Makoto (game)

Makoto is a game invented in Colorado by Paul R. Russel and Alysn Hassenforder in 1992. It simulates a battle by requiring the player to hit lighted targets on three computer-controlled "opponents".

Playing Court and Equipment

A Makoto court consists of three metal beams arranged in an equilateral triangle on the floor. At each corner of the triangle there is a six-foot-tall column. Each column is in the shape of an isosceles trapezoid whose narrow parallel edge faces inwards towards the center of the court. At the top of the column, a chunk has been sliced off at an angle, facing the center. Arranged at intervals on the inner faces of the column are ten clear panels containing lights (in a variety of colors) and pressure sensors. Each column is also equipped with a speaker, mounted internally. Each column represents an "opponent" for the player.

Mounted on one of the floor-beams is a control panel consisting of a keypad for configuring the court's settings, and a touch panel of the same sort as those on the opponent columns. The touch panel begins the game when tapped.

The only other equipment is a fiber-glass pole, about four feet long and an inch in diameter, with lightly padded ends. In the case of multiplayer games, one pole is required for each player. It is generally impractical to play with more than three players per court.

Courts come in two sizes. A home-sized court is reportedly in development.

Game play

After configuring the game, the player holds the pole and taps the starting panel to begin. At this point, one of the lights on one of the columns lights up, and the column emits a tone through its speaker. The player must hit the light with the pole; a successful strike will cause the light to go out and the pole to emit a confirming tone. Shortly after the player has done so, another light will light up, possibly on the same pole, possibly on one of the other two poles. The object is to hit each light in sequence, as quickly as possible, without missing any. The computer controlling the lights monitors reaction time.

There are ten levels of play. At the end of a successfully completed round, gameplay pauses for a moment, and then proceeds to the next level when the player is ready. At each successive level, the interval between lights decreases, and so does the duration that the light remains lit, making each level progressively more difficult to beat. At the time of this writing, no one is known to have beaten the tenth level.

There are two forms of multiplayer play. In the first, multiple people (usually two or three) stand in the same court and cooperate to hit the targets as they light up. In the second, two or more Makoto rings are connected to one another using serial cables, and the speed of play is set by the best player. That is, the computers increase the pace of their target activation in response to the fastest player in the network, and the others have to struggle to keep up or overtake the leader.

In some places, Makoto tournaments have been offered, with prizes given to the best players.

History

Makoto was invented and developed in Castle Rock, Colorado in the early nineties, as a "a game which does more than test and develop a player's reaction time." It is meant to train the body, mind, and spirit. On a physical level, the game provides a good aerobic workout, and helps improve the player's agility and reaction time. On a mental level, the game demands that the player focus completely on the task at hand; thinking about other things distract's the player's attention and leads to missed strikes. On a spiritual level, it challenges you to give your best performance. The three pillars of the court symbolize these three traits—body, mind, and spirit.

The game has seen use at a number of events in the Denver area, notably the biannual Star Trek conventions where it was initially billed as a "holodeck". It has been used as part of physical therapy regimens for cardiac patients recovering from surgery, and as a training tool for professional sports players such as the basketball players on the Denver Nuggets. Hollywood put a Makoto court to use in the movie "Paycheck"; Ben Affleck trains on it at one point.

In 2003 actor Ben Affleck Ben Affleck played a character that used the Makoto system in the beginning of the film Paycheck Paycheck (film).

In 2002, the Makoto patent (US Patent #5,271,627) was bought from the original inventor, and is now held by a private company called Makoto USA, based out of Centennial, Colorado.

Though it has been generally well-received by those who have tried it, Makoto has not yet achieved widespread popularity, despite its similarity to other popular aerobic games such as Dance Dance Revolution. There are a number of factors that likely contribute to this. For one thing, Makoto courts are not yet widely available, even twelve years after the patent was granted. They are comparatively expensive, and require a non-trivial amount of space. Unlike Dance Dance Revolution, Makoto cannot be played using a standard home computer, and the equipment cannot easily serve any purpose other than playing Makoto. Until these problems are addressed, the game is not likely to achieve significant market penetration.

Sources

• The Makoto USA website (source for most details)
• MakotoCourt.com, a distributor (source for the "Paycheck" reference)
• US Patent #5,271,627, for a "real encounter game for balancing the body, mind and spirit"; i.e., Makoto. (Source for inventors' names and the date of invention.)