Thursday 31 January 2008

Student mobile game ideas

I like this quote.

interviewer: How do you get your bosses to let you do what you want?

Keita Takahashi: I don't think it's anything special. I just write down my ideas on paper, present it to them, and if they don't really understand, I say, “Well, you'll understand if I make it.” Then I make part of it, and they understand. But I don't really have any kind of marketing plan when I put this stuff together, I just propose what I think might be fun or exciting. I don't really have a good knowledge of what will sell. All I can really do is make it and see what happens!

- Namco's Keita Takahashi designer of Katamari Damacy in a recent gamasutra article.
© James Roberts
Each January I have the privilege of sitting down with groups of my students to hear them present their final mobile game proposals for the Games Development module.

Students are free to express their ideas however they think best, from paper prototypes to functional Flash, Java or Processing demos - and we always get some really interesting and thoughtShop scene provoking results.

Some pitches drew on the unique features of mobile devices, like Martin Blackburn's Mobile Processing demo of a mobile chase game in which one player tries to stay within bluetooth range of another. Others, like Peter Walker's gambling & gangsters game 'Mobs' focused on how to develop compelling narrative and addictive game assets with a limited screen size.Initial gangster sketches

James Roberts discussed a long-term social big game in which players must contract digital viruses through bluetooth proximity to develop anti-bodies and survive. This game had the added twist that players could plug in their phones to charge as a way of halting their scientist character's deterioration - "Can I make it to the plug socket in the library from here while keeping my character alive?".

GIMP game logoFinally, Ben Dare proposed a quirky tale of a misunderstood man in a mask battling his way around the city (with peaceful weapons - a pea shooter and a megaphone). The initial spark of inspiration came from GIMP - the free digital creative tool he was using.Phone screen mock-up

Thursday 24 January 2008

C3KE Meeting at Leeds Met

On Monday, 28.January 2008, Leeds met will host a lunch-time meeting with the "Centre for Cultural and Creative Knowledge Exchange" (C3KE), held at the Old Broadcasting House in Leeds. At this event, an overview will be given about the research activities of the centre, presented by a few of the researchers.

The proposed agenda is:
11:00 - 11:30 registration
11:30 - 12:45 presentations by Leeds Met staff
12:45 - 13:00 Derek Hales, Director of the C3KE, will present about the Huddersfield DRU.
13:00 - 15:00 demos, lunch, networking

The presentations are planned as follows:
Tony Renshaw, Richard Stevens: Eye Tracking
Steve Wilkinson: VR and Motion Tracking
Nikos Stavropoulos and Kingsley Ash: Music Composition and Interactive Performance
John Elliott: The Search for Extraterrestial Intelligence

Tentative:
Ben Dalton: Interaction with Big Screens

Demonstrations:
Bal Singh: Interaction with Game on Laptop Computer
Tony Renshaw: Eye Tracking Experience
Kinglsey Ash: Interactive Music Performance
Andy Brennan: Camera-Based Interaction (on DVD)
Rana Gangari: Interactive Video (on DVD)


Please note that your attendance needs to be registered at the NTI:
call 0113-81-21720 or 0845-122-155
or email info@ntileeds.co.uk with your name, event (=C3KE) and dietary requirements.