October 6, 2007 -
Here's something to think about as you head out for your Saturday night...As reported by Reuters, a serious games prof at the University of Calgary is developing Booze Cruise, a drunk driving simulator. The goal is to make teenagers think twice about drinking and driving. Said Prof. Jim Parker:
The basic story is that this person is absolutely pissed and woke up in the trunk of their car and now is going to drive home. And then just for fun, we put distractions on the side of the road, like pink elephants.
This is aimed not at adults, this is aimed at people who are 13 to 16. We want to stop them from doing it in advance.
In the game, the player's field of vision is narrowed and blurred. Reaction times are slowed as well in order to mimic the effects of intoxication.
Comments
I use it for either. 'Tis great fun! Now I need a drink and Stairway to Heaven.
Absynthe (sp?) will get you skilled at it much faster. Or Moonshine. If you survive either that is..
I was thinking the same thing.
"Oh No! We are training our kids to drive while drunk now!"
But seriously, this is a good idea. It shows the kids the affect of alcohol on their ability to drive in a safe environment.
Only the most evil of soon to be ex attorneys would take this as a bad thing.
(Don't everybody raise their hands at once).
And, you gotta admit, it sounds like a challenging and really goddamn fun gaming experience. You can add all the educational shit in the world, but if the game sucks, no one will play it. This sounds like the middle of the road, and I think it may stand a chace to be effective.
I just really hope GP makes the announcement when a public beta/alpha/anything becomes available. I can't wait to play this.
I just think it's funny they way they describe it.
I saw it, emailed dennis about it, and passed on. didn't bother a second read.
Don't get me wrong, I like my bong and mesqualin like any other art school CEO. I just want to make sure that if we are sending a positive, progressive message to children and seriously trying to educate them on the dangers and difficulties of drunk driving, we actually do it right.
besides, not many alcoholic beverages cause you to hallucinate. So why 'lie' to kids about that?
.
And it actually sounds fun. Not that I condone this sort of thing IRL. Just yesterday there was a double fatality a few miles from where I live in which alcohol was involved.
I refuse to drive if I've had more than two drinks. But one thing I love to do is get drunk and play gran turismo. I do very well at that too.
My assumption is that I probably could drive drunk, but I don't want to.
Others might use it as justification to drive drunk.
Of course he won't. This has nothing to do with Take-Two, Sony, or Microsoft. Those are the only entities in gaming he thinks exists.
Also the pink elephants are meant to be a bit of humor to prevent the game from being too serious.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ygrDMy9-WU
"HALO 3? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? WE'RE HERE TO BUY BOOZE CRUISE, THE ANTI-DRUNK DRIVING GAME."
...Sigh.
Booze Cruise will show how bad drunk driving is, and with some humor in it, so that it isn't like one of those government productions you see every so often in school.
And if that fails, weeeeeell... maybe there's that part of the mind that will 'train' on driving drunk so if you are drunk, you might be a bit more safe.
It's just speculation though.
You can tell when you're drunk? I can't..
As for Wing Commander 3, I don't remember any drunk mission. Which one was that?
Some kid is going to master this game, before he ever takes a single sip of alcohol, and then think he has it down pat in real life.
University of Calgary professor Jim Parker and a number of his students are developing a drunk driving simulator. While enjoying a session of “Booze Cruise”, you can expect your vision to be blurred and reaction time to be slowed. This only...