Playfulness everywhere
This week, the Playmakers film launched on the web.
It's a combination of the story of the design and evolution of the Playmakers game, as coaxed into existence by Alex Fleetwood and Holly Gramazio from Hide&Seek, and a compelling overview of what pervasive gaming is all about. The film includes wonderful people such as Howard Rheingold and Michael Wesch, and brings in elements of theatre, public spaces, playfulness in everyday life and specific games, as well as the edginess where pervasive gaming tilts towards street protest. There's also a little discussion of conventional computer games, compared with "no technology" games and technology-assisted pervasive gaming.
The documentary is worth watching, whether you are already interested in gaming, or interested in learning more about an exciting emerging field.
Playmakers from thinkpublic on Vimeo.
All this leads up to the final launch of Playmakers the game, which Michael and I were lucky enough to catch at the Hide&Seek weekender on the South Bank last summer. If you look closely enough, you can see both of us in the game footage, wearing yellow ties and running around madly; there's even a good shot of Michael being attacked by aliens just behind an ice cream van. As the film says, pervasive gaming should give you experiences you would never have had otherwise, and which you will remember for a long time. Playmakers was an excellent example of this - really unforgettable, challenging and funny and enjoyable - and all the running was superb exercise...
There's another Hide&Seek weekend coming up soon - July 9-11th at the National Theatre. See you there?
It's a combination of the story of the design and evolution of the Playmakers game, as coaxed into existence by Alex Fleetwood and Holly Gramazio from Hide&Seek, and a compelling overview of what pervasive gaming is all about. The film includes wonderful people such as Howard Rheingold and Michael Wesch, and brings in elements of theatre, public spaces, playfulness in everyday life and specific games, as well as the edginess where pervasive gaming tilts towards street protest. There's also a little discussion of conventional computer games, compared with "no technology" games and technology-assisted pervasive gaming.
The documentary is worth watching, whether you are already interested in gaming, or interested in learning more about an exciting emerging field.
Playmakers from thinkpublic on Vimeo.
All this leads up to the final launch of Playmakers the game, which Michael and I were lucky enough to catch at the Hide&Seek weekender on the South Bank last summer. If you look closely enough, you can see both of us in the game footage, wearing yellow ties and running around madly; there's even a good shot of Michael being attacked by aliens just behind an ice cream van. As the film says, pervasive gaming should give you experiences you would never have had otherwise, and which you will remember for a long time. Playmakers was an excellent example of this - really unforgettable, challenging and funny and enjoyable - and all the running was superb exercise...
There's another Hide&Seek weekend coming up soon - July 9-11th at the National Theatre. See you there?