Hands-On Gaming Brings Together Diverse Demographic

25

Author: Ashly Burch

Last weekend, I re-enacted “West Side Story” in an abandoned parking lot. The soundtrack was not quite as dramatic and emotive, nor was the choreography quite as impressive, but it did involve finger snapping while intimidatingly circling an opponent. Also, I was holding a Playstation Move controller. And I was jousting. In addition, I fired rockets with my voice and experienced Tetris in 3 dimensions. Not bad for one afternoon in downtown Culver City.

These only mildly hyperbolic anecdotes were born out of a visit to Indiecade, the International Festival of Independent Games, which was open to the public the weekend of Oct. 7. My “West Side Story” moment occurred organically through the game “Johann Sebastian Joust,” an elegant multiplayer experience with malleable structure that encourages very diverse play experiences.

In “Joust,” roughly 10 players hold a Playstation Move controller, which reacts to degrees of movement. If a player hits the controller of an opponent, the controller will sense that sharp movement and disable itself, in which case the assaulted player is out of the game. Controllers are disabled until there is only one person left standing.

However, there is a brilliant, additional element of difficulty. Music is played, which varies in tempo from slow to fast. The controller’s sensitivity to movement is dependent on the speed of the music. If the music is slow, the controller is incredibly sensitive, which means that any speedy or sharp movements will disable it. If the music is fast, the player can move as freely and quickly as desired.

What results is an incredibly interesting visual waltz and interaction of different playing strategies. Many players acted aggressively but lacked tact and got themselves out by moving too quickly during periods of slow music. Others, like myself, were more defensive in their approach, allowing the offense-oriented players to pick each other off or luring them into self-sabotage.

The simplistic, open-ended rules of “Joust” left a lot of room for player experimentation. The experience of the game was dependent entirely upon the intuition of the other players and thus ensured that every round was unique.

Of course, an opportunity to re-enact a classic musical was not the only thing Indiecade had to offer. “PewPewPewPewPew PewPewPewPew,” a side-scrolling shooter with the aesthetic of an old-school arcade game, came as another surprising, incredibly inventive multiplayer experience. “Pew,” in which an astronaut traverses a landscape of hostile geometric shapes, requires the use of two ordinary microphones. Whenever the player speaks into one microphone, the astronaut raises into the air. The other microphone—also, of course, voice activated—is used to fire the astronaut’s gun.

The effect of these gameplay mechanics is the facilitation of a unique, social experience. As both players attempt to navigate the unconventional controls of “Pew,” their success is entirely reliant on their partner. This cooperation is more involved than in most other games, as two individuals are controlling the actions of only one character, makingthe playing dynamic starkly different from other co-op games. What’s really wonderful about “Pew,” however, is its accessibility. As the game only requires the ability to speak, both the very young, very old and those in-between can pick up the game and immediately start playing without any difficulty.

Indiecade also featured two titles that utilized 3D technology in their gameplay, my favorite of which was “superHYPERCUBE.” Through the use of both Kinect motion-capture technology and 3D technology, “superHYPERCUBE” creates a spacial, highly intuitive rendering of Tetris in 3D.

The player, presented with a slab from which a particular shape is cut, must switch the perspective of a complicated geometric figure until it fits through the hole. The Kinect tracks the movement of the player’s head so that they can view the opening and the Tetris figure they must fit it through, from different angles. This creates the illusion of an actual dimensional space that the player navigates, both through the use of 3D and by virtue of the fact that the player explores the aforementioned space through physical movement.

Perhaps equally as enjoyable as actually playing the games was simply maneuvering the convention and watching other people play. As Indiecade was open to the public, it attracted an incredibly diverse group of people.

I watched a 60-year-old man “Joust” with the best of them and could scarcely contain my glee when I saw a four-year-old boy shouting “pew!” into a microphone, eager to make the astronaut fire at his command. As an avid lover of games myself, it was wonderfully heartening to see so many different kinds of people enjoying such creative, expertly crafted games.

Totally dominating at “Joust” was pretty great, too. 

This article has been archived, for more requests please contact us via the support system.

Loading

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here