While the IGF reviewing churns along behind the scenes, I offer a brief respite into the real world, and my hometown, and video-games, and cheeky brits ALL AT ONCE.

Blast Theory’s “Can You See Me Now?” is happening today at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art.

Blast Theory jumped from pure performance art into the “mixed-reality” game biz back in 2000, when they introduced “Desert Rain”. Dealing with subjects no less weighty than Baudrillard, the Gulf War, and “virtual events”, the game features problem-solving with clue rewards (keycards are awarded to you by actual people stepping through the screen, which is merely projected on a spray of mist…trippy.) Despite the deep thoughts, the game still looks to be nothing more than Dactyl Nightmare with art trimmings. In 2001 however, Blast Theory developed what has become, as the Americans say, their “piece of resistance”: “Can You See Me Now?” The game focuses on runners at large in the city chasing other players with one simple goal: spot them. But the catch? The second group is online. Using arrow keys, aided by sound cues from the walkie-talkies attached to the runners, and able to chat with each other, the on-the-lambs negotiate their empty polygon streets in an attempt to avoid runners actually pumping legs up and down through streets filled with cars, people, and pesky things like jaywalking laws.
The true victory of this piece of video-game art (yeah I said it) is that the developers allowed for human interaction to thrive inside the system. Actually hearing your pursuers could definitely rattle the chased, and being able to shout out false directions to your co-horts could make for some awesome stratagems.

But really, the biggest question: WHY AREN’T YOU PLAYING RIGHT NOW?