dave

11 Mar 2015

Bad Trip is made by Alan Kwan. In this game, the player explores a dark landscape, and they can come across blocks of memories that contain video footage of what the artist saw that day, which are recorded via a camera mounted on his glasses. I do like the concept, the controls, and the aesthetics. However, a lot of it is unexplained. Why are there people with trees for heads? Why does the environment has to be so large? It takes away from the main focus of the game, which are the video footage. The ambient atmosphere is heightened by the deep erratic breathing sound effects, which makes this piece less surreal and more horror, akin to most horror games such as Amnesia or Dead Space, which I feel takes away from the main concept that the artist is trying to convey.

 

Pingtime uses projection to augment the ping pong experience. The visuals are cool, and the technology is nice, but since ping pong is already such a fast paced activity, the projection and the real world actions clash, causing each to become a distraction to the other. If only they can apply the same technology to some slower action, or use visuals that are less overwhelming. It is similar to some other projection based interactive pieces, such as those made by Camille Utterback.