video game – Artificial Intelligence https://ars.electronica.art/ai/en Ars Electronica Festival 2017 Tue, 28 Jun 2022 13:43:24 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.6 Pacathon https://ars.electronica.art/ai/en/pacathon/ Wed, 16 Aug 2017 14:31:19 +0000 https://ars.electronica.art/ai/?p=1403

BANDAI NAMCO Holdings Inc. (JP), Hakuhodo Inc. (JP), Ars Electronica Futurelab (AT)

Pacathon is an open innovation lab for discussing future play and future society through prototypes exploring new utilizations of PAC-MAN for people. PAC-MAN is a video game algorithm that was released by BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc. (formerly NAMCO) in 1980.

It became a mega-hit not only in its birthplace Japan but across the world and is loved still today by many people. PAC-MAN attracted not only the traditional game fans but also a new wave audience of young and old alike who were captivated by the game’s simple rules, profound game system, colorful and cute characters design, rhythmical BGM and unique SE and the comical intermission sequences between each level. In many ways, PAC-MAN was the first avatar to create a communication bridge between a coded, virtual world and the people. As the hype grew, approximately 400 different types of merchandise were released one after another and PAC-MAN became a social phenomenon embedded in the human psyche as a symbolic icon representing game culture and the social impact.

And now, if we regard PAC-MAN as a reflection of human social instinct and release it from the game screen into the actual world, what kind of and characteristics will it feature and what will PAC-MAN‘s new role be in the future?

Pacathon is an open innovation process that was born out of a research project: an adventure to explore what a next generation of PAC-MAN could look like. Through the collective minds of the BANDAI NAMCO group, Ars Electronica and Hakuhodo, these three collaborators have been carrying out research and workshops since May 2017 to understand the essence of future playing and to unearth the social value of PAC-MAN in order to prototype PAC-MAN’s future. This project aims to explore the potential of innovative gamification with the Ars Electronica Festival participants through Pacathon.

Credits

Text: Hideaki Ogawa (Ars Electronica Futurelab), Rena Tanaka (Hakuhodo Inc.)

PAC-MANTM&©BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.

]]> Computer Animation / Film / VFX – Everything https://ars.electronica.art/ai/en/everything/ Tue, 08 Aug 2017 11:27:43 +0000 https://ars.electronica.art/ai/?p=3334

David OReilly (IE)

Everything is a “sandbox narrative computer game”: the course of the game is free, allowing players to explore the game universe on their own, and no game is like another. Everything you see here, you can be, so you can transform yourself into a ladybug, a plant, a microbe, or even an entire galaxy.

Everything is a philosophical journey between micro- and macrocosm, an experience that conveys new impressions, ideas and abilities. The voice of the narrator is from the philosopher Alan Watts, who died in 1973. Texts by Watts, Schopenhauer, Seneca or Emerson accompany the interactive simulation of nature.

With no specific goal or task, the game allows players to drift in a seemingly endless world of different perspectives, enhancing self-perception at the same time. Especially the simple animation and graphics contribute to the striking charm of this poetic, philosophical, educational, and also thoroughly political game.

Credits

www.davidoreilly.com/everything

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