Edgar Rice Soirée

BACKGROUND Field, Context, Research Question Traditional videogames tend to focus on the fictional multimedia worlds within the screen. The rise of physical and tangible technologies has shifted some attention to the physical world. However, most motion control games still orient players towards a screen, backgrounding the context in which they play. Edgar Rice Soirée (ERS) looks beyond videogames and motion control games to ask: how can designers use site-specificity and reappropriated commercial technologies to create spectacle and facilitate face-to-face physical-digital gameplay? CONTRIBUTION, Innovation, New Knowledge Edgar Rice Soirée (ERS) is a four-player installation game played with 20 PS Move controllers hanging from the ceiling in a kind of jungle. Wilson was a co-designer and a programmer, along with David Kanaga, Thomas Perl, and Adam Henriksson. The game requires a site-specific installation, and appropriates commercial game controllers for new and surprising ends. As such, it acts as a kind of intervention in videogame culture. The project uses light and sound to transform the physical space into a spectacle and guide the play. Unlike most games played with commercial motion controllers, ERS has no screen, and instead has players look at one another and their physical environment. Players must chase their colored vines (LEDs) around the playspace, while watching out for their scrambling opponents and unpredictable swinging controllers. SIGNIFICANCE, Evidence of Excellence ERS pioneered a fresh approach to site-specific face-to-face gameplay with widely available technology, exploring new possible artistic and social outcomes for videogames. The piece has been exhibited internationally at festivals like Roskilde Festival, XOXO, and the Hand Eye Society Ball, and has been covered by major press outlets like Kotaku. It was a Finalist at IndieCade 2013 and was the Best in Fest Grand Prize Winner at Come Out & Play 2013.