Posted 06.20.2011 at 4:36 pm
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Receipt Racer
If you can’t afford a Playstation, or maybe just like wasting paper, then Receipt Racer is the video game for you. Created by Joshua Noble and undef, Receipt Racer is a game played on paper as it's rapidly churned out by a thermal receipt printer. It prints a racetrack with random obstacles that the player must avoid by using a Dualshock 3 controller to steer a tiny car projected onto the moving paper by a light beam.
The game was created as part of a workshop related to the OFFF Festival in Barcelona a couple weeks ago. It was coded in openFrameworks and programmed within the span of the workshop. The game has its limitations, though: it needs calibration to work properly and you can only race for 164 feet before the roll of paper runs out. Check out the game in action in the video below, or play a web version here (see if you can beat our top score of 984).
[undef via designboom, Engadget]
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This is one of the most idiotic ideas I've ever seen.
How much ink and paper was wasted creating this nonsense?
EDIT:
How much paper was wasted creating this nonsense?
Worst idea ever! - FTW!
Idea = Negative Business IQ
Very cool, why not do stuff just to say you can? Relax people.......................
The comments of this article are a excellent example of what the majority of Americans are turning into. They are only good at saying how bad something is. They lack the amount of brainpower to compute the fact that this receipt printer can be controlled with a microcontroller and supplied with paper (does not use ink) and electricity, and still uses less then a ps3 connected to a 43" LCD tv with 1000W surround system. And that's not even the point, why are you so quick to criticize inventions? It's just for fun to see if it's possible.
its sad isn't it? Inception has been performed on the people of America with this mentality.
Hold on hoss, this is a dopey idea
Gaming, in general is a waste of time and resource, and this does both admirably.
In the greater scheme of things, it's better than the extreme example, but a lot worse than a lot of more moderate examples ( cellphones, DS, PSP, etc).
It spews through paper with some rapidity, and since it's receipt paper, it's likely thermal. As I understand this takes some effort to recycle.
Also, receipt printers don't normally output at anything like that rate. I suspect that it burns through them fairly quickly.
I'm far from a tree hugger (or much of a gamer), but this concept really has little going for it. You can play one dopey game type, and you soon will have stacks of relatively expensive paper at your feet. And by the middle of the week, you'll probably need a new printer.
It's just a proof of concept, where the concept is, "There are some really amazing ways to waste paper." It's gunning for inclusion in one of those "useless invention" books. It's cute, the viewer giggles, etc. It's not meant to be used or solve a problem.
I wonder how hard was the programming...
Light (moving), printer, probably some video camera or something, random generation of levels (?)
chill out people, it is not meant to be mass produced, just a wacky idea at a festival
--------IF YOU HATE THIS IDEA, SKIP THIS COMMENT--------
I personally think this is kinda cool! How can I find out how to make my own?
P.S. I beat PopSci's score. I got 1234 (no fooling)
1338 meters!
1355!
Now what you'll do with those papers rolling on you floor after 1 hour gaming, eh, Fluffblue?
YOU DROVE 1631 METERS!
Awesome!
While I do agree that this is kinda a waste:
@Wolfram8- I agree :D one of my favorite quotes is "Science isn't about why. Its about WHY NOT!" and video gamesare a sort of entertaining form of science.
@ford2go - Video gaming is not a wasted industry in many ways one the main being that without it we might of never made the huge leaps in video technology or computer programming that we have today. This industry is an almost constant push towards future technology. 20 years ago if someone was to say "I wonder if we could make some sort of camera that digitally inserts you onto a computer." we would of thought them crazy and the idea impossible but now its a common thing: the Kinect.
Gabe Beach Says
How much paper was wasted creating this nonsense?
weird. I played the game online and I did not waste, or use anything other than my computer.
In order to invent something you go through many stages so yes of course there is waste. But the outcome is something you can put your name on.
If you have ever tried something new you have "wasted" those materials when you messed up.
I think people are missing the whole point.
It's about learning to do something that has not been done before.
But I mean if your a hermit who plans to never try something new, keep on complaining I wont hold the only thing you have in life against you.
Just sayin'
(don't be haters)
Who's friggin idea was this? Shooooooooot, back in my town, we aint got nothin this fancy shmancy. i'll go to church and pray for the fool who buys this crazy contraption