in bringing a casual digital gaming experience into reality…what do you think?

(via adverblog)

Civilization. The evolution goes on.

Januar 24th, 2010 • 1 comment Games
Tags: Brands, Business, Civilization, Cool, Creativity, Future, Games, Gaming, Prediction, Social Gaming, Strategy

One of the most succesful computer games ever is about to reinvent itself completely. Sid Meier’s civilization is not only a brilliant computer game, it is also very flexible as it has found the way to consoles, iPhones and soon to Facebook. This is more than just an adaption. CIV is a highly complex strategy game, not necessarily dedicated to be played with simple interfaces. But it mastered this challenge and might soon redefine social gaming – in an unpredicted evolution in UX, marketing and gameplay.

I love Civilization. Chances are high that you played it. It can easily be labeled as one of the most addicitive pieces of entertainment ever. The rules:  you become the leader of a primitive tribe on a fictional continent (or real scenarios). Your job is to make this tribe flourish and to turn it from cavemen in 4000 B.C. into an advanced civilization ready for space conquest.

CIV has a 12% share of my teenage days as it made me play for days. Once you have built the Pyramids or declared War on this other tribe you could not stop anymore. And…the simple gaming principle did not rely on superior visual effects but on an outstanding and highly intelligent game. No two Civ matches were the same as the complex combination of environment, your people’s properties and your neighbours mixed up to a time-eating complex which you simply wanted to be the best in.

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Figures. The Gaming Industry.

Januar 19th, 2010 • 1 comment Business, Games, Trends
Tags: Business, Future, Games, Gaming, Strategy, Trends, visual, World

We all love Info visualizations. Similar to the ones by The Oat Meal this one explains us the wonderful world of video games. The gaming industry succeeded in becoming the #1 entertainment sector, to be at the forefront before music and movies. And even though there was a drop in video game sales in 2009, it’s quite impressive to see the industry recover.

Here are a couple of figures revolving around this industry. Don’t forget to check out the numbers behind the adult movie industry as well (thx to geekologie).

Faaaaarmville. The commerical is here (kind of).

Januar 11th, 2010 • 2 comments Games, Social
Tags: Ads, Facebook, Farmville, Funny, Games, Social Gaming, Spoof

As long as you still want to be able to have a relationship, work and stuff like that, you should not start certain things. Heroin for example, or World of Warcraft…or Faaaarmville. Zynga’s social gaming superstar attracts 72.9 million active users every month and was among the first superhits of a new gaming genre on social networks. Farmville was not the first but the most succesful social games…ending the careers and relationships of millions on the way to the top.

And now look what user generated content did for us. Faaaarmville – the commercial. 110% hilarity guaranteed (thx to Penn-Olson).

Gaming. The very, very, very cool new DJ Hero trailer.

Oktober 15th, 2009 • Games
Tags: Cool, Funny, Games, Ideas, Lifestyle, Music, trailer, visual, We like

Okay, my next Wii purchase will be this: Activision’s DJ Hero is going to be launched on Oct 27th. And I just found this extremely groovy trailer from Visual FX studio Framestore, London. Looks like serious fun and a cool presentation (via Creativity Online).

Halo 3 ODST. Sometimes war is a video game.

September 23rd, 2009 • Games, We like
Tags: Bungie, Creative, Games, Halo, Lifestyle, Microsoft, Motion, video, Viral, visual, We like

For years Halo is among the few Game titles which kept up a very high level of creative excellence in marketing communication. Almost two years after the third sequel from Halo was published, Halo 3: ODST got into stores. The first-person shooter video game, developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft, was released on the Xbox 360 exclusively on September 22, 2009. Players assume the roles of elite human United Nations Space Command soldiers known as Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs) during the events of Halo 2 and Halo 3.

Now watch this trailer by Bungie, pulling the Gamer into a Halo sequel presented like a classic war movie. Stunning! (Thx to Fubiz)

Next step. Microsoft Project Natal.

Juni 7th, 2009 • Allgemein
Tags: Games, Microsoft, Motion

Nice to see that my the mothership of my employer once in a while comes up with something completely new. Microsoft’s Project Natal is a new motion-capturing engine which was just presented at this year’s E3. It takes the Nintendo Wii concept to a new level. And all you need is a camera for your existing XBOX – not a new console.