June 30, 2005
Games & Theme Park Attractions
"Disneyland's rides have long been inspired by the movies. Now that the video game industry has surpassed Hollywood, games are becoming just as influential. Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, which opened May 5 as part of the park's kickoff to an ongoing 50th anniversary celebration, is, at its core, a video game transposed to the physical world. Riding in slow-moving "space cruisers," participants use laser pistols to hit various targets along their route and rack up points.
Based on the popular "Toy Story" character Buzz Lightyear, Astro Blasters takes place in an imaginary space environment. Lightyear's goal - and yours - is to defeat the evil Emperor Zurg and reclaim the little green beings that double as the galaxy's power source.
During the all-ages ride, er, game, you do that by aiming a plastic gun at various DayGlo characters that pop up, spin around and taunt you with their targets. At the end of the ride, look down at the screen on your space ship to see if you managed to hit any. Look up, and a television monitor tells you exactly how few that really was - the monitor lists the top 10 scores of the day. People who haven't even stepped foot inside Disneyland can play Astro Blasters online as well, and their actions affect the point values on targets inside the ride in real time.
That's a new concept for theme parks, and it's one that simply wasn't possible 10 years ago."
June 30th, 2005 - LA Times Article: "Faster, Higher, and Smarter"
Posted by andrew at June 30, 2005 06:09 PM | TrackBackComments
well, technically, it was possible 10 years ago. i mean Astroblasters is a fun ride, but it's just a shooting range in motion. Predating the Astroblasters was Universal Studios Orlando's MIB ride, in which the riders have to shoot aliens. Two large cars with riders run simultaneously along two courses that then meet up at the end, and you have to shoot the passengers of the other vehicle(because they're all aliens, too, of course). There's a total score at the end, so you can see if you beat your counterparts, which I thought was really fun. Hopefully they fixed Astroblasters since it's DisneyWorld debut, because the feedback was pretty bad when I played it five years ago.
Nonetheless, I think what is noteworthy about new rides and rollercoasters these days is the mixed media experiences - instead of adding more loops, they are adding 3D and guns! Weeeee!
Posted by: kellee ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://interactive.usc.edu/nav-commenters.gif)
at July 1, 2005 09:23 AM
Actually, the original Astro Blaster (Orlando 1998) has ranked extremely high in guest satisfaction, based on exiting surveys. However, it did have a more clumsy "bar mounted gun" that has been improved in the newer Disneyland attraction. That said, the MIB attraction clearly took the next step in the Game/Theme Park evolution (Orlando 2000) and received the Award for Best Attraction (Thea 2001). It is clear that (and this is the point of the LA Times article) that games are influencing Location Based Attraction design.
Posted by: andrew at July 1, 2005 01:52 PM
damn! I knew you would out fact-check me, Andrew. =) I think more interesting than game culture influencing LBA design(I mean, game culture is influencing everything now), however, is how that game influence is enhancing the player/user/viewer experience. Do people like it because it's more engaging? More stimluating on different levels? Games have definitely been influenced by roller coasters, taking their cues on giving participants fun through vertigo. Would people a hundred years ago have enjoyed astroblasters or is this the result of evolution in our media consumption?
Posted by: kellee at July 1, 2005 04:04 PM
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