Post date: Nov 25, 2011 6:12:26 PM
Going to the toilet has never been more fun after the world's first hands free urine-controlled video game is installed in a South London bar.
LONDON, ENGLAND, UK (NOVEMBER 25, 2011) (REUTERS) - A 'hands free' urine-controlled video game was launched in a south London bar on Friday (November 25).
Going for a pee has never been more fun as the games allow men to test the accuracy of their aim.
Visitors at the The Exhibit Bar in Balham can play one of three games every time they use a urinal.
The video game has been trialled in a bar in Cambridge since mid-July and it has proved to be both popular and profitable.
One of the game's co-founders, Gordon MacSween, was not sure how the public would react to the game initially. But as soon he saw the game on trial at the Ta Bouche bar in Cambridge he knew he was on to something good.
"A group of American servicemen were in the bar and I heard one of them coming out high fiving his mates saying '12!' and his pals were saying 'No way dude!'" MacSween told Reuters Television.
"And they were going off to play and compete and I thought this is good and that's really continued."
The game was designed to create a valuable media opportunity from the 55 seconds the average male spends while he pees just staring at a blank wall.
There is an advert played before and after the game promoting a drink you can buy at the bar. Ta Bouche did one promotion with Corona beer which saw sales grow by an average of 203 units per week, which equated to a 47 percent increase.
Another promotion for house shots resulted in an extra 264 units being sold per week on average. The game also attracted people to the bar purely because they knew they could play the games.
MacSween added: "The last time we went about one in four people in the bar said they'd come because of it (the game). And the other thing for a bar is promotions. Because of where it is, because you've got a minute of a guy's time with nothing else on his mind it's a great time to put messages in front of him and they've promoted certain products where sales have gone up by between 40 and 50 percent.
"And they're really enthusiastic about using it as a promotional tool."
There are plans to expand the game with MacSween, and his colleague and co-founder Mark Melford, fielding enquiries from the UK and abroad. There are also plans for new games to be introduced.
"There's lots and lots of ideas for games," MacSween said. "Almost everyone that plays comes up with different ideas. New versions of flash, which is what we develop the games in, will allow for 3D games.
"In the future because all of these units are internet connected there's a potential for multi-player games (too)."
The owner of The Exhibit bar, Drew Weatherhead, said: "I'm really hopeful that it will bring people in, new people that haven't been here before which is always advantage.
"But also (there is) repeat trade and then people can start actually competing against each other and that step further when it actually becomes a sort of competition between customers, which adds a bit of buzz to the whole thing."
At the end of the game, players are encouraged to post their scores via mobile to Twitter and to a live leader board so they can compete with their friends.
The units will be rolled-out in selected venues across the UK in early 2012.