Updated: 06 Jan 2012

Public Invited to Join Three Cities Mobile Phone Game

30th January 2007

Mobile phone owners are being invited to join an interactive game designed to bond three East Midlands cities this spring.

Residents of the region interested in finding out about the Love City game can attend a free talk about the game at De Montfort University Leicester this Thursday, 1 February.

Love City is the new mobile phone game by Active Ingredient, a collaborative three cities project funded by Three Cities Create and Connect, based in Nottingham.

Rachel Jacobs, co-creator of Love City, will give a presentation about the project at the University's pioneering Institute of Creative Technologies, on The Gateway, Leicester,this Thursday at 6pm.

This event is the latest in a series of IOCT Salons organised by international new media author and Digital Writer in Residence, Chris Joseph.

(see www.ioctsalon.com).

Chris Joseph said: "This month's Salon introduces the innovative Love City game as part of our ongoing series highlighting digital practice and practitioners in the East Midlands Region, and will feature how to register to play the game, the rules of engagement, a virtual map and strategies to help win points."

Rachel said: "Love City aims to raise heart rates and eyebrows across the East Midlands from 14 February until 14 March 2007. Players send messages of love between Derby, Leicester and Nottingham to build a digital city in the palm of their hand. Text LOVE to 07786 200 350 or go to www.lovecity.tv."

Active Ingredient have mapped all three cities and created a virtual city where locations interlock and students from De Montfort University's Interactive Design course have trialled the software used for the game.

Lorna Hamilton-Brown, Project Manager for NTI Creative Industries Centre for Knowledge Exchange, a partnership between De Montfort University and University of Derby, said: "This collaboration between 'Active Ingredient' and De Montfort University, which is taking a lead in working with creative industries, is extremely valuable as it ensures that students benefit from first-hand experience relevant to real processes in the workplace."

Rachel said: "An example of how the game works is that if you are at the train station in Derby and another player is at the train station in Leicester, you are both waiting at the train station in Love City. You can then send messages to each other. Points are scored by making a match with a player from another city.

"A menage a trois is made when three players from the three cities connect and a love child is born. Love children earn you points and players will also be rewarded for the creative content of their messages."

The three partner venues, Broadway in Nottingham, Phoenix in Leicester, and QUAD in Derby are at the beating heart of Love City and in addition three Love City Live events will be held on:

Wed, 14 Feb, 9pm - 12am Broadway Cinema, Broad St, Nottingham

Wed, 21 Feb, 6.30pm - 9.30pmQ Arts, Queen Street, Derby

Wed, 14 Mar, 8pm - 12amBambu, Welford Road, Leicester

For further information or to be kept informed about IOCT activities, please contact:
The Director, Institute of Creative Technologies,
De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH
Tel: (+44) 0116 250 6146
Email: eedmonds [at] dmu.ac.uk
www.ioct.dmu.ac.uk

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