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Name: Brass Monkey
Quick Pitch: Play video games with less hassle.
Genius Idea: Uses devices most people already have to create a gaming system.
Brass Monkey takes everything you know about gaming and throws it out the window. Gone are the days of jumbled cords and miscellaneous equipment (unless you're a collector, we get it).
Chris Allen and his friend were playing with a remote control helicopter and wanted a more reliable controller. Their solution was to make one with their iPhone. From there they sold the technology to other developers and started building a gaming system.
TrenchRun was the first game they developed for Lucas Films to use on StarWars.com. From there they decided to extend their platform and created Brass Monkey. Currently, it's an open platform for developers to create their games. "Developers are excited to create multi-player games. They can use HTML5, Flash or Unity," says Allen, "We're really defining a new style of gaming, it's difficult to categorize."
Unlike other online gaming systems that still require the use of traditional equipment, Brass Monkey is completely mobile. If you have a Wi-Fi connection, a smartphone and a tablet or computer monitor, you can play. Simply make sure your smartphone and monitored device are hooked up to the same network and you're good to go. The controllers — your phones, work like a Wii controller in that they are wireless and can be used to imitate multiple things, like a golf club and a steering wheel. However because many of the games are made in Flash, they won't work on iPads, though you can still use your iPhone or Android device as a controller.
Ideally, Allen and company would like to see Brass Monkey extend to smart TVs. Because the system is so flexible, and many people already use TVs as their monitors, bringing Brass Monkey to public spaces would be easy. Setting up a system in a bar would allow any customer with a smartphone to participate, but wouldn't cost the owners anything.
"A lot of people are pouring their games into our platform, the monkey golf game wouldn't be possible any other way," explains Allen. Currently they're working on removing the Flash component to bring Brass Monkey to iPads and TVs. Despite not publicizing their platform in beta, they've already gained several thousand users.
Would you use Brass Monkey or do you prefer more traditional methods for gaming? Tell us in the comments.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Yaro_75
Series presented by Microsoft BizSpark
The Spark of Genius Series highlights a unique feature of startups and is made possible byMicrosoft BizSpark, a startup program that gives software startups three-year access to Microsoft software development tools, marketing visibility to help promote their business and a connection to the BizSpark ecosystem, giving them access to investors, advisors and mentors. There is no cost to join, so if your startup is privately owned, less than three years old and generates less than U.S. $1M in annual revenue, sign up today.
Series presented by Microsoft BizSpark
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