movingMario
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| by Keith Lam (aka theDemos)
Award:
Exhibition:
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| Abstract
Over the years, the development of video games is trying its best to produce the virtual reality experience which getting closer to the reality. By changing the interface, from Atari’s joystick to Analog Vibration of PS2 joystick, then Gun Shape controller for shooting game, and Dance Mania’s floor controller to Wii wiimote, video game design is creating more and more “physical experience” for the players. Players now can actual smash and swing to play the game, but we are still playing the games in a 2D virtual environment: manipulating the character in an unlimited virtual space in a fixed static limited real world. |
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Moving Mario is definitely not reproducing Super Mario Bros in another way. By grabbing partial concept and some of the key elements behind the TV game development, Moving Mario is trying to challenge some of the traditional game elements. Throughout the gaming process, players can rethink the relationship between the player and the game |
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| Moving Mario -Fascination with the original, rethinking the original |
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| I) Scrolling Game Mechanism
A popular example of Scrolling game, Super Mario Brothers, the first scrolling game of NES gained huge success; player controls the movement of the character with the joystick. One may experience through moving one’s body in order to make Mario moves faster, or even jump at the same time while Mario has to jump. While playing the game, player and Mario seems acting two become one , the physical movement and emotions of a player is actually 100% devoted into the virtual environment. The player is actually scrolling the “the background of the game” rather than controlling the left-right movement of the character. Take a very simple example: car-moving in the old movies. The car stays still while the background is actually keep scrolling. For this technique, we called it “Parallax” in the computer game development. Key character keeps as the centre point in the environment; except at the beginning and ending of the game, and some special cases). In fact, key character will never move. What the player controlling is the “moving” or “scrolling” of the game background and various game layers (different objects in the game). Take another example: [please refer to the video] |
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| *Reference 1: Chicago Coin Speedway (1969), scrolling the slide (background)
Chicago Coin Speedway is a console game in 1969. The console games at that time are mostly move game object in a physical way. The mechanism of Chicago Coin Speedway is similar to Super Mario: character in the middle and background scrolling. Player is scrolling the background but not moving the racer. This is the early concept of background scrolling / side-scroller. |
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| *Reference 2: Bally Road Runner (1971), moving the car physically (the game object)
Bally Road Runner in 1971 is another console game with mechanical control. Bally Road Runner has a fixed background while the racer is moving. |
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| II) Moving the Mario
This work consists of basic set-up only: there isn’t any side-scroller or background scrolling. Moving Mario is actually demonstrating the mentioned concept and set up a platform for players to visualize this concept while participating in it. Let’s move the Mario! Since Mario HAS to stay in the middle (since it’s a side-scroller, or say scrolling background), the whole TV set has to be moved, as well as the player (due to limited length of the control panel). This is the key concept of this side-scrolling game. This is something that people tend to/used to over-look and this work is trying to demonstrate this concept from another point of view. |
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| And then, instead of scrolling the background horizontally, lets simply change the game mechanism to another way:
When you are trying to move Mario to the RIGHT, in Moving Mario, you are moving Mario to the RIGHT; |
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| Fig.1 Moving by the control | |
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| Fig.2 Moving on the scene | |
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| III) Mechanical conversion: playing with the original video game elements
Moving Mario is also exploring two more aspects of TV game at the same time: |
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| - Transferring from virtual into real
Usually, we are moving the key character in the virtual space while we are playing the game in a fixed static limited real world. |
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| Fig.3 World 1-1, Super Mario Bros Whole game scene
Moving Mario is modeling the background of game scene (World 1-1). It is not trying to extend the virtual space but demonstrating the whole original scene instead. By using wire to connect the game controller with the TV case, player needs to walk in order to play the game. By making the virtual game environment to a real set-up, Moving Mario is transferring the movement of virtual character (Mario) to the game player. |
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| - Layering: exposes the mechanism of game layer
Basically, this kind of video game - scrolling game background consists of four layers (in general). 1. Character To display the mechanism of layering (pattern),Moving Mario deconstructs the game layer and converts it in a mechanical way. By playing Moving Mario, player is moving the “TV” instead of moving Mario. Except the game objects, character and background layer never has its location be moved. (For example, even the character/Mario is jumping, the character is just jumping up but not jumping forward.) Fig.4.1 Background layer (part of) |
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| More Information
Video (Youtube): Video (High Quality): Flickr Page: movingMario Set: Exhibition at Microwave International New Media Arts Festival 2007, Photo package Project PDF ** Moving Mario is originally commissioned by Microwave International New Media Arts Festival 2007, under the programme ‘Project Room’, Curated by Joel Kwong. |
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| Credits
Keith Lam (Artist, Concept, Electronics) Joseph Chan (Mechanic Design, Electronics) *Special Thanks Mr.Yim Chun Pang, founder of Blue Tongue Entertainment for giving references the concept of TV game development, game history and process of game design. |
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| Referneces and Extended Readings
Side-scroller: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side-scrolling_video_game |
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| Contact
Keith Lam |
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| Moving Mario Related:
Engadget: http://edwardkhoo.com/new-concept-moving-mario/ |
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February 7th, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Congratulations Keith!
This is very well done!
Best,
Niklas
February 8th, 2008 at 2:46 am
This is a very cool concept on game playing.
Obviously no real immediate practical benefits but good for promoting a divergent view.
What is the title theme playing in the video. I want it as a ringtone but can’t find that particular version
Thanks
February 8th, 2008 at 2:49 am
Nice idea, I imagine it was fun to make.
February 8th, 2008 at 5:23 am
and they couldn’t just put the background on rolls, and have that scroll by?
February 8th, 2008 at 5:46 am
no, they couldn’t, because then they’d have to figure out a way of attaching the rotating bricks and such to the scrolling background now, wouldn’t they?
February 8th, 2008 at 6:01 am
Wow, great idea..love it!
February 8th, 2008 at 7:03 am
I can’t wait to see this when enemies and blocks are added.
February 8th, 2008 at 8:39 am
This experiment is actually incorrect in that Mario DOES NOT always stay in the center of the screen. In Super Mario Bros., the screen can’t scroll left and if Mario runs left, he can reach the edge of the screen. When he reaches a warp zone with pipes at the end of a level, he can move all over the screen. Great demo though.
February 8th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Very cool, some improvements can be made with the jump speed by using compressed air and a motor to stop Mario on various heights (say on top of bricks instead of on the ground) and use small step motors with elastic to move the action (question) bricks.
Excellent job though, this must have took a LOT of work.
February 8th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Pfft.
February 8th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
So much time, so little to do?
February 8th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
What a waste of time. Its like one of those dumb school projects you do when the teacher gives you no lesson plan. They obviously don’t play mario that much if they think he’s always in the middle of the screen and moves like a piece of ****ing paper.
February 9th, 2008 at 1:20 am
This is an artist’s installation, and art does not necessarily have to serve some sort of productive purpose like some of you seem to think. Think of it as a homage to SMB. I think that a little bit of tweaking could help, as some of the motion could be a little quicker and the TV may benefit from some weighting to keep it from rocking, but it’s a very cool idea and the time and effort that went into it should be applauded.
February 9th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
Great work with concept supported
I can’t imagine if there is really a teacher gives you no lesson plan and ask you to do it (s**k comment), it is obviously with many plans and thoughts inside this work, though every art piece has the room of improvements, nothing is perfect.
February 11th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Thanks for all comments here, in youtube and in other forums.
Thanks for both bad and good comments. Good and encourage and bad for improvements.
Here I summarize most of the common questions in the comments/feedbacks, and would like to give some feedback:
“mario is not always in the middle….”;
“mario cannot move the left in SMB 1…”;
“why don’t you just scroll the background…..”
“pointless to make this…”
- just like the feedback by RoadToDawn51 in youTube, I am not just simply recreating Super Mario Brothers. And just like many comments, this is pointless if I just simply recreating or re-invent the game.
I am not recreating the game and re-invent the game, I don’t even need to duplicate the game in a physical way. Anyway…
Just like what RoadtoDawn51 mentioned, what I would like to play with in MovingMario is mainly the concept of so-called “background scrolling”, or “side scroller”.
I grab the main concept “scrolling background” of many scrolling game to play with: you are scrolling the background instead of moving the mario while you are playing the scrolling game.
Please let me quote his feedback: “here’s a reason why this vid is called “Moving Mario” because the concept is that the game “Super Mario Bros.” is NOT moving Mario but instead,moving the background! This person built a mechanism to show the actual game as you’re MOVING MARIO and NOT the background.Since Mario HAS to stay in the middle(since it’s a side-scroller),the whole t.v has to move! This is the concept of a side-scrolling game. Something that people tend to over-look.” , “He wasn’t trying to actually reenact the actual game. He was showing the concept of a side-scroller in another point of view. And the side-scroller moves to the right once the player is in the middle…. ”
I love this feedback as it is more or less the same I would like to reply in the questions, especially on the comment of “pointless to do this”.
By showing this, me and my team pick some of the elements of SMB 1 world 1-1 and physicalize it. In order to present “moving mario” with TV and the whole sense “fixed” behind, instead of of just scrolling the background, we move the TV in one layer and background in another layer. Of course, it should have another layer for bricks, and one more layer for enemies, but we just simply skip this at this stage.
If we just scroll the background, it is just duplicating the game, again, as many people mentioned, it will be pointless, at least for me, to just simply duplicate the game.
I admit that the work can be polish it better. For example question brick, Mario, etc. The video show you is a n-times after broken by the audience. Those question brick and Mario is made in rush after destroyed. But even the original one, it can be better and me and my team will work out a better one.
September 7th, 2008 at 5:20 pm
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