Originally released in 1981, arcade classic Frogger is now over 30 years old. Tyler DeAngelo thought that maybe, considering it’s age Frogger could use a little bit of an update. Instead of using new graphics, or or better hardware, DeAngelo, with the help of Ranjit Bhatnagar and Renee Lee, took his Frogger modification in a different direction by having it use the real time traffic on New York City’s 5th Avenue as the in-game obstacles everyone’s favorite virtual frog tries to avoid, or in DeAngelo’s words (coming from the mouth of the Frogger frog): Real Cars. Real time. Fake frog.
Aside from the real time traffic, this game is about as classic as it gets; It not only uses period-appropriate graphics and sounds, but is actually built into an authentic Frogger cabinet. As such, it can be — with some difficulty — relocated to a position overlooking the very street its getting it’s traffic data from. DeAngelo did just that. As the last little part of his project, DeAngelo is trying his best to have it included as part of the Art of Video Games exhibition at the Smithsonian.
It’s definitely a neat idea and bar-none the best reinterpretation of Frogger ever, way better than that trippy PSX game. If you want to help make this a part of the Smithsonian exhibit, you can hop on over to the museum’s Facebook page, and tip them off to this clever re-imagining of an arcade classic. But first, check out the Frogger frog’s thoughts on the project, and some gameplay, in the video below.
(via Gizmodo)
- A more dangerous variety of real-life Frogger
- A list of the games featured in the Smithsonian exhibit
