Pac-Manhattan

Pac-Manhattan is a real-life version of "Pac-Man" created in 2004 and covered by the "New York Times" that year. [cite web |url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E3DA173CF93AA35756C0A9629C8B63 |title=Quick, After Him: Pac-Man Went Thataway |publisher=New York Times |accessdate=2008-05-29 |date=2004-05-09 |author=Warren St. John] It was invented by graduate students at the Interactive Telecommunications Program in the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. It uses Wi-Fi technology, open-source software, and cell phones.

The game is played with ten people: "Pac-Man" and his "controller" (who keeps contact with him via cell phone and keeps track of how much of the city he has covered), and the four ghosts and their controllers. Pac-Man and the Ghosts play out the game on the streets of Manhattan while their respective controllers give them information and strategy advice via cell-phone from the control room.

If the person touches a street sign at a street intersection, it is counted as a power pellet, and the pac-man can chase down the ghosts.

Pac-Man and his controller have an intelligence advantage as a result of Pac-Man's controller having a bird's eye view of the game. Pac-Man's controller can see the current position of all the Ghosts on the streets, although the Ghosts' controllers cannot see the current position of Pac-Man, only that of the other Ghosts. Thus the Ghosts' numerical advantage is balanced against Pac-Man's information advantage.

See also

* Location-based game
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01E3DA173CF93AA35756C0A9629C8B63 New York Times article about Pac-Manhattan]

References

External links

* [http://www.pacmanhattan.com/ Official Pac-Manhattan website]
* [http://web.pacmanalyon.net/?language=en Official Pacman@Lyon website] : the game played by a french team