Anyone heard of games incorporating GPS?

[PenguinHappy]

A friend of mine who's really into gaming was psyched to see conversations in some message boards about incorporating GPS technology into future games.

Wondering how far off this stuff is? Anyone working on it?

My friend sent me this link:
http://www.mobilebristol.co.uk/flash.html

[techieMoe]

I've not seen anyone trying this, but my immediate question would be why? What possible enhancement to the game experience could be added by the game knowing your exact global position? What's to keep less-than-moral game companies from using this information for nasty things? Would they ship a GPS transmitter with the game, and if so how much more expensive would it make the game? I know my father's PDA came with a GPS transmitter, but it cost him an extra $200USD to get it. Will there be any games *worth* the extra cost?

[onlinebacon]

I heard of this a while back, I think it would be good.

Imagine a google eart-esque type thing, where you could have firefights all around the world anywhere, doing various missions and things on your own street?

Would be coo.l

[PenguinHappy]

Yes, sounds quite exciting. Do you remember where you heard about this- wonder how far along things are developing? Anyone got the inside scoop on this.

[Zelmo]

I'm with TechieMoe on this one. I doubt many gamers would be hauling their rigs all around the world just to complete some game missions, so your GPS would mostly be telling you you're at home. You don't need a GPS for that; you can just look up the latitude/longitute coordinates and plug them into the game. If you do actually move to another location, you're probably not running the game while you do it, so it doesn't need real-time updates on your location.

Now you can start flaming me for my ignorance because I haven't heard the discussions, I'm just saying what comes to mind. Considering the expense, what would we gain from it?

[cayalee]

there was a detectivey reality-game in london where the organisers put out clues in magazines and shops and stuff, and gps enabled pda players could see other players and do stuff, i cant remember the specifics but it sounded cool on the documentary.

im quite on for it, think it'd be ace to have a massive city wide gps game of 'tag' played on pda's, mix this citywide wlan with gps and you've got a really good game there

edit: IIRC, there were a certain number of informants that you could find with your gps to gain more info on the murderer/generic bad guy, and you could see other players to meet up with and share clues etc.
the really weird thing about it is that the clues were in morning newspapers and in public message boards around the city, so people got a real head**** because they couldnt tell wether it was a clue or just the news.

[techieMoe]

there was a detectivey reality-game in london where the organisers put out clues in magazines and shops and stuff, and gps enabled pda players could see other players and do stuff, i cant remember the specifics but it sounded cool on the documentary.

im quite on for it, think it'd be ace to have a massive city wide gps game of 'tag' played on pda's, mix this citywide wlan with gps and you've got a really good game there

edit: IIRC, there were a certain number of informants that you could find with your gps to gain more info on the murderer/generic bad guy, and you could see other players to meet up with and share clues etc.
the really weird thing about it is that the clues were in morning newspapers and in public message boards around the city, so people got a real head**** because they couldnt tell wether it was a clue or just the news.

What you're describing sounds more like the viral marketing campaign "IloveBees.com" that was put out to raise interest in Halo 2. I was under the (perhaps mistaken) impression that the original poster was talking about incorporating GPS into traditional console or computer games. In the case of viral marketing games (or other less official "games" like GeoCaching) I could see the use of GPS.

[PenguinHappy]

cayalee, that game in London sounds fascinating. That would be so cool, getting to act out your inner Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot. Really interested to hear what everyone thinks about GPS and the future of gaming.

TechieMoe, I'm thinking more along the lines of a gaming experience based on GPS. I know some serious gamers who are also into geocaching-think they'd love this. But suppose it could have other uses too.

I just found out that one of my clients is offering a cool development tool involving GPS. My client, Tele Atlas is launching a new program that gives free access to Tele Atlas map data for those interested in developing map-based applications.

More tools and resources will be coming soon, but I’d thought you guys might be interested in this free resource. You can sign up for the program here: http://developerlink.teleatlas.com.

Let me know once you have had a chance to check it out, I’m interested to find out what you think.

[AlexK]

I heard of something like this a while back, in Virginia or somewhere like that, people would walk around with their pocket pc's or gps phones and play pacman in their street. Lamp-posts and things would be the bad guys, and you'd basciailly be the joystick.

found link to article: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jan06/2569

[budman7]

I heard of something like this a while back, in Virginia or somewhere like that, people would walk around with their pocket pc's or gps phones and play pacman in their street. Lamp-posts and things would be the bad guys, and you'd basciailly be the joystick.

found link to article: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jan06/2569

Now that would be a lot of fun.
And a way to get fit. When you eat the white ball, you have to start sprinting and gobble up more prizes.
Looks like you could do a lot of running.