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Cell Phone-Controlled Game Invades Times Square

Posted by simoniker on from the godzuki-not-far-behind dept.

johnnylooper writes "The bright lights of Times Square tend to draw the eyes of drivers and passers-by, but a new billboard is a whole new kind of distraction. According to NY1 News, high above Times Square, there is now a gigantic video screen featuring a car racing game that anyone with a cellphone can play by dialing an 800 number. Of course, you need to be nearby to see the screen, at 43rd and Broadway. Now if I could just afford an apartment in Times Sqaure..."

7 of 40 comments (clear)

  1. Webcam? by shadowcabbit · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Anyone who lives near the billboard want to set up a webcam? Some of us are stuck in... (shudder) Pennsylvania!

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    "Why Subscribe?" Good question...
  2. Uh oh.. by NanoGator · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "there is now a gigantic video screen featuring a car racing game that anyone with a cellphone can play by dialing an 800 number"

    Wait a sec, I thought that was illegal in New York?!

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    "Derp de derp."
  3. Hum by tblease · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So... anyone else besides myself think that a live /. ticker would be more useful (and fun for that matter) than a somewhat silly cell-phone game?

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    huzzah
  4. It's been done by Stone+Rhino · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Blinkenlights did the sme sort of thing: play a game on a giant screen from your phone. Of course, they didn't have the fancy color and high resolution of a Times Square billboard, but they did have open source code and the cool hack of turning windows into pixels. Plus, you could post your own animations and images, in addition to just playing games. 2600 used an image of big brother from blinkenlights as its Winter 2002 cover.

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    Remember, there were no nuclear weapons before women were allowed to vote.
  5. Worth the money? by spyrochaete · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I wonder how much it costs Yahoo for one person to play the game. Do people really look at this display if it's one of about 20 at that intersection? The concept is extremely cool but is it really an affective form of advertising?

    Other applications for this concept may work better:
    • Change the design or colour of the ad
    • Vote for which of the company's products will go on sale next week
    • Vote for the billboard's mascot of the day
    • etc., etc., etc.
    It's a great idea! I'm curious to see how far it will go.
  6. Mortal Kombat by hiroshi912681 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I vaguely remember a videogame magazine article about two guys hooking up a game system to the Times Square big screen. They said it was really easy, had composite in and everything. They played a couple of rounds of Mortal Kombat (3?), they were 1:1, and then they got arrested.

    Sorry about the sparse details, can anyone fill in the gaps? I couldn't google it...

  7. Even better by rudib · · Score: 2, Interesting

    A mobile phone operator (in Europe) showed something better a year ago on a local tradeshow: you could drive real RC cars on a little track with your phone. There were 4 cars, 4 numbers to dial... Fun.