BotFighters

{{Short description|2001 video game}}

{{Use American English|date=June 2019}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2019}}

{{Infobox video game

| image = Botfighers logo.jpg

| developer = It's Alive Mobile Games AB!

| publisher =

| engine =

| series =

| platforms = Mobile phone (SMS)

| released = {{ubl|{{Video game release|EU|March 14, 2001|}}}}

| genre =

| director =

| producer =

| designer =

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|caption =

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}}BotFighters is a location-based mobile game and a pervasive game, developed by It's Alive Mobile Games AB! (acquired by Digiment in 2007) designed to be a MMORPG played in an urban environment. It was possibly the world's first commercial location-based game. It was first released in Sweden on 14 March 2001, and later in Russia, Finland, Ireland and China.[http://www.laois-nationalist.ie/news/story.asp?j=3057 Laois Nationalist: Mobile could be playing an expensive game] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811183416/http://www.laois-nationalist.ie/news/story.asp?j=3057 |date=August 11, 2007}}

In 2002, it was awarded with an Award of Distinction, Net Vision category in the Prix Ars Electronica.[http://www.aec.at/en/archives/prix_archive/prix_projekt.asp?iProjectID=11697 Ars Electronica Archive] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061021014415/http://www.aec.at/en/archives/prix_archive/prix_projekt.asp?iProjectID=11697 |date=October 21, 2006}}

The mission of the game was to locate and destroy other players. Each player was represented in the game as a robot warrior. Successful battles were rewarded with money which could be traded in, via a website, for armor upgrades and other features for the player's robot. The game was temporally expansive, because there were no safe zones or timeouts; players were always playing. The likeness of the game has been compared to that of Paintball. The game is no longer playable.

Gameplay

BotFighters was a location-based mobile game and a pervasive game, that made use of the positioning technology of a mobile phone in playing the game.

See also

References

{{reflist|refs=

{{Citation

| editor1-last= von Borries | editor1-first= Friedrich

| editor2-last= Walz | editor2-first= Steffen P.

| editor3-last= Böttger | editor3-first= Matthias

| title = Space Time Play

| place = Basel, Boston, Berlin

| publisher = Birkhäuser Verlag AG

| year = 2007

| chapter = BotFighters: A Game That Surrounds You

| pages = 226–227

| language =

| chapter-url = http://spacetimeplay.org

| isbn = 978-3-7643-8414-2}}

{{cite book

| doi = 10.1201/9780080889795

| first1= Markus | last1 = Montola

| first2= Jaakko | last2= Stenros

| first3 = Annika | last3= Waern

| title = Pervasive Games. Theory and Design. Experiences on the Boundary Between Life and Play.

| publisher = Morgan Kaufmann Publishers

| year= 2009

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Yk4CCx6UyIIC&q=Pervasive+Games.+Theory+and+Design

| isbn = 978-0-1237-4853-9

| access-date = October 18, 2013}}

{{cite web

| title = It's Alive Mobile Games AB

| url = http://www.itsalive.com

| access-date = 2013-10-18

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20050207084809/http://www.itsalive.com/page.asp

| archive-date = 2005-02-07}}

{{cite web

| title = Digiment

| url = http://www.digiment.com/

| access-date = 2013-10-18

| year = 2007

| archive-date = 24 September 2018

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180924100132/https://www.digiment.com/

| url-status = dead

}}

{{cite thesis

| last = Oppermann

| first = Leif

| title = Facilitating the development of location-based experiences

| publisher = University of Nottingham

| year=2009

| url = http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/14215/

| id = {{EThOS|uk.bl.ethos.508291}}

| oclc = 757085363

| degree = PhD}} {{free access}}

{{cite web

| last1 = Dennis

| first1 = Tony

| title = Botfighters - a new Russian addiction

| url = https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1005392/botfighters---a-new-russian-addiction

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091213070152/http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1005392/botfighters---a-new-russian-addiction

| url-status = unfit

| archive-date = 13 December 2009

| website = The Inquirer

| publisher = Breakthrough Publishing Ltd.

| access-date = 18 October 2013

| date = 21 October 2003

}}{{cite book

| last1=Gordon

| first1=Eric

| last2=Silva

| first2=Adriana de Souza e

| title=Net Locality: Why Location Matters in a Networked World

| date=2011

| publisher=John Wiley & Sons

| isbn=978-1-4443-4065-5

| page=[https://archive.org/details/netlocalitywhylo0000gord/page/67 67]

| edition=1.

| url=https://archive.org/details/netlocalitywhylo0000gord

| url-access=registration

| quote=BotFighters -encyclopedia -wikipedia.

| accessdate=27 June 2019

| language=en}}

{{cite web

|last1=Dodson

|first1=Sean

|title=Ready, aim, text

|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2002/aug/15/electronicgoods.games

|website=The Guardian

|publisher=Guardian News & Media Limited

|accessdate=27 June 2019

|date=15 August 2002}}

}}