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[iburnaga]

A universe simulation game. You start off with a big bang and are able to move around clumps of matter to make stars and later galaxies appear there. As time goes on you'll gain more and more tools. For instance, once star formation becomes stable enough you can place a star in any location of any class, the same goes for controlling said star, you could force it to die early or slow it's processes for a longer life or even send it streaking toward another star. Once planets begin to form regularly you can also place planets of differing properties anywhere in the universe but they will change over time depending on location (to prevent too many Earth like planets and free floating Venus hot houses. Eventually the appearance of life on a planet will be pointed out to you and you will be able to safeguard it to give it the chance to prosper or wipe it out completely and as that life evolves and changes you could give them free discoveries, unleash a disaster fitting to their world or even force their sun to die. You could even send their solar system through a nebula for 'recycling' eventually your universe would be filled with life which you could poke at and prod as you please. The timescale would be modified depending on what's going on. at the beginning a second could be a few million or even one billion years or it could be a real time second. the presence of life would slow things down considerably unless you just decided to make them a flicker in time. Also have the ability to zoom in, look on a viable planet and zoom in till you are on the ground moving around as a abstract observer. Programming intensive to the point of impossibility I know but still, it's an idea.

[Bree]

Not entirely sure what kind of game you could make with this, but imagine this sort of scenario:

You walk into a crowded theater, and take your seat. Everyone is chatting on their cell phones as you might expect on a busy afternoon. The lights dim; slowly, the crowd hushes. The projector flickers on, and a reminder flashes up on the screen:

Please keep your cell phones on.

One by one, each person receives a call on their cell phone. The message is most likely pre-recorded, but it's just a way of knowing that they're ready to play. The message on the projector screen fades away, and the game begins...

Each member in the audience is a player. Each cell phone is a controller. They send commands to their character, and watch a teeny abstract map on their phone's screen. But on the projector, the battle unfolds in real-time, with each soldier screaming to life under the command of a simple cell phone. Perhaps the theater is even connected with another, an entire network of these cinematic games, all fighting in one grand battle to the finish.

Eventually, the match comes to a close. The players snap their phones shut, and hurriedly walk out of the theater. Some continue to send messages to their character, upgrading him with new equipment for the next round on their way home. The usher quietly sweeps up the floor of the theater. The game is over- for now, at least...

[Wilson Saunders]

Otaku42 your idea seems like the sort of thing film and digital art people do as their senior thesis. It would be a fun social activity but I suspect the logistics would be a nightmare. A nightmare that would be best solved by university backing (access to campus lecture hall instead of renting a movie theater for example). Also most cell phone providers are very strict as to what they let developers upload to their customer's phones, so the interface may be reduced to text messaging your server. Alternately you could provide a special controller. However that is expensive for a theater full of people, and has probably been done before.