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News 
The Painstation Cometh
- Posted By Michael
Loewer, 06.19.2002
Who remembers the BioForce from MadKatz?
I posted a story on it long ago. Basically, you attached these electrodes on your forearms, and depending on what happened to your on-screen character, you got shocked. The intensity ranged from a simple tingle to a full out electrocution that numbed your arms for several minutes.
Mmmmm...
Well, two inventors from Cologne, Germany, have extended this idea with their invention, called the Painstation.
The setup is rather simple -- two players sit on opposite sides over a table console. The left-hand is positioned over the sensor field, otherwise known as the Pain Execution Unit. When both players make this electric contact, the game begins. This first game, by the way, is based on the first-generation Pong titles. Players' right-hand controls the bat, so to speak, and the object and gameplay is the same as in Pong.
When the opposing player scores on you, a random Pain Inflictor Symbol is activated based on where the ball hit the "goal." This could be anything from punches, heat, or electroshocks of various duration.
The game is supposed to end when one player has had enough and lifts his hand off of the PEU, thereby cutting off electric contact with the machine. This sounds simple enough, but in testing (as one would expect), the games often lasted far beyond the point of common sense. Gamers don't like to lose.
Co-Inventor Tilman Reiff:
"I think this really explains the appeal of something like the Painstation. When you're playing in public against a friend with people cheering you on, it's very hard to throw in the towel without putting up a good fight. I've seen people leave the table with blood on their hands and their skin completely raw because they didn't want to back down in front of an audience."
For the rest of this long and involved story, along with gameplay notes and interviews with the inventors, check out Wired News at this link.
Editor-in-Chief Michael Loewer, out.
Source: Wired
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