Entrepreneurial Game Studio (EGS): Citywide Gaming
After interviewing with Arianna Gass, the Program Manager for the Entrepreneurial Game Studio, I gained a better perspective of the group’s intentions and achievements. The Entrepreneurial Game Studio is a creative and experimental game development studio in which they develop and create new games that can potentially change the gaming industry. The EGS has a collective of projects, but their most notable ones are through their branch group called Citywide Gaming. Through this group, the EGS transforms the traditional view of an urban landscape into something that involves gaming. Their mission is to turn Philadelphia into a vibrant and leading hub in game development.
In depth, I learned the EGS specific aesthetic vision which was conducted on two large scaled projects that were displayed on the Cira Centre building located in West Philadelphia. The projects were based of off two popular old school games called Tetris and Pong which were simulated and projected on the building. Both projects used gaming technology to bring people of the City of Philadelphia together in a “shared moment of joy and play.”
Cira Centre itself has many spectacular features which enabled the EGS to carry out their goals. The building is a 29 story glass skyscraper which has light grids on both sides that are made up of 460 programmable LED lights. The “screen” which the building supports is capable of supporting 20 by 23 pixels, which is normally used to display static images or simple loops. The EGS projects were visible across Philadelphia.
Ever since I started researching this project, I always wanted to know what type of coding language they used to program the lights. I learned that the EGS used rough API and programs such as Python to create the basic interactive game controls and computer which are connected to the Cira Centre’s network.
Through their works, the EGS were recognized and awarded for their work. They were successful in their aim since they were able to bring people together in the experience of playing games. Frank Lee, a Drexel University professor and one of the main project coordinator, considers the EGS accomplishment as an important step to a technical achievement. Lee stated “Some of the technology that we use today creates an isolation in people… What I want to do with this project is to use technology and games specifically to try to bring people together.” The EGS group continues to pursue more ambitious public art/game projects in the future in order to unify the public together.
I would like to contribute to this project by giving input to the EGS from the perspective of an actual gamer. Through my experience, I know that people will bond over a game that is not competitive and requires teamwork. Since the projects take place in an urban setting, it would be very beneficial if the game can support more than two people. If more people can participate in the project, it will get people to bond more quickly.