Rationale

When considering a concept for our game, we decided first on a context and a brand – airport terminals and Air New Zealand. When we think of an airport terminal, it conjures up quite a different picture from the Air New Zealand brand image. Sleepy travellers and grumpy businessmen are in stark contrast to the friendly hospitable feel of the “Kiwiana”-based Air New Zealand brand. To bring travellers at airports together and relieve their boredom, we decided to create an interactive game, using Kinect. This would get waiting travellers off their seats and doing some physical activity, as well as encourage some friendly competition.

The game itself is an infinite runner game, similar to the popular smartphone game Temple Run. We decided that in order to properly parallel Air New Zealand’s visual language and promotional imagery, the game would be set in native New Zealand bush. Aesthetically, this is continued throughout the game, with a landscape visible from every screen. In the game, the player is represented by a Kiwi, with the objective being to collect the Kiwi’s eggs.

For the hand-in, we decided that keyboard controls would be more realistic than setting it up with a Kinect sensor. However if the game was to be placed in context, this is the track it would be taken down. Multiple players would have the ability to participate using multiple Kinect sensors, but they would be playing the same game, competing against each other.