"Collaborative Gaming" Using Pocket PCs

[Janak Parekh]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.viktoria.se/fal/projects/collgames/' target='_blank'>http://www.viktoria.se/fal/projects/collgames/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Pac-Man Must Die! is a collaborative game created using our OpenTrek platform for two or more players. The game is a "reversal" of the classic arcade-game Pac-Man, which had the main character (Pac-Man) chased by ghosts of different colors. Here, each player instead controls a ghost and must collect "dots", while at the same time avoiding being captured by yellow Pac-Man monsters. To win the game, the player must collect all the dots matching the color of her own ghost. However, some of the dots are located on the displays of other players’ devices! The player can enter another person’s handheld display by using “doors” at the edges of the map. Each door has a unique color, matching the color of another player’s ghost. When a player has entered the display of another computer she has to look at the other user’s display to control her ghost...To see how people would respond to and use Collaborative Games, we installed the game Pac-Man Must Die on six HP IPAQ Pocket PCs with Wireless LAN PC-Cards."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/parekh-20050213-PacmanDie.jpg" /><br /><br />This is great for a number of different reasons: not only is the above-linked game a compelling variation on PacMan, these researchers are using the Pocket PC as a flexible development platform for the purpose. They're also working towards releasing their platform (along with the game); you can get <a href="http://www.opentrek.com/">more information here</a>. As several gaming devices are now coming out with WiFi and Bluetooth, I think this is just the tip of the iceberg in multiplayer portable gaming -- and I hope to see Pocket PCs stay on the cutting-edge. :D

[Islanti]

This is an odd variation on the game "Pacman Vs.", which Namco released for the Nintendo Gamecube last year. For those who aren't familiar, Pacman Vs. has 3 people playing as the ghosts, looking at the TV screen. Only a very small part of the maze around each ghost is displayed.

The 4th player has a Gameboy Advance connected to the Gamecube. This player is Pacman. On the GBA screen, the entire maze and the location of all the ghosts (it looks like the normal Pacman game).

The interesting thing about Pacman Vs. is that the players rotate based on who catches Pacman (that ghost becomes Pacman and Pacman becomes a ghost). The 4 players are competing based on score, with points moving between players based on captures.

Anyway, it's an interesting variation these people have come up with.

[David Prahl]

Wow, those 36xx iPaqs just keep chuggin'! 8O

Why can't we have that kind of device reliability and build quality these days?

[Janak Parekh]

Why can't we have that kind of device reliability and build quality these days?
I hate to tell you this, but I think that's just nostalgia. The 3600 iPAQs were amongst the worst ever. Dust, loose stylus, loose power switch door, short battery life... mine is sitting in a closet and I don't have the slightest desire to go back. ;)

--janak

[Jonathan1]

I hate to tell you this, but I think that's just nostalgia. The 3600 iPAQs were amongst the worst ever. Dust, loose stylus, loose power switch door, short battery life... mine is sitting in a closet and I don't have the slightest desire to go back. ;)

--janak

You aren't kidding. For those that weren't around the first gen iPaq's dust issue was routinely referred to as a blizzard or snowstorm. I learn the hard way that using canned air on a 3600 iPaq to try and clean a screen could REALLY do more harm then good. DOH!
Fortunately I never ran into the power switch door issue or loose stylus but I did get the battery life issue along with the short in the speaker behind the d-pad. Quality was NOT one of the 3600's attributes.

[T-Will]

Wow, those 36xx iPaqs just keep chuggin'! 8O

Why can't we have that kind of device reliability and build quality these days?

Haha! (I really hope you were being sarcastic :huh: )

[David Prahl]

Whoa! Bad reaction! 8O

I've never owned a first-gen iPaq but I keep on seeing them re-appear and they appear to be well-designed. I mean, at least these six that still working...

"I take it all back! The 36xx series sucked! Forgiveness!" :oops:

[Janak Parekh]

I've never owned a first-gen iPaq but I keep on seeing them re-appear and they appear to be well-designed. I mean, at least these six that still working...
Well, they had a forward-looking design, considering the StrongARM, upgradeable ROM, and sleeve support, so I guess you could consider those aspects "well-designed". But the actual mechanics of the device were lacking. Trust me. :P The posts we just made above were scratching the surface... the d-pad was mushy, it didn't support combo button presses, some of the PC card sleeves triggered hard resets, the screen connector got loose and started causing a "reversing" problem, speaker popping sound, headphones too loud, screen digitizer broke down quickly causing diagonal jaggies...

OK, I gotta stop ranting about the ancient device. Despite all its problems I loved it. But I was even happier when I got my 3870. :D

--janak