CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS, DEADLINE: 7 NOV 2006

http://www.telic.info/GamesFor5Joysticks/

I'm one of the judges. I hope to see some great work!
Please spread the word...

Here's some additional information:

In most Hollywood movies, the viewer identifies with a lone protagonist throughout a more or less linear narrative. There is a similar pattern in many video games - each player is connected by a cord to a single avatar on the screen. Individual heroes gave way to groups and crowds as protagonist in certain movies, like Sergei Eisenstein's Strike, and TELIC is looking for games that cut the cord - or even better - tangle it up with everyone else's cord.

TELIC already has all the hardware (like the joysticks), you would just write the software. The games don't have to have strong narratives or even resemble any of the games on the market today. They can be abstract, frustrating, totally fun, musical instruments, pointless, homemade. We are looking for submissions that wonder what kind of games are possible when 5 people with 5 joysticks are sitting in the same room, looking at the same screen.

We will be hosting a screening of selected games at TELIC Gallery in November in conjunction with the Mario's Furniture - Version 2 installation by Hillary Mushkin and S.E. Barnet. Games will be selected by Mushkin and Barnet, along with Fiona Whitton and Sean Dockray from TELIC, and Casey Reas.

Visit the website for submission information.

Yeah there's no fire button -- one of the limitations of the interface is that there are just five four-directional joysticks.  I suppose you could work around it within the software (like two quick moves in one direction amounts to a button press).  Or even have only four players, with the fifth player's joystick mapping to the "buttons" of the other four players (making this fifth player very un/popular).  Maybe these modifications make the game too confusing for people to understand?

Oh, oh, I got an idea.

there are no requirements for resolution.  in the email submission you should specify what you want in terms of resolution, if you have a preference.  the computer used for the selection and screening will likely be a mac mini.

with regards to framerate: of course it depends on the idea for the game.  fast, fluid updating isn't as much of an issue for text-based games, or for musical instruments; and maybe slowness is a possible source of inspiration; in other cases framerate can become a factor for playability.

The experience will most likely be something like this:  the game is running and a few people are playing (maybe 5, maybe not!).  A new player will pick up one of the joysticks and join in.  Sometimes someone will leave and be replaced by someone from the crowd.  Most likely there will be 5 people playing at all times, but that is not a guarantee.  There might only be 2,3,4...

My advice is that if there needs to be a configuration, this could happen at the beginning of a game.  For example, the RIGHT direction might select a choice, whereas UP and DOWN toggle between choices.

An even stronger idea might be if the variety of game mechanics is actually built in to the logic of the game: teams, pairs, solo behavior, etc. would be a consequence of the strategy of the game play.  This would allow for fluid collaborations and antagonisms to develop and come undone during the game, as opposed to defining these group dynamics in advance.  You know what I mean?