Proposal for Video Game Using the Concept of Becoming the Dotted Main Character

Abstract

In recent years, with development of VR technology, many video games have attracted attention that offer gamers the experience of being in the world of the game. In this study, we focused on a method other than VR technology to offer gamers the experience of directly entering the game world. To this end, we created “DOT.GATE,” in which gamers can feel a different type of enjoyment, and with the concept of making real people appear in the virtual game world. “DOT.GATE” was designed to enable real gamers to become a character in the virtual game world, so they can feel enjoyment unlike that of previous games. Intended for everyone to enjoy without needing special skills, “DOT.GATE” was designed as a retro game like those of the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) console. When a user stands in front of the “DOT.GATE” display, the user’s whole body is dotted in using a computer program and shown in the “DOT.GATE” game world. An evaluation experiment was conducted with some students at Future University Hakodate to clarify users’ impressions of the concept of “DOT.GATE.” From the experiment, we found that many gamers preferred the concept and felt it was very fun and offered a different type of pleasure than previous games. In future, it will be necessary to shorten the time needed for a gamer to be dotted in by the program, and to add more rich game content.