Welcome to the first #GamesNightViz Season 2 challenge!
I hope you are excited, because we are! As promised, for the first time we are showing you the entire roadmap for the year. We want you to viz what you love, so jump in anytime that topic interests you. After all, the best way to learn is to have fun 🎮
This month, we will be celebrating the anniversaries of two very well-known video game characters, Pac-Man and Bomberman! But if you don't know who these characters are, fret not as we got you covered with a quick intro here.
Who the heck is Pac-Man?
Pac-Man is one of the longest-running, best-selling, and highest-grossing video game franchises in history, and the game has seen regular releases for over 40 years, has sold nearly 48 million copies across all of the platforms, and has grossed over US$14 billion, most of which has been from the original arcade game. The character of Pac-Man is the official mascot of Bandai Namco, and is one of the most recognizable video game characters in history. The franchise has been seen as important and influential, and is often used as a representation for 1980s popular culture and video games as a whole.
The gameplay mainly revolves around running around the map as Pac-Man, the yellow chomping circle, to collect all the little dots while avoiding the colored ghosts.
You can play it a quick version of the game over at Google, or check out Brian Moore's awesome Pac-Man Fun Fact (and playable) viz!
Who the heck is Bomberman?
Bomberman (also briefly known as Dyna Blaster in Europe) is a video game franchise originally developed by Hudson Soft and currently owned by Konami. The original game was released in Japan in July 1983 and has since spawned multiple sequels and spin-offs released on numerous platforms, as well as several anime and manga adaptations. As of 1998, the series has sold over 10 million copies.
Gameplay involves strategically placing down bombs, which explode in multiple directions after a certain amount of time, in order to destroy obstacles and kill enemies and other players. The player can pick up various power-ups, giving them benefits such as larger explosions or the ability to place more bombs down at a time.
You can play a quick version over at Classic Games.
The Datasets
We have curated some cool data from different websites and while this is not a 100% coverage of everything related to Pac-Man and Bomberman, this should give you a good starting point to explore and unleash your creativity! Do note that sales data are limited to how much the publisher were willing to disclose and also becomes increasing inaccurate in the previous decades due to the prevalence of physical data (receipts, ledgers) that may or may not made it to digitalization.
- Pac-Man Game Info - Contains data on the different characters and sales figures (from VGCharts).
- Bomberman Game Info - Contains data on the different power-ups, ridable animals and sales figures (from VGCharts)
- Pac-Man Speedruns - Contains list of players who completed speedruns to 10,000 points.
- 2023 Game Releases - List of all new game releases in 2023 by platforms and street dates
Or choose one of the data sets from the #GamesNightViz Data Archive 💾
And of course, feel free to bring your own data! If you find anything interesting, we'll love to know about it too!
So what should you viz on?
Here's some quick ideas on starting your viz journey 😉
- What is Pac-Man or Bomberman about?
- What's the relationship and makeup of the characters in these games?
- How many iterations of the game has it been and since when?
- Which are the most successful games?
- Did Pac-Man sell more than Bomberman?
Inspirations from the community
Here are some great vizzes from the Tableau community to give you an idea what can be done.
Bonus Free #GamesNightViz T-Shirt for the best work
Some of you might have gotten one from our free giveaway at #data23 Tableau Conference, but many were still bummed for not getting it. We hear you and we'll be picking our favorite viz and sending a free T-shirt of your choice! And if you wanna collect 'em all, you know what you have to do 😜
And of course, there has to be some judging criterion right? We took a page out of #IronViz and ran it thru ChatGPT. It looks great don't you think? There's 4 categories and this gives us 20 points (5 each) to score the vizzes.
Design
- Game-Themed Aesthetic: In addition to the general aesthetic appeal, the visualization should incorporate elements of gaming culture, such as game-like graphics, avatars, gaming terminology, or visual references to well-known games.
- Interactivity: Since games are interactive, the visualization should ideally incorporate some form of interactivity, allowing the viewer to explore the data or the narrative in a more hands-on way, like they would in a game.
- Usability in Game Context: The visualization should be intuitive and user-friendly, much like a well-designed game interface. The user should be able to understand the visualization without needing complex instructions, similar to how a game should be playable with minimal guidance.
Storytelling
- Game-Themed Narrative: The story or narrative behind the visualization should incorporate elements of gaming, whether that's using game mechanics as metaphors, drawing parallels to game storylines, or creating a gamified journey for the viewer.
- Engagement and Immersion: Just as games engage and immerse players, the visualization should draw in viewers and make them feel a part of the data story.
Analysis
- Game Data Insight: If the data is specifically about games (player stats, game sales, gaming trends, etc.), the analysis should offer clear and insightful interpretations about the gaming world.
- Game Mechanics: The analysis could consider incorporating game mechanics into the visualization. For example, if it's about player performance, it could incorporate mechanics like leaderboards or achievement systems.
Game Feel
- Fun Factor: Regardless of the seriousness of the data or the analysis, a game-themed visualization should have a fun factor. It should be enjoyable to view and interact with, just like playing a game. This could be achieved through humor, surprises, rewards, or other elements of fun.
- Gameful Experience: The visualization should evoke a sense of gameful experience. This might be through the use of game mechanics, playful design, or a sense of challenge and achievement.
How to Submit
- Deadline is midnight PST 🔔 31th Aug 2023 🔔
- Post your submissions on Twitter with the hashtag #GamesNightViz, and tag the team @WJSutton12, @covellicreative, @ninjavizlouis so we don't miss your great work!
- Submit your work the project tracker here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScMRc4dJ089gPvHMtFVPZ7DVgcwrqqxkonffLF5apAZOzFX3A/viewform
