Arcade Games

Arcade Games

Arcade was an interactive light installation. Using your mobile phone, you could become a part of the event at any time.

Tetris

Tetris is one of the most popular computer games of all time. Since its invention in 1985 it has found its way on almost any computer system and game console in one form or the other. With Arcade you could play Tetris with your mobile phone - on a playground 3370 m2 in size.

Whoever stood in front of Bibliothèque nationale de France could connect to the building by dialing +33 (1) 44 24 73 50. The current show was interrupted and the text "TETRIS" announced that the game could begin.

Tetris requires you to position the falling elements so that they form complete rows. With the keys 4 and 6 on your keypad the elements could be moved left and right respectively. With key 5 you could rotate the element counter-clockwise. Once you had found the desired position, you could drop the element immediately by typing 8.

Closed rows disappeared completely and the upper rows dropped down so that more space became available for new elements. The game ended when you failed to close the rows and the elements stacked up and reached the top. Arcade then disconnected your phone and allowed the next person to go for another game of Tetris.

Pong

Pong is one of the first Arcade games and was already the center of our Blinkenlights installation in Berlin. Pong was activated by calling +33 (1) 44 24 73 51.

With the keys 5 and 8 you controlled your paddle up and down. The goal was to always push back the ball to the other side. Pong could be played by up to two players. The first caller played against the computer. The second caller automatically took over the computer's paddle so that both callers played against each other.

Breakout

Breakout is another hit of the simple pixel games. You had to clear the pixel mass in the upper area. Breakout was activated by calling +33 (1) 44 24 73 52.

At the beginning of the game the ball had to be fired off first. You shot to the upper left using key 1 and to the upper right with 3. Using the keys 4 and 6 you could slide your paddle to the left and right (7 and 9 moved it in single steps accordingly). You had to push the ball back into the upper area. You won a round when all bricks had been eliminated.

Breakout was programmed by 1stein using the Blinkenlights Library.

Pacman

Pacman is yet another Arcade classic everybody knows. You went for a pixel hunt and avoided the monsters. Pacman was activated by calling +33 (1) 44 24 73 53.

Keys 2 and 8 directed Pacman upwards and downwards, the keys 4 and 6 moved it to the left and right. By moving Pacman through the openings in the border you could change to the respective opposite side of the playground.

Pacman was programmed by 1stein using the Blinkenlights Library.