PacManhattan

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PacManhattan or Pac-Manhattan is an analog urban game that was developed by students at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University (NYU) in 2004 and was subsequently played at irregular intervals. The game builds on the classic arcade game Pac-Man and places it in the real environment of Washington Square Park in Lower Manhattan , New York City .

history

The game PacManhattan was developed in 2004 as part of the Interactive Telecommunications graduate program at New York University under the direction of Frank Lantz to explore what happens when games are "removed from their" small world "of tabletops, televisions and computers and into the larger one "real world" can be placed from street corners and cities. "

As a result, the game was repeated by hobby players in several cities. In 2014 the game was repeated as part of the 2008 Diana Jones Award- winning Come Out and Play Festival .

Style of play

The game is played with a total of 10 people, there are five players on the street (Pac Man + 4 ghosts) and five players in a control room. A player disguised as Pac-Man has to walk around the Washington Square Park area in Manhattan and try to collect all the virtual points in the streets (known only to his controller). Four players, dressed as the ghosts Inky, Blinky, Pinky, and Clyde, attempt to catch the Pac-Man before all points are collected. Every player on the street is connected to a "controller" and is constantly in contact with it via mobile phone. The controller's role is to update his or her player's position as he or she walks the streets. At every intersection, the player on the street informs the controller of his position, which is then updated by software and shared with the other controllers. Pac-Man tries to clear the playing field of points before he is caught by one of the ghosts.

The playing field covers a 6x4 block area around Washington Square Park in Manhattan. Intersections are indicated by a letter and number that start in the upper left corner and run from left to right. The power pellets are located at the intersections A1, E1, A6, and E7, i.e. at the corners of the playing field. When they are active, their crossing point will be colored yellow, when they are consumed their crossing point will be white. Washington Square Park itself is taboo for all players.

At the beginning of the game, Pac-Man walks through the streets and always stays outdoors within the designated play area. Meanwhile, the ghosts can begin chasing and encircling Pac-Man. Whenever one of the players has arrived at an intersection, he forwards his position to his controller. The controllers can pass the positions of the other players on to their character at any time. When Pac-Man arrives at an intersection with an available Power Pellet, it is automatically activated; if hunted, he has to touch a pole at the corner to activate the power pellet. After activating a power pellet, Pac-Man is "invincible" for two minutes and can hunt the ghosts. When a ghost is eaten, the ghost must return to its starting point before it can pursue Pac-Man again.

Pac-Man gets 30 points per block that is completely circled and 200 points for the first ghost caught during the duration of a Power Pellet. The points earned for catching a ghost are doubled for each subsequent ghost (200, 400, 800, 1600). The round ends when Pac-Man is eaten all virtual points or is caught by a ghost.

With the help of cell phone contacts, Wi-Fi internet connections and specific software developed by the Pac-Manhattan team, Pac-Man and the ghosts are tracked from a central location and their progress is tracked via the internet for viewers from all over the world Broadcast world.

reception

PacManhattan was first played publicly in 2004 after the game was developed and received wide media coverage, particularly in the New York media. Videos from the game were distributed worldwide via YouTube and other media.

The New York Times reported on the game as

"A real-world version of the 1980's video game played on the streets of New York and the latest example of a so-called big game : a contest that uses wireless devices like cellphones and global positioning beacons to track players as they move through the urban grid, turning cities into vast game boards. "

The journalist Warren St. John put the game in relation to other big games like the one in London developed games Can You See Me Now? , Uncle Roy All Around You and Savannah, and the Digital Street Game developed by Intel for Manhattan. The New York Sun wrote of the participating students:

"They aren't crazy. They aren't celebrating Halloween in May and they aren't victims of a fraternity hazing ritual. They are New York University graduate students playing Pac-Manhattan, a real-life - and more dangerous - version of Pac-Man transporting the world's most famous arcade game to the crowded streets of New York City. "

In addition to these newspapers, numerous other media and blogs reported on the game, including Reuters , CNN , Wired , Gothamist and CBS Radio . In Germany the game was u. a. picked up by Spiegel online .

supporting documents

  1. ^ A b c Warren St. John: Quick, After Him: Pac-Man Went Thataway. The New York Times, May 9, 2004; accessed on February 3, 2019.
  2. ↑ "in order to explore what happens when games are removed from their" little world "of tabletops, televisions and computers and placed in the larger" real world "of street corners, and cities." About , pacmanhattan.com; accessed on February 3, 2019.
  3. ↑ PacManhattan, invitation to the 10th anniversary; accessed on February 3, 2019.
  4. ↑ PacManhattan at the Come Out and Play Festival 2014; accessed on February 3, 2019.
  5. ↑ a b About , pacmanhattan.com; accessed on February 3, 2019.
  6. ↑ a b c d Rules , pacmanhattan.com; accessed on February 3, 2019.
  7. ^ Jacob Gershman: NYU Graduate Students Use City as Their Game Board. The New York Times, May 9, 2004; accessed on February 3, 2019.
  8. ↑ Press , pacmanhattan.com (some of the original articles are no longer available); accessed on February 3, 2019.
  9. ↑ Tom Hillenbrand: Witching Hour in Manhattan. Spiegel online, May 11, 2004; accessed on February 3, 2019.

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