DESCRIPTION OF THE COMPETITION
Competition Reminder: Imagine The Games Of 2020
[03.04.09]
Gamasutra and sister sites GameCareerGuide and GameSetWatch are presenting a new competition for future-oriented developers, with 20 All-Access GDC Passes (collectively worth over $40,000!) available for lucky winners who can imagine what video games might be like in the year 2020.
The prizes in this special competition are awarded thanks to Green Label Gaming. The Mountain Dew-backed gaming label is heavily supporting innovative gaming at GDC this year, and is committed to empowering the emerging talent helping to shape the future of the industry.
In addition to the GDC All-Access passes, Green Label Gaming is adding $10,000 to the Seumas McNally Grand Prize at the Independent Games Festival, to make the IGF's top prize $30,000 this year.
We know the kind of break-out games that are popular in 2009, from World Of Goo to LittleBigPlanet and beyond. But how about in 2020? Can you predict what kind of games will be smash hits, how they will be delivered, and how we will consume games as an entertainment medium?
As you may know, there are people called futurists who get awarded to talk about what hasn't happened yet. So that's what we're letting competition entrants be for this test, with the winners being showcased in a special Gamasutra feature.
Therefore, for this competition, devise the name of a game that will be popular or cutting-edge tech in 2020, and write a description of how it is controlled, as well as its chief design concepts and innovations.
Use illustrations if you think it'll help your point, and also try to give an impression of the minute to minute gameplay that you'll play through while advancing in this game.
Obviously, a lot of the game genres or concepts may be the same as today, even in 2020 - for example, role-playing games will still have orcs and goblins in them, perhaps? But how will you control your player, what extra detail or interactivity will you see in the game, how will that mesh with the real world, and how will these titles be additionally social and fulfilling?
We're presuming that the most cutting-edge games of 2020 may use some of the same game mechanics of today's games, but different ways of being integrated into your lifestyle and controlled.
More complex gesture controls? Direct brain control of games? Wearable devices that keep you playing on the move? Games that work seamlessly into your work time? There's plenty of opportunity for invention here, both in design and control methods.
The competition prizes, supported by Mountain Dew's Green Label Gaming as part of their Platinum Sponsorship of this year's Independent Games Festival, will be twenty All-Access passes to this year's Game Developer's Conference; total prize value over $40,000.
Please enter the competition by sending your entry to gamesof2020@gamasutra.com by Wednesday, March 4th at 11.59pm PST - and good luck!
[Gamasutra editors will collectively judge the entries, and winners will be notified via email within 24 hours of the competition's completion. The contest allows one entry per person, and they can be submitted from anywhere in the world. You will retain all rights to your game concept, but we may reprint it as part of the competition results. The prize consists of one All-Access Pass to GDC, but does not include any associated travel or hotel costs.]
Chow Time
Submitted By: Trevor Paradise
My game is called Chow Time. I imagine that video games will benefit the human race and not just benefit an entertainment aspect of a persons' life.
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Like the Wii has done when Nintendo created Wii Fit, my game concept will help your diet through manipulating your brain to think you are eating something delectable while you are eating something healthy.
Chow Time will come with a diet guide that would help achieve your goals, along with a guide for physical fitness through another iteration of this game type.
The controls consist of a visor to cover your eyes that would use LEDs to show you the food you want to eat such as, Indian food, Mexican, Fast Food, Italian, etc.; but in fact you are eating something healthy.
Also, your nose will be connected to a smell device that would give you the smell of the food you have purchased. It will come in any flavor and any type of food you want this will trick your brain into thinking something else and since a lot of taste is connected through smell it will feel like you are eating the food you have purchased.
This game is meant for all ages and is a try to stop the overweight problems in America and promote healthy eating even if you think you are eating something bad for your body.
Through Chow Time you will be able to connect to Food TV channels and taste the food they are making in case you wanted to buy that food in the future. Television would also involve more senses through this game and inspire other people to make TV more interactive and feel real.
Chow Time will bring the world to a realization that games are not just a child's play thing and a device to change the world and help people with real world issues.
By making this game, hopefully healthy food will lower in price and raise the prices of negative food and also make the fast food companies change to smell food companies, delivering great taste and not just extra pounds.
Wizards of Wisflow
Submitted By: Christopher LaCalamita
Genre: Enhanced Interactivity Action Adventure RPG
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Tagline: Utilizing Microsoft's XBOX 1080's cutting edge “Programmable Matter” technology, build your own potions, conjure magic, investigate treasures, and read ancient scrolls right from the palm of your own hands as you venture deep into the fantasy world of “Wisflow” on a magical adventure.
Concept Summary: Programmable matter is an exciting new technology almost indistinguishable from magic. Currently being developed by Intel with help from the academic community, programmable matter allows a person to interact with and morph three dimensional shape shifting materials right in the palm of their hands!
With the ability to call on and render these objects in real-time, the impact it can have on game development and interactive entertainment is tremendous if applied correctly.
In the Enhanced Interactivity Action Adventure RPG “Wizards of Wisflow”, you begin your journey as a young wizard in an incredibly imaginative fantasy world. Utilizing proven game design elements of the genre, you venture off into “Wisflow” exploring villages, caves, dungeons, mountains, and vast forests while building your character as you progress.
However, by combining the advanced technology that Programmable Matter provides, you end up with a brand new genre and a completely revamped role playing experience.
Game Snapshot
Setting: “You recently entered a dark dungeon full of smoke and fire and had been fighting through swarms of goblins as you ventured deep into this ancient evil cave. Just a few moments ago, you faced a large ogre and had been battling it for some time now. You don't have much life left and neither does he. Something tells you that one more devastating blow will defeat him once and for all.”
Real Life Interaction: Using your controller, you call on your inventory. It immediately appears three dimensionally right in front of you on your “Programmable Matter Pad” that you have placed on your coffee table. Within your inventory, you quickly pull up your magic scrolls and select your favorite spell, “Dragons of Fire”.
The ancient scroll appears in front of you for you to unroll and read. You read a line thus activating the magic spell. The scroll disintegrates and then morphs into three flaming dragon heads right in front of your eyes! At that moment, the dragons seem to zip towards your television screen targeting the near dead ogre. That graphic translates onto your television screen and smashes the ogre defeating him once and for all.
Afterwards, you walk your character over to a treasure chest and open it. Instead seeing text on your television screen describing what you found, the treasure chest and the objects appear right in front of you on your “Programmable Matter Pad” for you yourself to investigate.
Justification: This is just one game design I have considered that utilizes “Programmable Matter”. The possibilities of this technology within the interactive entertainment industry are endless.
Whether it is used for pure entertainment, educational, or even product placement purposes, “Programmable Matter” is the future technology that will change the way we design games.
I encourage you to review this CNN video explaining Programmable Matter via the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZlE4AH3enU
