Fish In A Bottle

http://www.fishinabottle.com/

Fish in a bottle are an independant digital agency that concentrate on viral marketing, websites and games, their pieces are made more fun and engaging to make the internet a better place.

Along with the interactive piece done for hereos they have also made edcuational games for the BBC to help make learning more fun.


With links to all of the work they have done, the site is really useful and encourages people to get in touch with them and add comments.

The Business And Culture Of Digital Games By Aphra Kerr

A comparison of Herz and Poole's game genres.

Yoshi Ishii - Hoshi Saga

http://www.nekogames.jp/mt/2007/05/post_16.html



- Really good game by a japanese designer Yoshi Ishii. The object is to find the hidden star in each stage. Completeing stages will unlock other stages until you finish. There are different levels of difficulty which is represented by the highlighted stars underneath each stage square. Some take 10 seconds and others 10 minutes.




- There is also a Hoshi Saga 2. Both mix different types of interaction with simple graphics that keeps you entertained for hours.

Philadelphia Eagles

http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/fanzone/Arcade.html

- The locker room is an interactive environment where the user can click on different parts to play different games. They are all football related including how to be a manager where the player is in charge of funds and a fan challenge where the player takes a test to see how much of an Eagles fan they are.


- There is also a childrens part where kids can play easier games like jigsaws. Putting games on the Eagles site is a great way to get the fans involved, no matter what age. Simple things such as a game on the site will help the team gain fans.

Mr. Scruff

http://www.mrscruff.com/


- Mr. Scruff is a site to promote a dj and his music. The site includes all the important information such as gig listings and an online shop but it also has a range of games that are designed using his unique graphics.



- Using the games in this way helps to generate interest. The player is spending time on the site and will probably pass on the URL.

Mihaly Csikszentmihaly

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi designed a diagram for understanding how a player is pulled in and out of a flow state whilst playing games. The diagram shows what happens when an activity is too difficult or too easy. What happens when the activity doesnt meet the abilities of the player? The diagonal strip represents a potential flow state; this is when the player’s skills are equally meeting the challenges of the activity. If the challenges are too difficult the player experiences anxiety but if the player finds the activities easy then the player experiences boredom.


Rules Of Play
Game Design Fundamentals
By Katie Salen And Eric Zimmerman 2004

Heroes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/heroes/games/
Created by Fish In A Bottle.


The BBC have put an interactive version of the tv series heroes on their website. The game helps fans keep up to date with whats happening on the show and learn new things about characters and what they are able to do.


The audience learns more and more about a character each week and after that episode the website is updated so the user can go on and see whats been added. Each character has their own space on the map where the user can play their game and learn about that certain character.

Claire's game was really good, the user has to use the arrow keys to make claire run and jump over the obstacles. If she gets hurt the user has to guide the mouse over her arm or leg to heal her. Its really hard to get a decent score at the end and i failed to get a medal because of the injuries i caused!


I liked Peter's game aswell although it was exactly the same as Isaac's. The user has to paint following the guide lines but also avoiding the bugs on the canvas that try slow you down. You get a score when the times up but i failed to get a medal again because the painting was unfinished!

I think the website is a really good idea. The user doesnt have to play the games to learn new things about the show. The main room has hidden items which you have to find and use in a different area. It's a great way to advertise the programme, create interest and get the audiece involved more.

Dead Silence

http://www.deadsilencemovie.net/index2.html

The game on the site gives the user a shotgun in order to kill the dolls that are possessed. Using the mouse the user aims the shotgun and fires by pressing space. The user dies by running out of time, you can gain time by shooting more dolls. The game looks really good, its dark and you can only see where you aim the shotgun because there is a torch effect. The dolls are creepy and the music and sound is effective. The game also offers the user to enter a name if your score is good enough on the leaderboard.


Putting games on sites to promote films is a great way to create interest and making the film more successful.

Images, Creating Emotion In Games!

- Shawn Barber
- Michael Turner
- David Pursley

Creating Emotion In Games! David Freeman

NPC = A Non Player character, meaning any character in a game that is not controlled by the player.

Hotel Dusk

http://www.hoteldusk.com/




Hotel Dusk is a great site that takes you through the game made for Nintendo! The site takes you through the story and what the game is about. Clicking on the paper clips inside the book the user can learn about the characters, the hotel and how the game will work with the new pen included with the Nintendo. There is also a page where the user can download wallpapers for their computer. The graphics are really good and have a unique feel and although the interaction is limited i think its a great way to promote the game!

Sissy Fight

http://www.sissyfight.com/





SissyFight is a game/chat room were users play as school girls fighting strategically on a play ground. The user can choose the name, face and hair style for their fighter and use it to earn points fighting on the playground. With options like: scratch, tease and cower, sissy fight gives several options to keep the user entertained. Users use the chat room part of the game to make friends and gang up on others in order to have a bigger chance in winning. The site is full of regulars. Teams are formed and things get very competitive which makes it harder for new members. I really liked playing sissyfight but it does take time to actually get in a fight, most people want to wait for the room to get full in order to earn more points by beating up more people. Leader boards such as 'most points' and 'most addicted' keep people going back and making their fighter earn more points.

Line Rider & Draw Play

Line Rider

http://www.linerider.org/play.php

In Line Rider the user is instructed to draw a line from top left to bottom right. Once pressed 'done' the rider rides along the line that the user drew. I really like this game, the fact the user has to think about the lines and how steep to draw them makes the game more fun. The rider easily falls and gains speed in places where the lines are drawn straight and downwards.


Draw Play

http://www.gamegecko.com/drawplay.php


Draw Play, similar to Line Rider but with more meaning as you have get the little man to the flag by drawing lines with your mouse. Draw Play uses the same style as Line Rider by keeping it simple, like the pencil on paper design. The user uses the mouse to draw thick black lines on the screen, the little man is then able to walk across these lines in order for him to reach the flag. The user can control the man using the arrow keys allowing him to jump and walk left and right. The man is able to fall off and screams which is funny, he cant jump far but the levels are easy enough for you to experiment with the lines. As the levels go on you are faced with several obstacles, the user has to start again once an obstacle is hit and there is never no game over so you can just keep on going. The music is very techno like, too fast for the actual pace of the game. No score is kept and you are not told how many levels there are so there is no real goal.

Quest For The Rest

http://questfortherest.com/




I really like this website. The graphics remind me of those by Ferry Halim so they are nice to look at and the interactive elements are really good. They don't make it obvious where the user should click which gives the user a chance to interact with different things which might not yet need to be clicked but afterwards instead. The user has to control one person and help him get his friends to the next level and join the rest of the group. There are 3 levels, each with a different environment and their music to match. I wanted there to be more levels but it is only an introduction to an album and it is a great chance to get people listening to their music.

Saw Interactive Website

http://www.sawmovie.com/




This website kept me entertained for nearly an hour. You are told parts of the story by interacting with certain elements and playing small tasks. The use of sound is really good and adds to the dark feel of the piece. You really get a feel about what the film is about and i interacting with the site adds entertainment and would make people who havent seen the film want to see it. I think the website is really good for both people who have and have not seen the film as it doesn't give anything away but simply takes you through it in a different experience. However i reached a certain point and did not know if that was the end or not because i couldn't find the next step and it did not indicate if it had finished. I also let the clock run down, which is ticking throughout the whole experience but still nothing happened.

Smile Ninja - Toshimitsu Takagi

A different type of game but of the same difficulty. Smile Ninja is more action based like an arcade type game with a character and a map with different levels. The game is alright but i didn't like the graphics which made it hard for me to carry on. It starts with an intro which is good, telling a story helps the user get involved with the game.

White Chamber

From the same makers but with a slightly different style of drawing. Same type of interaction but seems too different and more detailed compared to the other two.

Viridian Room - Toshimitsu Takagi

Follow on from the Crimson Room. Begins with the idea that you have just escaped the previous room. Just as engaging with the same style of drawings and same level of interactivity. I really like these games and the only fault is probably that i was unable to complete them myself.

Crimson Room - Toshimitsu Takagi

Really good but very hard interactive game. The colours and the drawings are really simple which helps because of the amount of time staring at the same thing. This game keeps the user engaged for hours and i resorted to getting the cheats online!

Fasco-cs

Toshimitsu Takagi's interactive games keep the user entertained for hours! The simple style of drawing helps in the way that the user has to sit and look at the same room for over an hour without getting fed up or confused. You dont get bored and the story told encourages you to keep going and complete the rooms.



http://www.fasco-csc.com/index_e.php