Glofun(TM) RayGun(TM): World's First "High-Intensity" Location Game for Cell Phones

Redmond, WA (PRWEB) December 1, 2004

GloVentures, LLC, has just announced the upcoming release of Glofun RayGun, the world's first "high-intensity" location game for cell phones. RayGun combines the mental intensity of a video game and the physical activity of a sport.

The game premise: A cell phone loaded with RayGun software emits “spectral” energy that lets you attract and track ghosts. Unfortunately, the energy also annoys the ghosts, so you’d better “ionize” them before they get to you. The twist: RayGun is a GPS game, and to play it you have to move through the real world—that is, running around using your real feet. To aim the raygun at a ghost, you move toward it. Moving quickly increases the raygun’s range. You can adjust your beam to long and narrow (good for zapping ghosts while they’re still far away) or short and wide (good for zapping them when they’re closing in on you). The longer you play, the more ghosts you attract, and the faster you have to move to stay ahead.

According to James Robarts, GloVentures Director of Dreams, RayGun is the first game in the Glofun product line of "high-intensity" location games. RayGun currently runs on the Nextel i710 and i730 handsets. It has passed “funability” testing by students at the University of Washington, who rated both the game concept and the game experience very highly. The game now awaits Nextel approval. The company expects to release the game early 2005, with additional titles following soon thereafter. (For more info, see http://www.Glofun.com.)

10 Signs That You're Ready for Glofun "High-Intensity" Location Games

1. You’re bored with the cell phone games currently available.

2. You have cool GPS technology in your phone, but it just sits there.

3. New-fangled game experiences don’t frighten you.

4. You like to play games even when you aren’t trapped in line at the bank or waiting for the bus.

5. You wouldn’t object if a few ghosts moved into your neighborhood.

6. In fact, you can grok the idea of turning the real world into your game board.

7. You’d like to get outdoors more often. (Remember the sky?)

8. You’d rather have a cute tush than buff thumbs.

9. You recognize a great conversation starter when you see one.

10. You like the idea of buying games made by five people in a basement.

About High-Intensity Location Games

In location-based games, the real world serves as the game board. In order to “make a move” in the game, the player must move in the real world. Most location-based games (e.g., Undercover, Botfighters) make use of relatively low-precision location data derived solely from cellular technology. As a consequence, their real-world play spaces are large (typically an entire city), and the players’ movements must be correspondingly large (typically a city block or more). The large scale of such games means that they are relatively slow-playing.

A more recent location-based game, Swordfish, uses assisted GPS (AGPS), which can pinpoint the player’s location more precisely than cellular technology. However, the game makes use of only an occasional location fix (for which the player pays a small fee) to determine whether the player is within range of a virtual fish (approximately 50m). Gameplay continues without any further tracking of the player’s movements. As a consequence, much of the gameplay has nothing to do with the player’s location.

Glofun games, in contrast, make the most of the handset's GPS. Tracking the player’s location, bearing, and velocity precisely and rapidly -- throughout the game -- increases a game's mental and physical intensity:

• The physical area of the game can be reduced to a more human scale. Glofun games can be played entirely within an area the size of a soccer field, or even a suburban backyard.

• Smaller scale translates into faster game play. Because players' moves are measured seconds rather than minutes, Glofun games have an immediacy that’s not possible with yesterday's location technology.

Glofun games combine the mental intensity of a video game with the physical intensity of a sport. GloVentures calls these fast-paced location games “high-intensity” to distinguish them from their slower-paced predecessors.

About GloVentures

GloVentures is an R&D company focused exclusively on location-based entertainment. In addition to creating location-based games for mobile devices, GloVentures develops and licenses related technology. The privately held company was founded in April, 2002. GloVentures is located in Redmond, Washington.

Contact Information:

Lisa Louise Davis, Director of Fame

GloVentures, LLC

Telephone: 425-861-4659

Fax: 425-861-4690

E-mail: LisaLouise@GloVentures.com

Web: http://www.GloVentures.com / http://www.Glofun.com

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