Multimodal, Multitouch Gaming Gaining Traction

andylim writes "Several universities and commercial entities are developing multimodal, multitouch games, such as a card game using iPhones for individual hands and an iPad for public information, and an iPad Scrabble game that lets you use your iPhone to see your letter tiles. Of course, it's an extremely expensive setup right now, but over time it will become cheaper. It's also pretty cool, so why wouldn't you want to play board/card/strategy games like this?"

RPGs/interaction games

[tacarat]

You run the risk of ruining pen and paper games by increasing the speed in which encounters get dealt with. GMs need time to BS and slow mechanics enable that. I'm sure there are other games where being efficient will detract from the social aspects of the situation. Slot machines are probably one of the best examples of such.

Why not just play the actual games

[Gothmolly]

Why not just play the real games, rather than an electronic version of the game?

Re:And the politics get started again

[causality]

In the interest of truth, how about the commenters in this thread start by telling us if they own or have used at length an iPhone, Ipod Touch, or an iPad. I think that if we pay more attention to the people who have something that they know to add we might discover something useful here.

That would exclude the people who don't own those and believe they have good reasons for this. Truth is not served by discounting them. Even if you could never agree with them, consider them an important contrast.

I mean, sheesh - if you want to see people holding forth on things they know nothing about you can always tune in the Fox channel. We're better than that here, aren't we? This "I heard it was bad so it must be" nonsense isn't doing anyone any good. It's a product, not a philosophical statement

It's possible to know something about an object that you've still chosen not to purchase. In fact I'd recommend knowing something about it before you decide whether or not to purchase it. There actually are philosophical aspects to this. Your own might motivate you to dismiss the opinions of anyone who hasn't patronized Apple. They could also motivate you to understand an alternative viewpoint and why a given person holds it. Either way you are reflecting a philosophy, worldview, set of priorities, values, whatever you wish to call it. Is it therefore an offense when others do the same?

so get down off of those high horses and let's discuss this like men and women.

That's a related but different subject, easily conflated with your first. This one is about the style with which something is expressed, not the nature of what is being conveyed. It's really about how the tone that is used can affect the quality of discourse but not the subject.

Re:Randomness

[mrsurb]

If only there were some way of combining two or more 32-bit numbers together to form a 64-bit or greater number. This is a solved problem.

Re:Because I have no interest in owning iDevices

[SCPRedMage]

I've got $5 that says such a game would never make it past Apple's approval process.

Re:RPGs/interaction games

[gmhowell]

How about we give it a nice grahpical interface where I can see my character fighting alongside my friends? Ooh, and then give the monsters a little AI so that the GM has less work to do still?

It would be pretty.... Well, all I can say is:

WoW!

Why wouldn't you?

[YourExperiment]

why wouldn't you want to play board/card/strategy games like this?

Because then they're no longer board games. Part of the fun factor of these games comes from the physical board and pieces. The components can be quite beautiful in some games (Euro-games especially). The tactile nature of the game is part of its appeal.

There's no denying that multi-touch screens are cool, but (shock, horror) the real world can be even cooler! I happen to like holding cards in my hand, and dragging a bunch of wooden pieces around an expansive, beautifully artistic board.

This might be an odd claim to make on /., but not everything can be improved by putting it on a computer.

Re:Why not just play the actual games

[amRadioHed]

Also: The game takes an hour and a half to set up, like Axis & Allies.