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When reading last weeks issue of “The Big Issue” I was intrigued by an article about Electronic Arts (EA) latest and most innovative entertainment experience – Majestic. Majestic differs from a normal game in that it communicates with you through not only the Internet, but also your phone and fax machine. The game itself is described on the website (majestic.ea.com) as
“A suspense thriller that infiltrates your life and leaves you guessing where the game ends and reality begins.”
From what I can gather Majestic is a detective game that is set against the backdrop of a conspiracy, with clues given to you via any of the various media being utilized. What makes it so different is that this is actually played out in real time, during your life blurring the distinction between fiction and reality. Players in the United States that have signed up for Majestic seem pretty freaked out by the demo, on the websites message boards one poster named little dipperhead posted the following on Feb 05, 2001 2:05pm
Dudes, don't dig too deep into this whole Majestic thing. I've been researching it for over a month now and I SWEAR TO GOD someone's following me. It's the creepiest feeling I've ever had and I just want to be left frickin' ALONE!
Other comments cannot be published here due to the language, however it gives you an idea of how this game will play with your mind.
This game is obviously going to be big, the hype surrounding it is already growing. On your first visit to the site your hit by messages like “You only use 12% of your brain. Mind if we play with the rest?”, it sounds like my type of game its just a pity that so far this is a US only release. So is this the Future of Gaming, who knows? It will certainly be interesting to see how successful it eventually turns out to be.
It also raises a number of interesting questions not least because this is a pay per play gaming experience, once you’ve finished Majestic there’s no going back to replay the game. If I pay money for a game, Id like to own a copy of it…what do you think? Also as bluetooth technology is now slowly being incorporated into numerous household appliances (bluetooth is the latest technology that allows various appliances to communicate wirelessly with each other) this type of game could soon evolve to another level.
“A suspense thriller that infiltrates your life and leaves you guessing where the game ends and reality begins.”
From what I can gather Majestic is a detective game that is set against the backdrop of a conspiracy, with clues given to you via any of the various media being utilized. What makes it so different is that this is actually played out in real time, during your life blurring the distinction between fiction and reality. Players in the United States that have signed up for Majestic seem pretty freaked out by the demo, on the websites message boards one poster named little dipperhead posted the following on Feb 05, 2001 2:05pm
Dudes, don't dig too deep into this whole Majestic thing. I've been researching it for over a month now and I SWEAR TO GOD someone's following me. It's the creepiest feeling I've ever had and I just want to be left frickin' ALONE!
Other comments cannot be published here due to the language, however it gives you an idea of how this game will play with your mind.
This game is obviously going to be big, the hype surrounding it is already growing. On your first visit to the site your hit by messages like “You only use 12% of your brain. Mind if we play with the rest?”, it sounds like my type of game its just a pity that so far this is a US only release. So is this the Future of Gaming, who knows? It will certainly be interesting to see how successful it eventually turns out to be.
It also raises a number of interesting questions not least because this is a pay per play gaming experience, once you’ve finished Majestic there’s no going back to replay the game. If I pay money for a game, Id like to own a copy of it…what do you think? Also as bluetooth technology is now slowly being incorporated into numerous household appliances (bluetooth is the latest technology that allows various appliances to communicate wirelessly with each other) this type of game could soon evolve to another level.
Another game that was mentioned in the same copy of the Big Issue was called Botfighters. It also attempts to bring gaming into your everyday life in a similar way to Majestic. I quickly checked out the website to check it out.
Botfighters is billed as the worlds first location based mobile action game. It uses your mobile phone as a hi-tech communication gadget or a laser gun. Players play against other users in their area (which can be worked out thanks to GPS). This is what the makers of the game have to say on their website (itsalive.com/botfighters):
START
The Game
In BotFighters the players locate and shoot at each other with their cell phones out on the streets, where mobile positioning is used to determine whether the users are close enough to each other to be able to hit
On the BotFighters website, a “robot theme” community, the players may upgrade their robots, buy weapons, view high scores and get the real time position of other players. From the Botfighters website the players can sign contracts to find and destroy other robots.
The BotFighters website is used for community building and to create an exciting game atmosphere, while the phone becomes the player's radar and weapon device.
During a game play, the player sends an SMS (or uses his WAP phone) to check his targets real time physical location. If the target is within range, the player can shoot by sending a “fire” SMS. The damage caused depends on the type of weapon used, the efficiency of the targets shield and other preferences held by the players.
The mission
The mission of the game is to locate and destroy other robots, and when a target is destroyed, the player advances on the high score list and earns credits. The credits can be used for buying new weapons, recharge the robot's battery and other upgrades of the robot on the BotFighters website.
END QUOTE
Sound interesting to me, although I’ld probably wait until mobile technology advanced until I played this game. What next Quake Mobile?? What does all this mean for the future of gaming, I’m not sure. However I could easily imagine Nintendo making a Pokemon mobile game along the same lines. You could be walking home and then suddenly you get a call, a challenge from someone nearby who wants to fight for your Pokemon…let battle commence!
Botfighters is billed as the worlds first location based mobile action game. It uses your mobile phone as a hi-tech communication gadget or a laser gun. Players play against other users in their area (which can be worked out thanks to GPS). This is what the makers of the game have to say on their website (itsalive.com/botfighters):
START
The Game
In BotFighters the players locate and shoot at each other with their cell phones out on the streets, where mobile positioning is used to determine whether the users are close enough to each other to be able to hit
On the BotFighters website, a “robot theme” community, the players may upgrade their robots, buy weapons, view high scores and get the real time position of other players. From the Botfighters website the players can sign contracts to find and destroy other robots.
The BotFighters website is used for community building and to create an exciting game atmosphere, while the phone becomes the player's radar and weapon device.
During a game play, the player sends an SMS (or uses his WAP phone) to check his targets real time physical location. If the target is within range, the player can shoot by sending a “fire” SMS. The damage caused depends on the type of weapon used, the efficiency of the targets shield and other preferences held by the players.
The mission
The mission of the game is to locate and destroy other robots, and when a target is destroyed, the player advances on the high score list and earns credits. The credits can be used for buying new weapons, recharge the robot's battery and other upgrades of the robot on the BotFighters website.
END QUOTE
Sound interesting to me, although I’ld probably wait until mobile technology advanced until I played this game. What next Quake Mobile?? What does all this mean for the future of gaming, I’m not sure. However I could easily imagine Nintendo making a Pokemon mobile game along the same lines. You could be walking home and then suddenly you get a call, a challenge from someone nearby who wants to fight for your Pokemon…let battle commence!
Now this is very exiting. A game that does 2 new things:
1) allows interaction through means other than a cathode ray tube and plastic controller
2) Blurs reality with fiction. It could almost be like the story you are investigating is real, with hints left on you phone line etc.
Sonic
1) allows interaction through means other than a cathode ray tube and plastic controller
2) Blurs reality with fiction. It could almost be like the story you are investigating is real, with hints left on you phone line etc.
Sonic
Its a completely new type of game, so it may not be to everyones taste.
You would probably have to have a fax, mobile, answering machine and a fast PC with a cable modem to get the best out of this. It does show us where games are going though, entering every part of our lives! Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
Im not sure, although the thought of some woman calling me up shrieking in my ear in the middle of the night may be a bit unnerving for some.
You would probably have to have a fax, mobile, answering machine and a fast PC with a cable modem to get the best out of this. It does show us where games are going though, entering every part of our lives! Is this a good thing or a bad thing?
Im not sure, although the thought of some woman calling me up shrieking in my ear in the middle of the night may be a bit unnerving for some.
But you say we cant get a copy over here?
Thats a shame, i had a look around the website and it does look *really* good!
Thats a shame, i had a look around the website and it does look *really* good!
Yes it seems like it will be a fairly deep game, you only have to read some of the posts on the Majestic message boards to realise that this game will be completely different to the norm. A new genre in gaming. Some of the posts have harsh language in them, obviously some people have dug to deep into EAs demo called the "Contact Demos". Heres a message one poster posted on one of the message boards
START
Dammit this is freakin me out
posted by ThylacineMH, Feb 06, 2001 10:56pm
#7 of 361
I've been studying this conspiracy theory stuff for a few years, so when I head about this game I jumped at it. Now I almost wish I hadn't. I've found so many websites that are connected with what I know in the last few weeks, and I have no cllue of they're part of this game or not. I've gotten several oddball phone calls, one was just a series of funny clicks, then a hang up............
If this is what this game os going to do to me, I have got to hand it to the people of Anim-X for making what may be the perfect game. For all we know, they havn't done a single thign except build the game's website, and we would never know, but it would go on anyway.
Basically, I'm scared s***less, and I love every second of it =)
END
The game will no doubt be even scarier when it moves from a demo version to reality next month :-)
START
Dammit this is freakin me out
posted by ThylacineMH, Feb 06, 2001 10:56pm
#7 of 361
I've been studying this conspiracy theory stuff for a few years, so when I head about this game I jumped at it. Now I almost wish I hadn't. I've found so many websites that are connected with what I know in the last few weeks, and I have no cllue of they're part of this game or not. I've gotten several oddball phone calls, one was just a series of funny clicks, then a hang up............
If this is what this game os going to do to me, I have got to hand it to the people of Anim-X for making what may be the perfect game. For all we know, they havn't done a single thign except build the game's website, and we would never know, but it would go on anyway.
Basically, I'm scared s***less, and I love every second of it =)
END
The game will no doubt be even scarier when it moves from a demo version to reality next month :-)
yeh i dont fancy gettin a phone call in the middle of the night like some are
When reading last weeks issue of “The Big Issue” I was intrigued by an article about Electronic Arts (EA) latest and most innovative entertainment experience – Majestic. Majestic differs from a normal game in that it communicates with you through not only the Internet, but also your phone and fax machine. The game itself is described on the website (majestic.ea.com) as
“A suspense thriller that infiltrates your life and leaves you guessing where the game ends and reality begins.”
From what I can gather Majestic is a detective game that is set against the backdrop of a conspiracy, with clues given to you via any of the various media being utilized. What makes it so different is that this is actually played out in real time, during your life blurring the distinction between fiction and reality. Players in the United States that have signed up for Majestic seem pretty freaked out by the demo, on the websites message boards one poster named little dipperhead posted the following on Feb 05, 2001 2:05pm
Dudes, don't dig too deep into this whole Majestic thing. I've been researching it for over a month now and I SWEAR TO GOD someone's following me. It's the creepiest feeling I've ever had and I just want to be left frickin' ALONE!
Other comments cannot be published here due to the language, however it gives you an idea of how this game will play with your mind.
This game is obviously going to be big, the hype surrounding it is already growing. On your first visit to the site your hit by messages like “You only use 12% of your brain. Mind if we play with the rest?”, it sounds like my type of game its just a pity that so far this is a US only release. So is this the Future of Gaming, who knows? It will certainly be interesting to see how successful it eventually turns out to be.
It also raises a number of interesting questions not least because this is a pay per play gaming experience, once you’ve finished Majestic there’s no going back to replay the game. If I pay money for a game, Id like to own a copy of it…what do you think? Also as bluetooth technology is now slowly being incorporated into numerous household appliances (bluetooth is the latest technology that allows various appliances to communicate wirelessly with each other) this type of game could soon evolve to another level.
“A suspense thriller that infiltrates your life and leaves you guessing where the game ends and reality begins.”
From what I can gather Majestic is a detective game that is set against the backdrop of a conspiracy, with clues given to you via any of the various media being utilized. What makes it so different is that this is actually played out in real time, during your life blurring the distinction between fiction and reality. Players in the United States that have signed up for Majestic seem pretty freaked out by the demo, on the websites message boards one poster named little dipperhead posted the following on Feb 05, 2001 2:05pm
Dudes, don't dig too deep into this whole Majestic thing. I've been researching it for over a month now and I SWEAR TO GOD someone's following me. It's the creepiest feeling I've ever had and I just want to be left frickin' ALONE!
Other comments cannot be published here due to the language, however it gives you an idea of how this game will play with your mind.
This game is obviously going to be big, the hype surrounding it is already growing. On your first visit to the site your hit by messages like “You only use 12% of your brain. Mind if we play with the rest?”, it sounds like my type of game its just a pity that so far this is a US only release. So is this the Future of Gaming, who knows? It will certainly be interesting to see how successful it eventually turns out to be.
It also raises a number of interesting questions not least because this is a pay per play gaming experience, once you’ve finished Majestic there’s no going back to replay the game. If I pay money for a game, Id like to own a copy of it…what do you think? Also as bluetooth technology is now slowly being incorporated into numerous household appliances (bluetooth is the latest technology that allows various appliances to communicate wirelessly with each other) this type of game could soon evolve to another level.