Colorful ponchos with large, cartoonish eyes aren't exactly the latest trend in fashion. Yet you might recall nearly being run over by students wearing just that kind of get-up.
Some stared, some gawked at and others pretended not to see my geographic field methods class' game of "Pac-Devil" on Wednesday. But you couldn't miss the sight of people chasing each other around campus as if they were playing a live video game.
The rules were simple: A few people scattered in secret locations around campus would be Power Points. Pac-Man had to visit each point and collect a little Post-it note. Along the way, he had to make sure he didn't get caught by the ghosts.
Hence the ponchos.
We dashed repeatedly by student government officials trying to pimp their platforms, and I collected several pamphlets from several candidates.
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* Geography professor Elizabeth Burns said she was proud of my class' performance in organizing and playing the game.
* Undeclared freshman Daniel Pak, helping to man a booth in support of student government candidates, comments on seeing our command center outside the Memorial Union at Cady Fountain.
At one point, I threw up my hands and said, "No more!" to the eager officials.
But I understand their situation. I did vote - rest assured.
The whole point was to teach us about simulating the bustle and hustle of an average, busy day, according to my professor, Elizabeth Burns.
Sounds good enough. Other schools have done it, including New York University. Their game, called Pac-Manhattan, was much fancier than ours. It had GPS units linked dynamically to a central server so people back in a command center in one of NYU's buildings could follow along with Pac-Man's movements in real time. In other words, the NYU players converted real life into a video game.
Our game wasn't so fancy, but I thought I would share some little anecdotes of this event on campus anyway. Technology or not, we enjoyed the experience.
Plus, if you ever see someone running past you with a foam Pac-Man mouth strapped to their chest (and they're being closely pursued by someone wearing a poncho with eyes on the front and it's not raining), you'll now be better prepared to offer assistance.
Nicole Saidi loves retro video games. Schedule a Pong-a-Thon with her at nicole.saidi@asu.edu.