The Visual Nature

Video Games start with "Video". This represents the visual component to the interactive experiance. But if we interact with what we see, then the gaming aspect of this visual interactive experiance can be optional and not essential. With the virtual extention concept, and further on with the concept of transmittable architecture, the screen evolves into a doorway or window into extensions of physical public spaces. Stepping beyond the game and into a visual interactive experiance close to how we interact with the world around us. With large enough projections of the virtual world, people in the physical world and observe what is happening in that locations virtual double as easy as they would observe an event that would occur down the street they stood on. The article, "breaking the game", suggests that web cams recording the people obseving the projection can then be projected back into the virtual space of that location. This allows people in both locations, physical and virtual to interact with one another simotaneously by way of the visual projection.

I imagine the visual nature of this phenomenon of simotaneous spaces to look like Tim Hopes film- the Jubilee Line, noted by youtube video.

The Virtual Extension

So one day you get a tour of a facility, and the tour guide walks you into a room. The guide shows you the seating area where meetings are held, the platform area for presentations and lectures, and then she walks you over to a white wall and projects an image onto it by accessing a near by computer. The guide then explains to you that this is a computer with a direct link to the facilities virtual extension. Your mind is blown away- what is a virtual extension. You are told that you can meet with others who are also exploring this virtual extension of this space, the same as you would explore any physical dimension of the facility- it is the facilities virtual space.
Some how these designers decided to weave game architecture seamlessly into the physical architecture, as if they were one space. The text suggests that the extension exists as "a functioning addition to the buildings artistic programming and values." http://isc.temple.edu/sdrury/survey2006/DAMn°workgame.pdf

Integrate with modern art.

Pac Mondrian

by over laying pac man game on the art piece, it gives interactivity on paintings.

Game as a form of sending message.

Artist sometimes put some message in their work.
It is possible to send message through the art game.

September 12th
in a form of shooting game, Gonzalo Frasca made his statement about war and terrorism.















Ah_Q by Feng Mengbo
Reproduction of Quake III
By using dance-board instead of controller, player actually WALK into game world.

Art installation in the form of game

Painstasion



In this art piece, the audience need to keep ping pong game.
Every time when you lost the ball, the machine will give you PAIN, and you have to be patient in order to win.


Through the looking glass


In this art piece player play ping pong game with him/her self in the mirror.
technology (special mirror and projector) helped the birth of this art piece, and the artist chose this to be game.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/digista/review/041223_review.html#no8 (only Japanese)

Create the art work together.

the artist like Natalie Bookchin, made a her art work as game which requires audience interaction on the final presentation of the art work.

The Intruder

the player(audience) need to continuer playing basic game (such as pong game) in order to listen her story.

Game as an Art form

From Nikkansports.com Nov, 29th
Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare released 5th annual report of the research of children born in 21st century.
According to this report, 28% of 4 and harlf years old children play TV or computer game at home. Increase rate was a two times as last year.


obviously this world is a world of gaming.

In the wave of gaming, some artist especially digital media artist interested in the form of gaming and using game as their way to present their art work.


so what is a form of game?
Game is a interactive activity between number of people or players and game designer. Game designer gave birth to game, and player give the game life by playing the game.
Without interuction of player, the game never work as "game".

traditional art form is "one-way approach", the art work is completed by artist and whatever the audience feel or say about it, it will never change its form.
But when the artist use game as their art form, interaction of audience is necessary to complete their art work. In other words art game requires audience interactions to complete art work.


So what is art game?http://www.artificial.dk/articles/artgamesspecial.htm

As a small subcategory of computer games you find Art Games. They are made by artists as pieces of art. Some have ulterior motives, mainly political, others are merely a playful piece of interaction with the user. -Art Games An introduction by Kristine Ploug

In the same way video art cannibalized television, and photography cannibalized painting, game art lives on the remainders of mainstream computer games. -From an Artist's Perspective by Mathias Fuchs

Console Interactivity link

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/n642.htm

Check out this link. It provides a cool interactive diagram of how the controller triggers different visuals on a screen. Also presents a layout of technical information on the Nintendo 64 console and its various functions. Pretty neat!

Interactivity Part 1: The Controller

Most console video games have a controller or some device that can trigger visual actions to occur. This interactive element is what makes video games so fun and unique. There is what you are interacting with; that being the visual nature of the game; that supplies the gamer with motivation for triggering actions via the controller. The controller is how the gamer interacts with the visual world on screen. How the gamer interacts with the game is the prime to the resulting experience they have. Currently games have actions triggered by buttons still. Buttons can be found on a controller, or if you play a PC game, then you key board is filled with buttons; each key command triggering a different action. However, pressing buttons is still the only way to interact with games, even today where games are pushing to be closest to reality, the only way to interact with this reality is by way of the controller.

The Video Game Console Part 1: VIDEO

Video Games happen wherever there is a screen to display their graphics. Because they are "video" games and not just "games" can help define what video games are and what they can become. Understanding the console helps to understand the nature of the video game. Back in the day, the only place to experience video gaming was to go to an arcade. This was a place clustered with machines, each providing a joystick to play and a monitor to see what you are playing. This was an early way to experience video gaming. Like I said earlier, you always need a screen to play, and you might have a good idea where you could most commonly access a screen- the TV in your own home? But how could you transport this big arcade machine in your home, and why would you? Well, the arcade itself is a self-contained video game console and screen, just in one big box. The idea was to make your television in your home a personal in-home arcade machine. The machine part comes into your home by way of the console, which even inside the huge arcades is nothing more then a tiny circuit board. An easy way to get the arcades to your home TV screen was to encase the circuit board inside a smaller casing which made it convenient to bring into the home living space. This case with arcade style circuit board inside would come with its own set of cables- one part audio and one part visual- that you could connect to your television set in order to display its graphics. Since that day, video gaming hasn't changed much. What has changed was the personal computer (drawing from the same concept as the console) becoming a permanent fixture in many homes. This "PC" needed a monitor as well, and with another monitor now available in the home, although different from the TV, still displayed graphics and so became the new screen for video games to be played on.

ARGNet

ARGNet a comprehensive source for all your Alternate Reality Game needs!!!

ilovebees.com

ilovebees.com

spooky, isn't it?

Massively Multiplayer Games (MMOs) - Second Life

Recently, in today's world of computer and video gaming, there has been a flood of MMOs. Ranging from the free (and usually dismal in gameplay) to the monthly subscription (paying for quality - YES) there are probably hundreds of different MMOs being played 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Inside of this broad category, there can be several subcategories, ranging from mindless combat, strategy, virtual life, and those bordering on an alternative reality. All MMOs are based around a central server concept, which requires gamers to have specific client software. Therefore, when you log off of the game, even if there are no players connected, the game is still happening.
In many of these games, the actions that one or many gamers take may alter the state of the world. In some games, such as Second Life (www.secondlife.com), gamers are encouraged to not just play the game, but live out their second life, and shape the world that they live in. Second Life is free, but people pay the company (real money) to own land, and pay other users (Linden dollars) to buy their inventions, textures, and scripts.
At the time of writing, there is currently 1,074,571,123 L$ in circulation. Currently it's 269L$ to 1US$ when buying, and 279L$ to 1US$ when selling. Besides for the land tax, Linden Labs makes their money by charging a small commission on every L$ to US$ trade. Keep in mind that something that sets apart Second Life from most MMOs is that Linden recognized the Intellectual Property rights of anyone that creates something in the Live Grid. Almost every other single MMO has terms in the EULA that claim everything in their world is their IP, and it is illegal to claim it as your own and sell it on eBay. However, many people, and companies founded on selling in game items thrive due to loopholes (belrion.com).
With Second Life, Linden Labs is blurring the line between the virtual game world and the real world.

Majestic

You pick up the latest game from the computer store, only to find that the game plays through a rather simple browser-type interface. About an hour into the game, it seemingly goes dead and you can't play or do anything with the game. So you shut it down, turn your computer off, and head to sleep. Then, at 3AM, your phone rings. A mysterious caller is on the other end, giving you instructions to log onto the game. You think nothing of it and proceed to go back to sleep.
In the morning, you turn your computer on, only to find an email from a mysterious source telling you to log back into the game again. Don't worry, hackers have not found you, it's only the game that is sending you these emails and phone calls.
Majestic is an Alternate Reality Game (ARG) that continues to play even when you are not playing the game. But it's not like a Tamagotchi or Virtual Pet...the game will make contact with you at any time of the day if you want it to. You provide the game servers with your email, phone number, AIM screen name, fax number, etc...all the contact information that you are comfortable with. The game will then contact you with important information regarding the game itself and clues to unraveling the mystery behind Majestic.

Unfortunately, due to the invasive nature of the game, the events of 9/11/01, and poor sales, EA cancelled the project. Only the first season of the game was completed, and due to it's nature, cannot be played anymore.

"Are you playing it? Or is it playing you?"