(2011-12-22) Google Maps First Person Shooter

A Dutch Advertising agency made a First Person Shooter Computer Game tied to Google Maps. Google killed that. Despite Google’s disapproval of machine guns, it seems to me inevitable that gaming will incorporate Google’s vast database of location imagery. And it doesn’t have to be a first person shooter. What about using it in a Second Life-type game? A Virtual World based on the Real World.

R U Sirius wrote a couple years ago about Virtual Reality as Mirror Worlds. The real head banger is what all this virtuality is going to inspire. You see, humanity is not a species known just for having a vivid imagination. It’s known for making that imagination real. Just like we demanded Star Trek Communicators and got cellphones, once we get our perfect avatar bodies and get to play with them in the streets, go shopping with them, and hang out in bars with them, we’re going to want them in real life. And that’s the biggest game changer. (BioTech)

He just expanded on that idea. Imagine merging the latest Call of Duty graphics engine with a Google mapped locale, enabling you to stage a “block war” with your friends, using your own neighborhood as a combat zone. Sounds fun, hum? Now let me toss in another element to it — a Quadrotor (UAV). Imagine that not only are you using the Google maps recreation of your neighborhood for your shootout, but that you’re also using a quadrotor as your Tele Presence unit. Imagine that in addition to the static scenery like trees and houses, your game is real time, and the cars moving in the street and current activities around the neighborhood are also included and potential game changers.