British dev wants to make a game you can ignore

Lecturer working on nontraditional project that takes real-life actions and translates them into RPG actions.

NEWPORT, Wales--Immersive games that eat up all your free time might become a thing of the past, and games that are "easy to ignore" might be the next big thing. Mark Eyles, speaking at this week's Women in Games 2007 event, which he founded in 2004, introduced just such a project.

Eyles, a lecturer in computer games at the University of Portsmouth in the UK and former industry veteran, has developed a game titled Ambient Quest, which will soon be available to play for free online.

In Ambient Quest, players wear a pedometer attached to their belt or pocket, which counts the number of steps that they take. For every 300 steps, players get one move in the PC role-playing game. Each move opens up more squares on the map, as well as opportunities to find food, treasure, or fight monsters to gain experience. Eyles commented, "Players' real actions in the real world affect an avatar in a virtual world. You can either change your actions in the real world to help your avatar. Or not."

Eyles said that he got the idea for the project--which is part of his PhD research--while he was listening to Brian Eno's album Music for Airports. He said, "I was thinking, if that album was a role-playing game, what would it play like? And on the cover it says 'as ignorable as it is interesting.'"

These kinds of pervasive games could be used in a number of ways, Eyles believes. "Imagine a job which involves fairly repetitive actions--for example shelf stacking--that is not so interesting in itself, but [by 'keeping score' of such actions] the game actually makes it interesting," he said.

The idea of a player's real-world actions or environment affecting the game is not entirely new. Other games that have attempted to integrate real-life actions into their gameplay include Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand, where a specially designed Game Boy Advance cartridge measured the amount of sunshine in your real-life environment to gauge how much power the vampire-slaying hero would had in the game.

236 Comments

  • epormada

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 8:14 pm PT

    Good! Maybe it will help all thoughs fatties get on a treadmill!

  • everythingj

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 8:08 pm PT

    i would do this if the game was really fun and i actually could advance while i was using the device at work somehow. However, since i work at a starbucks, i'm usually stuck behind the bar making drinks all day, instead of walking vast distances. Is there a way to get points for standing? =)

  • ryustruck

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 7:51 pm PT

    sounds, interesting. Ill have to try it out when its released

  • kirbyfanatic

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 7:30 pm PT

    sounds like complete crap to me

  • bowop1

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 7:11 pm PT

    Instead of making a game completely using the real world, how about just bonuses for real world stuff. For example, I have a job that requires me to walk all day, it would be a nice extra benefit if all that walking gave me in-game bonuses as well as my usual paycheck. But I defintely don't want to be forced to get up just to play a game.

  • Dragonblade01

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 6:53 pm PT

    ehh, not really my style, i play video games for fun, and as an escape from the real world, so blending real life and virtual life like this doesn't really tickle my fancy

  • lotsofgunfire

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 6:50 pm PT

    i'll put my pedometer on a piston

  • Darth_Tyrev

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 6:47 pm PT

    Great idea to try to get gamers more exercise...

    Now let's just think of a good game idea.

  • Lostfile

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 6:08 pm PT

    Sounds kinda weird since you would have to walk, sit down at your computer for one turn, walk again, sit down again, repeat.

  • blueflamedino

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 5:45 pm PT

    yeah... and there is no way to cheat on this walking thing right... I mean kids won't find a way to cheat, and they will really want to play this game because it wil be a AAA title, the intentions are good but the methods are bad

  • spartan_104

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 5:37 pm PT

    Finally, an appropriate answer to the digital pat-on-the-back that xbox live achievements offers. Hopefully, this will get gamers off their asses and go become productive members of society. Just remember, someone can be both a gamer and someone who contributes.

  • living420

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 5:32 pm PT

    Id just shake the pedometer until I had as many moves as I wanted, Or put the thing in a dryer for a few days. I love the idea though, making menial tasks interesting.

  • O_OdazX_X

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 5:31 pm PT

    thank god for that alimighty word "free" online games.

  • diablos101

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 5:29 pm PT

    Seems interesting but 300 steps for one move perhaps the balance needs to be put right. Of course this game wont be for the part of the gaming market that just wanna play twich games or just play games in their room for hours on end. Of course i do this, but it is an interesting concept in which levelling ur self ur own stats (getting fit) is implemented in the virtual world. FOr those who do fitness such a gym, you know that it like to not experience plateu or no obvous results at first... Its motivation, frankly i would pass on this experience until i a) know more about it 2)if i can actually be bothered... but personally as a game concept it aint that bad

  • heyheydoh

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 5:14 pm PT

    Try not to get run the hell over!

  • philip-joe

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 5:14 pm PT

    This is good for those videogame players who have no activeness in their life at all.

  • cichy69

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 5:10 pm PT

    so.. you have to walk in real life, so you can move one square.. not very interesting... ; |

  • Daytona_178

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 5:10 pm PT

    put the pedometer o top of your washing machine and sit back!

  • SpiderFreak

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 5:10 pm PT

    ...This sounds like complete and utter crap.

    I'm sorry, but it does. I'm all for more physically active gaming or going outside for fun rather than playing games (I wish there was more to do where I live), but this is just stupid. I'm not going to play a game that REQUIRES me to go take a walk every day just so I can move forward a step or slay a monster.

    SF

  • maccaaccam

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 5:08 pm PT

    so what happens if i just sit in front of my computer shaking the pedometer for s few minutes instead of walking?

  • Renegade194

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:59 pm PT

    Wait... What???? I'm so confused.

  • R-Force

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:57 pm PT

    Sounds interesting but I think I'll ignore it for now, thanks.

  • ChrisJ2004

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:54 pm PT

    Monco59.. my words exactly

  • Sagacious_Tien

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:42 pm PT

    Its an interesting experiment. Worth trying though.

  • monco59

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:41 pm PT

    What the...?

  • YourDaddy88

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:40 pm PT

    wow...I thought every game other than Halo or GoW on the 360 was easy to ignore...this one wins an award...

  • GrimBee

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:33 pm PT

    I thought "gundam" on the ps3 was a game to ignore...

    Also - anyone ever played ultraman? now THERES a game to ignore!
    So... basically, this game lets you play a game, without actually playing a game...

    is THIS part of the game?!

  • Lord_Satorious

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:28 pm PT

    Here's a game you can _really_ ignore; http://www.progressquest.com/

  • spoof411

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:25 pm PT

    retarded

  • BenUK

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:25 pm PT

    Interesting... Doubt it will do well though

  • rhys211

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:24 pm PT

    boffo21 and thats gunna sell because...

    It's free

  • patch7331

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:16 pm PT

    Once this is released gamer deaths will be an all time high

  • sentay0

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:16 pm PT

    So friggin' stupid!

  • Kratos66

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:11 pm PT

    For some reason I don't think the gaming equivalent of "Music For Airports" would sell very well, but it's an interesting concept regardless.

  • boffo21

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:08 pm PT

    and thats gunna sell because...

  • mozzle

    Posted Apr 21, 2007 4:06 pm PT

    ok then. . .

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