Fun And Games: Getting The Girls To Play

Playing is a serious business. Derided for years as the preserve of gawky teenage boys with poor social skills, computers games have become a huge industry. Consoles such as Sony’s Playstation are almost as common in our homes as television sets and game sales are worth millions to the global economy. More importantly, technical and programming innovations by game developers are frequently the impetus behind the increasingly powerful hardware and software in the average computer.

Gamers, multimedia aficionados and all manner of techno-geeks should get themselves down to the Digital Exchange (formerly the Hop Store) of Dublin’s Digital Hub before June 3rd for the Exhibit 8: New Frontiers in Gaming display.
Of particular interest is BlowAway: The Winds of Therslow, developed by 5 final year multimedia students at Dublin City University (DCU). At first look, you can see that there is something special about the game. Unlike your standard single-player console game, BlowAway uses a tabletop screen with up to six players gathered around a digital landscape diorama. No buttons, joysticks or keyboards are required. BlowAway uses an innovative physical interface; players blow into sensors.
The initial driving force behind the game’s development was to explore new ways in which to use multimedia game technology. But the innovation doesn’t stop at the bells and whistles. According to done research done by DCU, girls are often indifferent to certain popular computer games because of their violent and competitive nature. As a result, BlowAway is gender-neutral, non-violent and collaborative. In order to complete each level, players must work together.
According to the game narrative, the evil Moslow has been exiled from the land of Therslow. For revenge, Moslow and his army of birds, bees and flies have shattered the sun. Using the sensors, players blow the princess’s hot air balloon across Therslow’s skies, avoiding enemies and gathering the sunrays. Because of its interface, BlowAway has tactile and physical qualities lacking in most PC games. When I had a go, all the blowing resulted in not only a shortness of breath, but a whole lot of giggles.
Online multi-player role-playing games often require large networks of people to work together and are popular across the gender divide. Initial testing of BlowAway at schools around the DCU area has supported the theory that both boys and girls enjoy collaborative gaming. In recent years the chattering classes have expended many column inches decrying the violent and adult content of some of the most popular computer games. BlowAway presents a challenge to think beyond the traditional shoot ‘em ups and competitive multi-player games. If nothing else, parents should be pleased.
While the students’ gaming table may lack the sleek design values of a PS2, its technological inventiveness and collaborative nature has attracted a fair amount of international interest. The developers have been invited to NextFest, the annual future technology fair hosted by Wired magazine, the Rolling Stone of the tech world. The techno-geeks may have found it worthy, but it’s here that BlowAway faces the toughest challenge of all – the thousands of gamers that crowd the Entertainment pavilion. If the gamers don’t like it, it's just another clever idea; if they do, we may soon see BlowAway in every arcade from Dublin to Dar es Salaam.
BlowAway developed by: Ciaràn Vipond, Theres Veale, Kevin Cannon, John Lynch and Nicola Kavanagh. See www.BlowAway.org.