Playing The Escape 154
erich666 writes "Wired reports on 'La Fuga' (The Escape), a real-world game. You overcome physical and mental challenges to escape a prison. Not just any live-action role playing game, this one is run in a $20 million facility in Madrid. A networked PDA and RFID tag keep you in touch while you play. The company is now building a 30,000-square-foot game center at 49th and Broadway in New York City." From the article: "The screen goes static and then switches to a view of a sweaty prisoner with a 5 o'clock shadow who tells me that I can liberate myself and all the other drones stuck in the prison. Those who have escaped before me will contact me to assist in my quest. The door opens, and I enter a sort of closet before another door opens to reveal a metal air duct. I try to step in, but I slip, fall hard on my ass, and slide down the chute into a room containing a baggage carousel surrounded by screens."
With the state of gaming hacks (Score:5, Funny)
Re:With the state of gaming hacks (Score:3, Funny)
Re:With the state of gaming hacks (Score:5, Funny)
It HAS to, when you're in prison.
More cushion, less pushin'!!
hmmmm........ (Score:2, Funny)
Re:hmmmm........ (Score:3, Funny)
Re:hmmmm........ (Score:2)
Re:hmmmm........ (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:hmmmm........ (Score:2, Funny)
Any allusions to the Prisoner? (Score:5, Interesting)
The Escape sounds like it has the Kafkaesque, byzantine plot lines reminescent of the Prisoner.
Re:Any allusions to the Prisoner? (Score:2)
As much as I love The Prisoner series, this game "Escape" sounds more like Prince of Persia , to me.
Re:Any allusions to the Prisoner? (Score:1)
Re:Any allusions to the Prisoner? (Score:2, Insightful)
Dunno, doesn't sound very practical for a ruthless government. It'd be a whole lot safer, easier & more efficient to kill such a person & "disappear" the body.
The Prisoner story makes a lot more sense if you need something special from that prisoner, or for them to do something special.
Re:Any allusions to the Prisoner? (Score:2)
Re:Any allusions to the Prisoner? (Score:2)
And (Score:1, Funny)
Re:And (Score:3, Funny)
Re:And (Score:3, Funny)
Re:And (Score:2, Funny)
And dont even try to raise me This [imdb.com]
I am on to your game.
That reminds me!! (Score:2)
Re:That reminds me!! (Score:2)
Majestic? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Majestic? (Score:2)
Re:That reminds me!! (Score:1)
Re:That reminds me!! (Score:2, Informative)
EA charged $9.95/month for this setup and I don't think it lasted beyond a couple months before they shut it down as a complete failure and shelved the whole thing.
Of course, there could be another similar one from the late 90's but this one was in mid-2000 or 2001.
Re:That reminds me!! (Score:2)
ARGs typically exist on the web primarily, so quite a bit different fFrom this interesting "escape" game. Really though, I hope they ask Jane McGonigal's [blogspot.com] input. S
Re:That reminds me!! (Score:2)
Re:That reminds me!! (Score:2)
So then Version 2.0 is... (Score:4, Funny)
My bad, couldn't resist
Re:So then Version 2.0 is... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:So then Version 2.0 is... (Score:3, Funny)
A good idea if... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:A good idea if... (Score:2)
Agreed... I've always been big for cooperative video games.
But the biggest attraction for me is the adventure aspect of the game, which differentiates it in a good way from real-life shooters like paint ball. I look forward to the theme they set with the Manhattan site; it'd probably be a lot more cyber-punkish than the Spanish prison.
The article states 15 euros to get in, which doesn't sound too bad. I just wonder how long the "level" is. Of course, lacking in Gordon Freeman's HEV suit [wikipedia.org], I doubt I'd sur
Re:A good idea if... (Score:2)
Paintball doesn't have an adventure aspect to it? You'd have to define "adventure aspect" for me. I've seen the small paintball parks that were just a field with some obstacles to hide behind, but I've also been to a paintball park with huge game areas, streams to ford, small villages to invade/defend, etc.
dreampark (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:dreampark (Score:5, Funny)
Wow, futuristic sci-fi AND there's a dragon on the cover! That's some hardcore geekerature there.
Re:dreampark (Score:1)
sounds like a step closer to 'Dreampark', as in the novels by Steven Barnes and Larry Niven.
Wow, futuristic sci-fi AND there's a dragon on the cover! That's some hardcore geekerature there.
Dude, not only that... It's about roleplaying and roleplayers. I mean, dorkier is hard to summon... At least on a roll of 17 or less on 3d6..
Re:dreampark (Score:1)
Also sounds a lot like (Score:2)
Really good move, I reccomend it.
Awesome! (Score:1, Funny)
Woo! (Score:4, Interesting)
In my imaginary version I wanted a real-life CTF situation based on paintball or similar that took place in a massive area full of buildings and the like - similar to normal paintball, but over a number of days and a much much larger playing field.
If you took the tech from this game and combined it with a much larger playing field, teams, a much longer game time (in the order of a weekend) and some form of decent forfeit for losing (say, a deposit), you'd have my perfect game!
Re:Woo! (Score:1)
P.S I consider fist size bruises punishment enough for losing at paintball.
Re:Woo! (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Woo! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Woo! (Score:2)
Re:Woo! (Score:2)
Re:Woo! (Score:2)
I didnt realise that CTF was 'commonly played by children', I'd never heard of it til Quake hehe..
Check out RAP (Score:2)
Re:Woo! (Score:2)
Re:Woo! (Score:2)
It exists. Sat Cong Village in LA (Score:2)
SC Village gets many military vets, and even some active duty Marines from Camp Pendleton. You have to learn real small unit tactics or get clobbered. Yelling and charging across an open space in a big group will not work there.
Closer to fiction (Score:2)
20 years ago, the novel Dream Park [amazon.com] came out, where people played in a virtual reality combined with D&D style gaming. This is a step towards that, although not with all the cool toys in the novel.
Still, I think this is something we're going to see evolving. This isn't going to replace computer games, but might work as a supplement or a "next step up." I know there are times when I've wondered what it would be like to "play it the a real setting", and see if I could figure it out in real time, w
Lame (Score:1)
When we get Battle Royale [imdb.com] then you've got my attention.
This sounds really familiar... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:This sounds really familiar... (Score:2)
Re:This sounds really familiar... (Score:2, Funny)
I don't know what was in it but I couldn't wear a shirt for days...
Chuck E. Cheese (Score:5, Funny)
What, he went to Chuck E. Cheese?
Re:Chuck E. Cheese (Score:2)
Re:Chuck E. Cheese (Score:2)
Re:Chuck E. Cheese (Score:2)
That, or a breast implant factory...not sure which would be more fun...
Paintball (Score:2, Interesting)
Sounds like typical video game designers... (Score:5, Funny)
After all, I see prisons with baggage carousels _all the time_.
Re:Sounds like typical video game designers... (Score:2)
Fingerprinting, armed guards, intrusive searches ...</troll>
Re:Sounds like typical video game designers... (Score:2)
Sounds great, sign my boss up! (Score:2, Funny)
I'll even order a dvd of that.
Strange people are comparing this to video games.. (Score:1)
Re:Strange people are comparing this to video game (Score:3, Informative)
What would you have used a century ago, in place of the RFID player tracking, audio/video playback, and all the other various automation? A horde of employees hiding behind the scenery? Perhaps, but I doubt it would be very profitable.
Re:Strange people are comparing this to video game (Score:2)
Er.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Er.. (Score:2)
The game's most compelling aspect (Score:1)
Apparently this guy has never been introduced to DDR.
Re:The game's most compelling aspect (Score:5, Funny)
Is not. (Score:2)
Re:The game's most compelling aspect (Score:2)
Not the first, but nonetheless impressive! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Not the first, but nonetheless impressive! (Score:1)
Not the first, but nonetheless impressive!-Peter. (Score:1, Funny)
What! You mean sex isn't enough?
Re:Not the first, but nonetheless impressive!-Pete (Score:2)
But... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:But... (Score:2)
Open Eyes
Get out of Bed
Get Robe
Put on Robe
Look in pocket
Eat analgesic
Get toothbrush
Re:But... (Score:2)
They are.
WTF? (Score:5, Funny)
WTF? What kind of prison break is that? Give the players a spoon and ten years to dig a hole!
Dude, (Score:1, Funny)
Maybe they should think of something a bit more intuitive, such as a real-life game styled after Grand Theft Auto. It would take place in a facility--er, rather, a city--built for the purpose, with actors serving as cops. You steal various vehicles, have high speed chases, crash into things... There is always a goal that you tr
Re:Dude, (Score:2)
Is it worth it? (Score:1)
This looks mildly interesting, but the only real problem I have is paying $20 for about 10 minutes of entertainment.
I could have the same amount of fun for free at the nearest McDonald's Playland with a good imagination.
i can see it now (Score:1)
Not the first time... (Score:4, Informative)
Unfortunately, it sucks. It's dreadfully boring and easy, and there are only a few rooms. The puzzles are pretty simple too -- a 5-piece towers of hanoi is actually one of them (yay for MIT graduates designing these things). A lot of effects, which is obviously what draws people, but I can only imagine how much each room cost. Their prices are comparable to the price of a seeing a movie in the theater, but usually the 'game' only lasts about half the time of a movie (about 30-40 minutes).
Anyways, for those interested and/or in Beantown:
http://5-wits.com/ [5-wits.com]
We need a real life game like this! (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:We need a real life game like this! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:We need a real life game like this! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:We need a real life game like this! (Score:2)
Very good point...I'd also like to point out some very odd behavior that was observed in the video...lets just run down the list shall we?
1. His friends don't react. If all of a sudden your friend is playing a video game in a pub and passes out and some strange men come and tell
Re:We need a real life game like this! (Score:2)
I think this is coming out as a movie soon. (Score:2)
Re:We need a real life game like this! (Score:2)
Where the concept falls... (Score:1)
When was the last time someone breaking out of prision had to match a pictogram on a monitor against a bunch of symbols on a column in order to open a door?
It might be mildly entertaining, but I want realism. If there are going to be puzzles, I want a storyline where there's a genuine reason for them to exist. Not just because they had to co
Re:Where the concept falls... (Score:1)
just my hunch... (Score:2)
Otherwise it's a puzzle orienteering course with distractions. Not that that wouldn't be interesting, but add in the necessity of keeping watch for guards and it gets 10x more interesting.
Re:All fun and games till someone kills themselves (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Crystal Maze (Score:2)
No, but I do remember another major show: Fort Boyard [ukgameshows.com]. It follows the same style, where contestants have a time-limit to complete certain tasks. There's differences (e.g. only one team in one episode, and the host volunteers the contestants on their behalf), but it is generally the same. Only saw the french version, though.