Software:QWOP

From HandWiki
QWOP
QWOP screenshot.jpg
Developer(s)Bennett Foddy
Publisher(s)
  • Bennett Foddy (iOS, Browser)
  • Noodlecake Studios (Android)
Designer(s)Bennett Foddy
EngineAdobe Flash, HTML5
Platform(s)
ReleaseBrowser
  • WW: November 12, 2008
iOS
  • WW: December 21, 2010
Android
  • WW: July 4, 2013
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player

QWOP (/kwɒp/) is a 2008 ragdoll-based browser video game created by Bennett Foddy, formerly the bassist of Cut Copy. Players control an athlete named "Qwop" using only the Q, W, O, and P keys. The game became an internet meme in December 2010. The game helped Foddy's site (Foddy.net) reach 30 million hits.[1]

Background

Bennett Foddy, QWOP's creator, at Fondation Brocher in October 2009

QWOP was created in November 2008 by Bennett Foddy for his site Foddy.net, when Foddy was a deputy director and senior research fellow of the Programme on the Ethics of the New Biosciences, The Oxford Martin School, part of the University of Oxford.[2][3] He taught himself to make games while he was procrastinating from finishing his dissertation in philosophy.[4] Foddy had been playing games ever since he got his first computer (a ZX Spectrum 48K) at age 5.[4] Foddy stated:

Gameplay and reception

QWOP's title refers to the four keyboard keys used to move the muscles of the sprinter avatar

Players play as an athlete named "Qwop", who is participating in a 100-meter event at the Olympic Games. Using only the Q, W, O and P keys, players must control the movement of the athlete's legs to make the character move forward while trying to avoid falling over.[6] The Q and W keys each drive one of the runner's thighs, while the O and P keys work the runner's calves. The Q key drives the runner's right thigh forward and left thigh backward, and the W key also affects the thighs and does the opposite. The O and P keys work in the same way as the Q and W keys, but with the runner's calves. The actual amount of movement of a joint is affected by the resistance due to forces from gravity and inertia placed upon it.

Though the objective of QWOP is simple, the game, ever since it was released, has been notorious for being difficult to master due to its controls with the Q, W, O and P keys.[7][8] Foddy says that he gets a lot of hate mail for making QWOP.[9] Despite the criticism for the game's difficulty due to the controls,[7] the game helped Foddy's site reach 30 million hits, according to Wired Magazine,[1] and, also ever since the game was released, has been played by millions of people, although numbers have declined.[10]

Breakthrough and popular culture

QWOP featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in July 2011.

On July 27, 2011, QWOP was featured at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and was part of an event called “Arcade” hosted by the video game art and culture company Kill Screen.[11]

The Guinness World Records awarded Chintamani, Karnataka resident Roshan Ramachandra for doing the fastest 100m run on the game on April 10, 2013, doing it in 51 seconds.[12]

QWOP appeared on the season 9 premiere of the American sitcom The Office.[13]

Alternative versions

An iPhone app of the game was released in 2011.[14][15] The App version follows the same gameplay as with the original version, but the controls differ. The player controls QWOP's legs and arms by moving their thumbs around in the diamonds on the screen.[16] Kotaku called the iPhone version "4000 Percent More Impossible" than the original game[17] and "An Olympic Challenge For Thumbs".[18]

A 2-player multiplayer version of QWOP named 2QWOP was also released in February 2012,[19] after being featured at an event in Austin named "The Foddy Winter Olympics" displaying a selection of Bennett Foddy's games.[20][21] This version places the game in vertical splitscreen, automatically assigning one player's thighs and calves to the Q, W, E, and R keys, while the other player uses the U, I, O, and P keys.[22][23][24][25][26]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Benenson, Fred (August 2, 2011). "Meet Bennett Foddy: The man behind QWOP and GIRP". Wired UK (Wired Magazine). https://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2011/09/start/no-pain-no-gain. Retrieved August 14, 2011. 
  2. ↑ "Bennett Foddy". The Oxford Centre for Neuroethics. http://www.neuroethics.ox.ac.uk/our_members/bennett_foddy. 
  3. ↑ "Dr Bennett Foddy". Insititue for Science and Ethics. http://www.bep.ox.ac.uk/our_people/bennett_foddy. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Rose, Mike (February 13, 2012). "Road to the IGF: Bennett Foddy's GIRP". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/40166/Road_to_the_IGF_Bennett_Foddys_GIRP.php. 
  5. ↑ Brown, Mark (March 2011). "Games work "neurological magic," says QWOP creator". Wired Magazine. Ars Technica. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2011/03/games-work-neurological-magic-says-qwop-creator.ars?comments=1#comments-bar. 
  6. ↑ "Browser Game Pick: QWOP (Benzido)". November 7, 2008. http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2008/11/browser_game_pick_qwop_olympic.html. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Biado, Ed (December 14, 2010). "What's so hard about QWOP?". Manila Standard Today. http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideLifestyle.htm?f=2010/december/14/lifestyle2.isx&d=2010/december/14. 
  8. ↑ Prokrastination, Baby (February 8, 2012). "Internet, du Ort ohne Langeweile". Zeltijung. http://www.zeitjung.de/medien/medien/7296-internet-du-ort-ohne-langeweile-prokrastination-baby-qwop-shift-fmylifecom-badassbossde/. 
  9. ↑ Foddy, Bennett (December 2010). QWOP. foddy.net. Accessed from June 16, 2013.
  10. ↑ Salgado, Filipe (February 6, 2012). "The PopSci Flash Arcade". PopSci. http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2012-01/popsci-arcade. 
  11. ↑ Chai, Barbara (July 28, 2011). "Kill Screen Hosts Game Night at the Museum". The Wall Street Journal. https://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/07/28/moma-hosts-kill-screen-arcade-where-everybody-can-play/. 
  12. ↑ "Fastest 100m run, QWOP (flash game)". Guinness World Record Challengers. http://challengers.guinnessworldrecords.com/challenges/160-fastest-100m-run-qwop-flash-game. 
  13. ↑ Johnson, Ryan (September 24, 2012). "Indie Feature: The QWOP Game Makes an Appearance in The Office Season 9 Premiere". Rant Gaming. http://www.rantgaming.com/2012/09/24/the-qwop-game-appears-on-the-office-premiere/. 
  14. ↑ "QWOP for iOS. Play QWOP on your iPhone!". Foddy.net. http://qwop.foddy.net/. 
  15. ↑ "QWOP for iOS for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App store". https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/qwop-for-ios/id410319945?mt=8. 
  16. ↑ "QWOP for iOS by Bennett Foddy app detail". 148apps. http://www.148apps.com/app/410319945. 
  17. ↑ Good, Owen (December 23, 2010). "Oh, Great, QWOP Just Got 4000 Percent More Impossible". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5717296/oh-great-qwop-just-got-4000-percent-more-impossible. 
  18. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (January 1, 2011). "QWOP For iPhone Is An Olympic Challenge For Thumbs". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5722041/qwop-for-iphone-is-an-olympic-challenge-for-thumbs. 
  19. ↑ Good, Owen (February 19, 2012). "The Sequel No One Wanted: 2QWOP". Kotaku. http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/02/the-sequel-no-one-wanted-2qwop/. 
  20. ↑ Alford, Ben (February 10, 2012). "In the Austin Area? Go Play Mega GIRP This Sunday". 4 Player Podcast. http://4playerpodcast.com/2012/02/10/in-the-austin-area-go-play-mega-girp-this-sunday/. 
  21. ↑ Alford, Ben (February 20, 2012). "Two Player QWOP Released". 4 Player Podcast. http://4playerpodcast.com/2012/02/20/two-player-qwop-released/. 
  22. ↑ Kayatta, Mile (February 16, 2012). "QWOP Gets Awkward Multiplayer Mode". Escapist Magazine. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/115880-QWOP-Gets-Awkward-Multiplayer-Mode. 
  23. ↑ Venado (February 17, 2012). "Two-Player QWOP: Now Available For All Your Silly Walk Needs". Gamer Front. http://gamerfront.net/2012/02/two-player-qwop-now-available-for-all-your-silly-walk-needs-2/16784. 
  24. ↑ Larrabee, Ryan (February 16, 2012). "Two Player QWOP Targets the Rage Centers of the Brain". Piki Geek. http://geek.pikimal.com/2012/02/16/two-player-qwop-targets-the-rage-centers-of-the-brain/. 
  25. ↑ Zivalich, Nikole (February 16, 2012). "2QWOP: Multiplayer QWOP Is Now Available". G4tv. http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/720897/2qwop-multiplayer-qwop-is-now-available/. 
  26. ↑ Heller (February 16, 2012). "QWOP gets majorly awkward with split-screen support". MMGN. http://pc.mmgn.com/News/QWOP-gets-majorly-awkward-with-split-scr. 

External links



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