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PacManhattan Relocates Classic Game To New York Streets

Matt Slaybaugh writes "Some classmates of mine have developed a 'large-scale urban game that utilizes the New York City grid to recreate the 1980's video game sensation Pac-Man.' One player dresses up as Pac-Man and tries to cover the full Greenwich Village grid, while 4 others dressed as Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde try to catch him. Everyone reports their positions to their respective generals, who monitor progress on a central control board. I can't wait for the real-world implementation of Donkey Kong."

18 of 326 comments (clear)

  1. Real life gaming by bas148 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I would pay them money to let me do this... RL video gaming; better than crappy 3d goggles.

  2. Why Not, Right? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I mean, if you already pay for your sex and your friends, why not pay for your real life gaming? //smirk.

  3. SUPREME NERDULENCE!!! by swordgeek · · Score: 4, Insightful

    OK, this is just so nerdy, so utterly whacko, and such a large scale piece of craziness that you HAVE to love it.

    I've been laughing for the last three minutes. This is great! Even my wife likes the idea. Cheers to those doing it.

    --

    "People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
  4. Why report? by www.sorehands.com · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why bother to report position? Why not just automate it with GPS reporting?

  5. Glaring omission. by mrsam · · Score: 1, Insightful

    These kids... They _DARE_ to call themselves geeks? Shame on them!

    I just read their so-called "rules" of the game. What a disgrace. How could they forget one of the most important rules of Pacman???

    They completely forgot that when the Pacman eats a power pellet the ghosts immediately change their direction 180 degrees. Somebody should call them up and set them straight.

    Score: -1 (fake geek)

  6. Kudos... by MistaE · · Score: 3, Insightful
    ...to these folks. Better that they do something cool and crazy like this outside, getting some fresh air, than being cooped up in a stuffy arcade or game room or whatever.

    Now if only I can play legit version Galaxia outside...

  7. This is a creative project, but... by MisterLawyer · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The rules are missing a few details.

    From the rules:
    "At the start of the game, Pac-Man runs along the streets, staying outdoors, within the designated playing area at all times. The ghosts may begin to chase Pac-Man. Pac-Man continues to run the board until all of the dots are "eaten" or one of the ghosts eats Pac-Man."

    What does it mean for a ghost to "eat" Pac-Man?
    Does a ghost have to be within a certain distance from Pac-Man?
    Does a ghost have to "tag" (physically touch) Pac-Man?
    Does a ghost have to restrain Pac-Man?

    What happens if a random pedestrian interferes with the game?
    These are not empty streets where pan-man and the ghosts can run around freely. There is a lot of obstacles and pedestrian and automotive traffic getting in the way of things.
    Also, a guy dressed in yellow foam being vigorously chased by other guys dressed in foam is likely to attract attention, probably by the police.

    Wouldn't the fastest runner have a distinct advantage over the other players?
    In other words, if Pac-Man had the evasive maneuvers of a pro football running back, wouldn't the game kind of be over before it started?

    I applaude the creative ressurrection of a childhood pastime, but I am skeptical of the game being much more than an elaborate "tag, you're it" with costumes.

    1. Re:This is a creative project, but... by NegativeK · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I applaude the creative ressurrection of a childhood pastime, but I am skeptical of the game being much more than an elaborate "tag, you're it" with costumes.

      I do hope that was intended to be a joke. In addition to the problems you found, here are some more: neither the ghosts of pac-man will move at a constant speed, Pac-man doesn't have a top down view of the city (and hence no complete knowledge of ghost position), and the city doesn't have some space warping ability to send you to the other side if you walk through a certain door.

      In short, it's all for fun. Pac-man was an elaborate "tag, you're it" on a computer screen; this is an elaborate "tag, you're it" on a city. And you get exercise, too. Sounds like a good deal.

      --
      This statement is false.
    2. Re:This is a creative project, but... by RoloDMonkey · · Score: 2, Insightful
      ...a guy dressed in yellow foam being vigorously chased by other guys dressed in foam is likely to attract attention, probably by the police.

      Dude, this is Greenwich Village, the police aren't even going to blink when they see this.

      --
      Long live the Speaker Bracelet
      Rolo D. Monkey
  8. real geeks would ... by rawbytes · · Score: 4, Insightful

    use GPSes and GIS software to monitor and control the game rules. Each player probably needs to see the whole board also, not just a block ahead.

  9. Re:Its 2004 by C0rinthian · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Wow, I missed the part of the article where pacmanhattan.com anounced their IPO. I gotta buy some of that!

    The main thing that annoys me about the web is that it enables idiots like parent to inflict their idiocy on the rest of us.

  10. This is why geeks will always be better than you by Quattro+Vezina · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You see, we don't waste every waking moment of our lives thinking about getting laid. We actually do things we find interesting.

    When I see someone like you post something like your post, I already know that I have more of a life than that person. There are more, and better, things than sex.

    Unlike you, I actually spend my life doing things that I enjoy--I don't focus on fulfilling animalistic urges and belittling anyone who actually has a real hobby.

    And one final thing...how is this real-life Pacman game any more lame than a game where a bunch of musclebound idiots are chasing another musclebound idiot carrying a ball across a field?

    --
    I support the Center for Consumer Freedom
  11. Re:Just imagine... by drinkypoo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's only bad if you're not the one in the warthog.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  12. Re:This is why geeks will always be better than yo by passion · · Score: 2, Insightful

    When I see someone like you post something like your post, I already know that I have more of a life than that person. There are more, and better, things than sex.

    Like what....? Yeah, try it sometime - it might give you rejuvenated inspiration to pursue even more wacky hobbies and adventures.

    There's a reason we were created to enjoy food, crave warmth, and seek sex. It keeps our species alive and vital.

    --
    - passion
  13. Re:This is why geeks will always be better than yo by danila · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Like what....?
    Like pretty much everything. People are wired differently. Some of them can't enjoy learning stuff, creating stuff, thinking about stuff, or can't enjoy it to a sufficient degree. These people rely on outdated programs that they got from their animal ancestors. These people spend their time trying to get laid, eat more, get higher on the social ladder, etc.

    I (like many other people here) have tried sex (with a beautiful and smart girl who liked me), and while I enjoyed it to an extent, it doesn't measure up to pleasures of doing something creative, reading something interesting, solving math problems or talking with smart people.

    And if we are talking about raw addictiveness, sex doesn't even beat computer games. How much time can you spend enjoying sex? A few hours at most. A Civilization game, on the other hand......

    --
    Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.
  14. Re:Or Frogger on 5th Avenue! by OldManAndTheC++ · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Dodging taxis eh? Sure, go ahead and do it, just don't get nailed for taxi evasion

    So ... would that be done by the Internal RunOverYou Service?

    (one bad pun deserves another) :)

    --
    Soylent Green is peoplicious!
  15. Yawn... by NoData · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yeah, yeah. Call me when they've implemented the wrap-around tunnel.

  16. Re:For a small price... by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I strongly encourage this practice as a form of Darwinian selective pressure. With luck, another generation or two, and there won't be any more frat boys.

    --
    The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.