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02
June 2009
iPhone
Culture Takes Couch-Kids Gaming
Outdoors
The
battle to get kids off the couch
and playing outside has reached a
truce.
The
Hidden Park, an iPhone app
developed by an Australian
studio, takes the fun of playing
computer Games
outdoors.
"We
wanted to create a gaming
environment that gets kids off
the couch and out into the great
outdoors, without compromising
their enjoyment of digital
entertainment," says James Kane,
director of Bulpadok, the studio
behind The Hidden
Park.
To
achieve this, iPhone wizardry is
blended with the natural wonder
of public gardens. The game takes
children on a magical journey,
opening up a fantasy world of
trolls, fairies and tree genies
that children can photograph,
play with, and interact with on a
level never seen before. The
children must follow a GPS map of
the park, solve riddles and beat
magical creatures at games in
order to save it from being
over-run by greedy developers.
Environmental education plays an
important role in The Hidden
Park, giving children a creative
insight into the importance of
preserving the natural beauty of
city parklands.
The
game was an enormous technical
challenge. Bulpadok collaborated
with WSP Environmental's (WSP)
Online Solutions team, a leading
global consultancy delivering
innovative and commercial
solutions to environment related
business issues. Among its award
winning online portfolio, WSP's
iPhone team deliver products for
world's top brands, with
top-selling applications featured
by Apple on their App
Stores.
"The
Hidden Park isn't just a huge
step forward in creating a
healthy and physically active
gaming experience for children,
it also breaks the boundaries of
conventional iPhone gaming," says
John Cameron from WSP's Online
Solutions team. "We programmed
the game to track players
movements based on a
sophisticated piece of mapping
script with LBS (Location Based
Services) waypoints to trigger
animations and
sequences."
The
GPS functionality of the iPhone
means the game has no physical
limitations on where it could be
played. "The beauty of The Hidden
Park is that it can be adapted
for other parks. We've rolled out
the game across nine cities
around the world, including New
York, London, Tokyo and Sydney,"
says James Kane. "And we are
working closely with WSP to
release a park builder, so
parents can set up the game in
their local park and share it
with other parents."
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