MMORPGs in an arcade? Might actually work...

[danielwang]

Imagine having a massively online game at your local arcade. But not the usual home-PC gaming experience.
Concept: Starbucks is to Coffee as Killer App is to Game. Got it?


<THEORY>
My theoretical model has simple enough architecture. Get high-quality, flexible, renewable kiosks. Very high quality: Projection depth displays, dynamic sound shaping with Boze Acoustimass for sound. Anything from vibration to VR, it's a high end experience.
The input devices are interchangeable, mainly infrared echo-reflect-mirror motion capture (similar to the "Invisible Keyboard"), however other options such as the complicated joystick device proposed earlier (optical thumb sheet). Input can be custom configured
At the highest end, Silicon Graphics visualization workstations and T1 lines for a cluster of boxes, All of this fits into a small, self-contained sit-down kiosk (sound direction cone) or noise-proofed cockpit. The hardware is renewable and dynamic, so why not the software? It can run almost anything (use VMWare).

Then the app model itself - it is iteself renewable and replaceable as well. Component model allows for plugin, updated experience.
The unit is interconnected to every other unit in the world...

The user's profile is cached locally, stored in part on a hardware token and the state is kept on a server. You can take your Smartcard, iButton, or just passphrase to any unit in the world and the profile is downloaded to the local unit - restoring your .gameinitrc to how you like it. This part is simple enough to execute, but very had to get infrastructure to. Hence the tight specification for eacharcade facility.

Live videoconferencing through a dynamic, multi-dimension display to communicate: You appear in a huge boardroom etc. Even the sound is dynamic - you have BGMs, the player's voice, attentuated by a variety of filters. This can play into the game's dynamic sound generation algorithm: we analyse play movement to determine level of activity, generate a BGM with preceisely fitted tempo on each layer, clean up and filter the voices, then send them through. People close to you sound louder, etc. Simple enough as well - component sounds are downloaded and each person's voice comes on a seperate channel, mixed realtime. Characters (highly flexible) used for gaming, and a online community with actual faces from a multiangle 3d camera.
</THEORY>

<CAPABILITY>
Why will it work? Ok, I admit it, there are serius problems with the financials as most arcades do not want this type of revenue model. Consumers would use the unit for a long time and they would not use it if it was too expensive, therefore they'd need a lot of units which means more investment. Basically, time equals money. But then. the more time is being used, the more efficient the revenue is (and more stable).

Large chains that may take to this idea already have this model, such as the Dave and Buster's mecha battling game. They have most of theequipment setup, it (the Hardware) is not too far from my idea (mine's mostly software). Most arcades already have broadband connections, and the Dave and Busters arcade only costs $5 for an hour's worth of use.
</CAPABILITY>

<EXECUTION>
Begin with a nice, roundabout, renewable app. Mix online MMORPG with some other genre that can have a large storyline. No presets - but how is the company going to control a dynamic (theres that word again), character-fed storyline? Like a MUD - admins generate events. Two models come to mind - long war story with mecha fighting or Shenmue 2 et al. We can deal with player "downtime" with (to use the word again) dynamically controlled timeframes. We calculate the input level and number of all the players (ala unix w who ps) and then run average 30m activity cycle, 3 hour day(?). This also ensure that the (insert region) people interact with other (region) on their server and vice versa - great for load distribution. Unless you want to start learning more languages real fat.
</EXECUTION>


I'd be honored to have your opinion on this.
The 6.55.35,00$ question is: Will it work?


P.S.
Some purely mathematic and coding aspects for the dynamic, multi-dimensional worlds, inputs, etc:
We do this by seperating interaction levels into realms. The real-face community is not mixed with gameworld.
In each interaction reals, each user has dimensional zones, determined by coordinates and polarization. For example, my location may be ChatLobby, rsc_floor_1, rm776, 27422, -62639, 35638, -10558. This allows for more room than is physically allowed - say 500 rooms in a small building (exaggerated). The distance for users in zone groups is calculated for anything regarding distance. There are engines availible for filtering sound to make it sound like it's coming from another room or such.

[kthulhu]

I didn't really read all that, but I see little real business potential in that.

[Roke]

"Hey, you've been on that machine forever! How about letting someone else on?"

[kthulhu]

You forgot to mention splashing hot coffee in someone's face.