A murkrow, in reality?
My present self had always been intrigued by alternative forms of gaming that can generate experiences with gamers that in general cannot be replicated through other forms of media. Of course, I’m talking about the fact that gaming itself is an interactive medium, whereas other forms of media simply do not have the same sort of input to output configuration that permeates throughout our medium. That is, there is only output when it comes to books or movies, where you are the passive observer.
I must admit though, being interactive in nature is why gaming is so different. Just like how movies and books have their own merits, gaming also allows us to engage ourselves and perhaps allow us to see a different side of us and our own beings. How do we, as players, interact and react with the world created for us players?
Reality, as I would define it, something that we perceive. It is, in essence, existence. We perceive gaming as something that isn’t reality, because it essentially exists outside of the physical world. When a player destroys an object in the game, we inherently know that we aren’t exactly destroying a real object that exists, instead it is something that doesn’t exist. This is one of the big reasons why digital items traditionally have a difficulty gaining ground as property in a legal term: we simply inherently know that a digital object simply is data on a server and have a different form of attachment to it than something that already exists, such as a book. It has, to us, a different kind of value: intangible value.
Sega’s Project Diva can allows the player insert the popular Vocaloid Hatsune Miku into the real world.
An augmented reality game is a game where it uses different sensory devices as input and change the output to the player. It essentially uses the environment around the player to become a part of the game itself. In essence, the game enhances the environment around the player to create a game itself in real time. It’s as though we are saying “what if we incorporate what exists in the real world and put it in the gaming world? What if we can use the real world to generate content for our gamers?
Games that augment reality comes in many different forms, one extremely common augmentation is the use of a camera function and adding different pixels and images. Of course, this is through the use of our mobile devices, such as the Playstation Vita or a mobile phone.
Even Nintendo experimented with said augmented reality game with Pokemon. Pokemon Dream Radar exists as one of the ways the Nintendo 3DS boasts to enhance the gaming platform by combining reality with Pokemon. In this case, the player can find little dream bubbles existing in reality through the lens of the game system. The player can then use the 3DS to collect these bubbles. Of course, the end result is the of capture more Pokemon that eventually makes itself back into the player’s Pokemon game.
Pokemon Dream Radar, a Nintendo ARG.
If we can augment reality, we can also create circumstances that normally doesn’t exist in either the gaming world or our real world, creating a truly novel experience. In Pokemon Dream Radar, what we can note is that it’s not really something that’s all that exciting in terms of gameplay mechanics. You simply look at something through a camera and it displays essentially additional images superimposed upon the background. The actual background isn’t really that important to the game itself.
Some interesting applications then could be the use of say our mapping systems to tell us about a story say in the real world. Perhaps we are at a restaurant and we can play a small game within the restaurant to learn a little bit more about its history or what’s good on the menu according to reviewers online. Perhaps we can make it a quest where you can fight different boss monsters by tagging the gaming device onto different monuments in a park for a small gaming reward.
Let us think about how we can play with Pokemon Dream Radar in this sort of an example. Perhaps you are out in the park in the grass. This can increase the rate of which grass-type Pokemon would show up in your game as you capture them. Perhaps the game can set up a flag system where particular places in a tourist area where you can capture certain Legendary Pokemon that relates to the area itself. The possibilities of using a simple system like that to enhance the way we play even such a simple game can be enticing.
Another thing about this, is that we can create a new forum for discussion, about gaming in general, and how this can combine with our mobile platforms, on a broader context. For example, going back to the tourist idea, we can use said mobile platforms and devices to essentially be our tour guide, with user generated content about the area we are in. Again, it’s like a flag system where a player can click on objects and leave or receive comments, while you defeat alien ships who are trying to invade the tourist spot. Essentially augmented reality gaming can allow us to engage in the real world something that may not be as powerful or engaging at first glance.
Now of course, there are always dangers and caveats to all the systems. I doubt reality augmentation can be a truly a one-to-one, 100% context sensitive platform for players to game in. Like all programs it would have to follow rules of programing. Secondarily, the idea of a flag system would mean the platform needs a way to judge where the platform is and where a flag should exist (though that’s possible with satellites and GPS). Of course, there’s always the sad possibility of commercial abuse.
Definitely, there are probably 96 other things we can apply augmentation, but for now, we can dream.
