Abstract: Prism Squad: GO! is a three-player cooperative video game which uses interpersonal touch and Nintendo Wiimotes to promote innovative team-based gameplay. Prism Squad is an interstellar fighting force dedicated to protecting the Earth from alien invaders. The three members of Prism Squad – Prism Red, Prism Yellow and Prism Blue – each controls their own colored spaceship, which they use to do battle. By matching the color their ship to the color of the invading aliens, the players can protect the Earth from harm. But as the game goes on, more and more colors of enemies will appear – orange, green, purple, and white! To defeat these colorful enemies, players must cooperate their teammates to “blend” their colors together. Much of the excitement in Prism Squad: GO! comes from deftly coordinating blends with your teammates to take on an ever-changing onslaught of colorful Spek’Tral ships. Needless to say this requires great coordination – but it also requires discretion: if all players try to blend colors at once, the resultant color will be white, and no player will be able to get the color they need. Sometimes, being a good teammate means stepping back and letting your partners blend while you wait your turn. By communicating with your team, and using effective strategies, you can protect the galaxy!

Researchers: Cody Watts, Ehud Sharlin, Peter Woytiuk

• Publications:
  1. C. Watts, E. Sharlin and P. Woytiuk, “Exploring Interpersonal Touch-Based Interaction and Player Socialization in Prism Squad: GO!”, Conference on Computer Games, Multimedia and Allied Technology (CGAT 2010), April 2010, Singapore. Best Paper Award.
  
  

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