Big Games, "large-scale, real-world games," are a counterbalance to the virtual-world mania, and ultimately their mantra is that people "who share space should share experiences" - and games should have computers in them, and not the other way around - according to Kevin Slavin of area/code.

Presenting on "Big Games" at the psfk trend conference, Slavin said since we are collectively swimming in data, we should try to use it to improve the physical world, not invent a separate virtual one, writes a kugel.

He discussed, as an example, a game called ConQwest, a game created by area/code for client SSK Qwest. Five teams of 20 high school students each competed to control territory and collect treasure hidden throughout a city.

The treasure was in the form of cell phone-readable optical codes called semacodes (see picture) on stickers, posters, billboards, even newspapers and taxi-tops, and remained a mystery to most passersby, adding buzz to both the immersive game and the promotion itself.

Another example is Urban Golf: Using a golf engine overlaid onto a GPS map of a city, gamers play 18 holes around the city, having to walk to the location of their ball after every shot.

And there's also the wildly popular Webkinz, an actual stuffed animal toy that has a unique codes used to create a corresponding avatar in a virtual game world for kids.