Festival2012/Submit/The Art of the One Button Cardboard Arcade

• Title of sessions:
  

The Art of the One Button Cardboard Arcade (Part 1: the Content)
The Art of the One Button Cardboard Arcade (Part 2: the Cabinet)

• Your name and affiliation:
  

Syed Salahuddin (Co-founder of Babycastles)
Kaho Abe (Artist in Residence at NYU-Poly Game Innovation Lab)

• Session format (select Design Challenge, Learning Lab, or Fireside Chat): Design Challenge
  

What will your session or activity allow people to make, learn or do?

Part 1: the Content
We will first present examples of one button games that were built with in a short period of time for inspiration, then the idea of making games for cabinets will be discussed. Participants will then be asked to break up into groups, and to make a one button game. In order to accommodate a wide range of participants with varying skills, we can also make available tools to create games and even games that only require hacking and modding in Scratch.

Part 2: the Cabinet
We will first present how game cabinets allow digital games to have an identity and presence within the physical and social environments it is placed. We will review the instructions on how to make sturdy and affordable game cabinets made of wood and cardboard and then make them. We will also learn how to hack a mouse to create a one button interface. Finally, participants will place their one button games inside the boxes they have built and decorated.

The cabinets will be presented together in the One Button Cardboard Arcade.

How do you see that working?

This is a session for both youth and adults.
Youth will be encouraged to sign up with adults/guardians.
We will break up into groups to make games and then to make the cabinets.
We will have a variety of prebuilt games and cabinets to accommodate various levels of skills.
The information from the sessions including specs and instructions for building the low-cost cardboard cabinets will be shared.

How will you deal with 5, 15, 50 participants?

With 5 participants, we will form 3 groups including Syed and me.
With 15 participants, we will create 5-7 groups of 2-3 people.
With 50 participants, we will create 10 groups of 5 people, and make more intricate games/cabinets.

How long within your session before someone else can teach this?

After the first 20-30 minutes of each session.

What do you see as outcomes after the festival?

Sharing cabinet making specs and instructions.
Game & Cabinet Jams!
Carboard Arcades galore!