flOw: Putting the groove on the subconscious

Posted Nov 29, 2006 at 5:44AM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: PS3 Tags: Jenova Chen, playstation 3 updates, Sony, Wall Street Journal

flow

So you're all set for graduation: You got your toga, you went to every frat party you can go to, heck, you even took pictures of yourself in various campus spots for that ultra nostalgic feel. You think you're all set to go out of college, except for one tiny (?), dreaded thing: THESIS.

Now, I wouldn't delve into that anymore, gruesome as it is. After all, thesis can be a pain in the ass, although it can also mark the beginning of your success story. After all, that's how flOw, the super popular flash and PS3 game, was conceived.

Jenova Chen, the creator of flOw, is a graduate student at the University of Southern California. Now, you might think he's just one ordinary guy who's intrigued at "flow theory", a psychological concept, which, according to Mr. Chen himself, "is a mental state where a human being is totally engaged in an activity he is doing, where he is so involved that he loses track of time and space. In sports, broadcasters call this 'the zone'".

This is the concept behind the eye-candy game. Basically, you just have to let your instincts run wild in this game, as it is very intuitive. As Wall Street Journal puts it, "it mostly boils down to impulsive, easy-to-understand gameplay that eliminates disruptions. Nothing comes between the gamer and the experience -- no menus, no tutorials, no prompts or instructions; most of all, no dying."

And boy, the said game's a brilliant example of a theory put into action. Not only do players get to control it subconsciously, they got hooked on it, too. With the help of his Interactive Media Division classmates in college, Chen had flOw available online last March. And on its first two weeks, the game got a whopping 100,000 hits. Then Sony entered the scene, and as of now, a PS3 version is in the works. Cool, huh?

The moral of the story? Give one last hurrah before graduating by strutting your stuff on your thesis. After all, Sony might end up in your doorstep, too.

Via Wall Street Journal

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flOw: Putting the groove on the subconscious

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