Upcoming Gameshelf stuff: talent needed!

[prog]

Upcoming Gameshelf games need players! Comment or email if you're interested or have questions about it.

Acquire, a classic and oft-reprinted Sid Sackson strategy board game themed around corporate acquisition and merging. Takes a little more than an hour to play. (At least that's what Wikipedia says.)

M.U.L.E., an obscure but very highly regarded 1983 computer (and, later, NES) game about supply-and-demand competition among extraterrestrial settlers. Plays like a board game.

I have personally not played either of these games, but already find both intriguing for reasons besides gameplay. I think they'll make for good TV!

When/Where:

I'd like to play Acquire at the SCAT studio on the evening of Wednesday, March 7. Yes, that's next week. If I can't get enough people I'll punt to a later date but I have the studio time reserved now and would like to swing it if possible.

M.U.L.E. time and location is TBA. Sometime later in March, probably. I want to do something like the technique I used for the Rampart feature and dedicate a camera or two to filming the people playing the game, letting another camera just slurp the video of the game itself, editing it all together in post.

Comments

[gemini6ice.livejournal.com]

What time? :/

[prog.livejournal.com]

Acquire will start at 7pm next Wednesday. I'm looking to trawl four players for it. (Joe and I can be two of em if needed.)

I'll probably have a teaching game at my house on Sunday, too (since I haven't even played it myself, yet.)

[chocorisu.livejournal.com]

I played MULE a couple of years ago with some people at work... can't remember if it was on an NES or a C64 emulator. I just remember it was fun times. Good multiplayer game, and yes, a lot like a board game.

[spatch]

My little brothers and I used to play M.U.L.E. all the time and were spectacularly well-versed in turning the auction sequence (sellers walk down to set a price, buyers walk up to meet the price) into a chase game.

"Want my surplus smithore at this low low price? Well, step right up and-- Oops! Too slow! Price just went up! Better come up and buy it before I raise it agai-- whoops! Your auction guy must be tired or something, he's moving way too slow! Come on up now to meet this pri-- whoa, we moved up again! Crazy gravity on this planet!"

You could accomplish a lot of annoyance, even with the 60-second (60? 30?) time limit on auctions. It was the electronic equivalent of moving the car forward six feet every time your little brother reached for the passenger door handle, and fisticuffs routinely broke out during our games, especially when the person who just got shafted on smithore a turn before ended up cornering the energy market the next and sits on the entire surplus. Then again, we always just played the basic game; the standard and tournament levels I am sure presented whole new ways to piss each other off.

That said, it has one of the best-ever themes to any computer game before or since.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

I love acquire, but I'll be out of town that day.

[prog.livejournal.com]

Bummer! I'll let you know if we end up rescheduling.

[radiotelescope.livejournal.com]

The comment I made last night about Milken turns out to be a complete misunderstanding. I was thinking of a different game. (Quandary.)

[taskboy3000.livejournal.com]

I fell like I've played MULE. I'm interested in both games, so I'm available if you need me.

[mrmorse.livejournal.com]

I'd be up for Acquire. I'm also curious about MULE.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

I haven't played Acquire against humans since '96 or so, but I played a Palm version for a while and think I remember more or less how it goes. I'd definitely be up for it.

I've never played M.U.L.E. but am curious about it. Maybe I'll just watch the show when it comes out.

[lorelei-sakai.livejournal.com]

I'd love to play Acquire. We had the game when I was a kid, and I swear it wasn't until I was at least twenty that I figured out why the game was supposed to be fun. So now of course I want to make up for all the lost time...