Rebecca Krause-Hardie

Launchball Game = Science Museum Winner

I just came across this post   (well I'm a little late) from archimuse about the Science Museum of London winning the SXSW conference  -  Best Game and Best of Show... for its Launchball game.  That's a great achievement for the museum.    It reminds me of this 'dos' game I used to play years ago... I think it was called The Machine,  - you had a bunch of little building block materials, and you could build any kind of little machine with it. One of the first sort of virtual erector sets.  Anybody else ever played that?

Mike Ellis, worked at the Science Museum and on this project and writes a great blog about the project here.

Launchball is a pretty cool game. 

Why? 

• Its an engaging way to learn about how energy works

The layout of the game is easy to understand and the concepts are really clear. You begin by  placing a few  'blocks' containing a battery, or wind turbine, or water heater in the space to get your ball activated and sent to its goal.  Then you "TEST" your setup and see if it works yet.  Hints are available for Luddites like me who need a little help.

• Its addictive

The game has multiple levels of play that progress with complexity.   A good part of my morning got consumed trying to understand how to get the ice melted, by placing the water tank and the heater in just the right location.   

• Its participatory

From the very first step, you are asked to participate in creating a solution to each challenge.  And once you've explored this you can create your own levels.

• Its social

You can create levels of the game, share with friends, and try out and rate those created by others.   Fun Fun Fun!!!!

Anything else about this game grab you? 

Detroit Symphony and Final Fantasy

In 2004, the Detroit Symphony was one of the very first orchestras to present performances of the music from the video game ‘Final Fantasy’. This provided an ideal tool to test and explore viral marketing on the web. This specialized audience was cultivated with a full traditional marketing plan of direct mail, TV, radio, Postering, Banners, etc.

The web portion of the plan included visits to game chat rooms and ‘talking up’ this cool event by providing ‘inside scoops’. The ‘talking up’ part was provided by ‘actual’ game players who could ensure that the voices online were authentic and appropriate. Their job was to influence the opinion leaders of the web. This would never have been successful if non-gamers had gone in with no understanding of the jargon and game-speak.

Other web activities in support of these concerts included partnerships and promotions on game and video sites such as that of ‘Final Fantasy’ developer Square-Enix and on animation sites like anime.com.