BotFighters
| BotFighters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | It's Alive Mobile Games AB! |
| Platform | Mobile phone (SMS) |
| Release |
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BotFighters is a location-based mobile game and a pervasive game,[1] developed by It's Alive Mobile Games AB![2][3] (acquired by Digiment[4] in 2007) designed to be a MMORPG[5] played in an urban environment.[2] It was possibly the world's first commercial location-based game.[2][6] It was first released in Sweden on 14 March 2001, and later in Russia, Finland, Ireland and China.[2][7][8]
In 2002, it was awarded with an Award of Distinction, Net Vision category in the Prix Ars Electronica.[9]
The mission of the game was to locate and destroy other players. Each player was represented in the game as a robot warrior.[1] Successful battles were rewarded with money which could be traded in, via a website, for armor upgrades and other features for the player's robot. The game was temporally expansive, because there were no safe zones or timeouts; players were always playing. The likeness of the game has been compared to that of Paintball.[2] The game is no longer playable.
Gameplay
[edit]BotFighters was a location-based mobile game and a pervasive game, that made use of the positioning technology of a mobile phone in playing the game.[10] Players created and equipped robot avatars on the game's website, then used SMS commands on their phones to search for nearby opponents and attack when they were within range.[11][12][13]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- 1 2 von Borries, Friedrich; Walz, Steffen P.; Böttger, Matthias, eds. (2007), "BotFighters: A Game That Surrounds You", Space Time Play, Basel, Boston, Berlin: Birkhäuser Verlag AG, pp. 226–227, ISBN 978-3-7643-8414-2
- 1 2 3 4 5 Montola, Markus; Stenros, Jaakko; Waern, Annika (2009). Pervasive Games. Theory and Design. Experiences on the Boundary Between Life and Play. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers. doi:10.1201/9780080889795. ISBN 978-0-1237-4853-9. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
- ↑ "It's Alive Mobile Games AB". Archived from the original on 7 February 2005. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
- ↑ "Digiment". 2007. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
- ↑ Oppermann, Leif (2009). Facilitating the development of location-based experiences (PhD thesis). University of Nottingham. OCLC 757085363. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.508291.
- ↑ Gordon, Eric; Silva, Adriana de Souza e (2011). Net Locality: Why Location Matters in a Networked World (1. ed.). John Wiley & Sons. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-4443-4065-5. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
BotFighters -encyclopedia -wikipedia.
- ↑ Dennis, Tony (21 October 2003). "Botfighters - a new Russian addiction". The Inquirer. Breakthrough Publishing Ltd. Archived from the original on 13 December 2009. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
- ↑ Laois Nationalist: Mobile could be playing an expensive game Archived August 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Ars Electronica Archive Archived October 21, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Dodson, Sean (15 August 2002). "Ready, aim, text". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media Limited. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
- ↑ de Souza e Silva, Adriana. "Alien Revolt (2005-2007): A Case Study of the First Location-Based Mobile Game in Brazil". IEEE Technology and Society Magazine. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
- ↑ Sotamaa, Olli. "All The World’s A Botfighter Stage: Notes on Location-based Multi-User Gaming". Tampere University Press. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
- ↑ Wired staff report. "Have Cell Phone, Will Shoot". Wired. Retrieved 18 June 2026.
External links
[edit]- BotFighters on GameSpot
- Have Cell Phone, Will Shoot – article on BotFighters and other location-based games from Wired
- Ready, aim, text – article on BotFighters from The Guardian
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