Two advertising executives from the company Makers Brand & Grotesque are looking to get more people to donate blood with a video game controller than can actually pull blood out of players.
The controller, called "Blood Sport," is able to pull out vital fluids once the player plugs the input that normally triggers the rumble pack, which makes it vibrate when the player is shot, into what the developers call "the blood collection system," according to The Independent. Because of this design, the system is able to work with any console that comes with a vibrating controller.
A circuit board is tasked with telling the system when to take blood and when to power down so the player doesn't lose too much blood. Those who decide to use the controller must sign an injury waiver before doing so.
The goal for the executives, who developed the system in their apartment, is to take Blood Sport to multiplayer events, in which the winner would be the player who loses the least amount of blood. The blood obtained at these events would be donated to be used in medicine.
The controller is the latest product to be developed by Makers Brand & Grotesque, with previous projects including the game "Shoot The Banker," which let players control, through the Internet, a paintball pointed at a person dressed as a banker, and a fictional app that also focused on donating called Surrogaid, which let users control an arm looking after a baby. The company is also responsible for Prank House, a reality show that had viewers pay to put contestants through electric shocks, water bombs and paint guns.
A Kickstarter campaign has been started for Blood Sport with a goal of CAD 250,000 ($220,192) which will be used for a full tour around Canada. The developers said that this goal looks like a lot, but the money will also be used to buy "the latest gaming equipment plus all new medical gear."
Several rewards are being offered for backers, with the top reward being a trip to the developers' apartment between January and March and a chance to try out the single person version for pledging CAD 5,000 ($4,402). The pledge will also get backers the code and instructions to make their own version of the controller.
UPDATE: Kickstarter Suspends Blood Sport Campaign
Kickstarter has suspended the campaign for Blood Sport without notice, and backers will not be receiving these game controllers, PlayStation LifeStyle reported.
The developers said they are still waiting to hear an answer for the suspension, saying possible reasons could be their tie in to charity and medical equipment as well as safety concerns that exist due to their lack of a partnership with a blood clinic.
