Locomatrix - Play games using GPS enabled phones
Locomatrix is a new gaming service for GPS enabled phones where the user has to physically move around with their mobile to play. Imagine Pac-Man where you had to walk forward, left and right in real life to collect items on the screen.
The service was created with a hope that it would get more kids moving around playing games rather than sitting indoors playing the Xbox, eating Mars bars and becoming fatties.
Some of the features are really cool such as being able to challenge people in different countries and being able to pick the size of the real life playing area.
The current games available are Fruit Farmer (Pac-Man style fruit collecting) and Treasure Hunt (Locational image clues are given to the user such as landmarks etc who then has to navigate to where they think these pictures are in real life). The service is free to try for now, check if you have a compatible phone here.
I tried Locomatrix on a Nokia N82, however it said it wasn’t compatible on the download page even though it says it is on the website.
Check out the promo vid here:
Although Locomatrix is a great idea i can see a few problems with this service:
1) Expecting kids/anyone to go and buy a GPS receiver to take part
I cant see tons of people shelling out £30 for a separate GPS receiver especially when the type of people most likely to run around in a field picking up virtual fruits are kids. You could argue this is the price of a game on the Xbox or less than the price of Mario Kart on the Wii but I don’t think its going to be under the Christmas tree somehow.
Even if you did buy one, try convincing 8 friends to go out and get one too! I’m sure the phrase ‘jog on mate im going to buy Pro Evo” will be heard often. This will be even harder if your friends are 12 years old and have to ask their dad.
2) GPS in every single mobile phone is a long long long way away
And the ones that have inbuilt GPS aren’t the ones that the target demographic of Locomatrix will generally have. Nokia N82? Nokia N96? These are high end expensive phones.
Even though the cost of GPS chips for phone manufactures has gone down significantly and Nokia announcing plans to place one in every phone this is still some time away.
3) Manufacturers will make games using the GPS functionality on their phones
Companies like Sony Ericsson are already using inbuilt sensors in their phones (like the one on the iPhone that knows if you tip it on its side) to make Wii style games like on the F305 model. This is a new feature to Sony Ericsson phones and they have already utilised it for gaming.
Its only a matter of time before GPS phones have GPS games developed by the mobile manufacturers and their partners. How do you get Locomatrix on phones when phones will already ship with these games already on?
I can see the Nokia N-Gage platform exploring the GPS functionality in upcoming phones. No doubt Sony Ericsson will bring the Playstation brand into mobile eventually using GPS as well.
4) The plans to start charging for Locomatrix
This is the one that I think will really kill it off. So not only do you need a mid range/expensive handset, a £30 GPS receiver and friends with compatible mobiles, you want to charge on top of this? Obviously people need to get paid and kids need GI Joes at Christmas etc but seriously think about a ad funded model. Maps sponsored by Coca Cola, giant Big Mac maps or icons the shape of Krispy Kreme. Ok those are all junk food but you get the idea.
If a manufacturer partners or buys out Locomatrix and ships phones with the game installed I think it has a chance. Otherwise its hard to see it sticking around.
The BBC news has covered it here. There’s a quote from the developer that will send shivers down the spine of most politicians and police. As they assume most people cant tell the difference between playing a game like GTA and brutally murdering someone with a mini gun in real life.
“I think this is the next logical stage, rather than manipulating the character on the screen, to go out and become those characters in your own real life adventures”
This entry was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 6:39 pm and is filed under GPS, Mobile, Mobile Innovation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Richard Vahrman July 30th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Thanks for blogging about LocoMatrix. Very interesting points well argued, and ones that we know we have to work on to make the product succeed. Although obviously we wouldn’t be doing it if we thought it would fail. I have made some observations on my blog locomatrix.com/wordpress
Am looking into the N82 problems you report with the guys who have been porting the application to various phones.