Download to your pc the FPS program, then go online to get updates (in the form of levels) for specific shops.

Now use your mouse and keyboard to look and move (just like in quake etc) with a left mouse click to choose a product.

Other users could be represented as characters which could be interacted with using a microphone and even a web cam.

Finally you walk to the checkout to er... checkout.

Games could be included, with bargain products being hidden about the store only for the first few users to take advantage of.

Shopping never need be a chore again.
-- MikeOliver, May 09 2003

You can have shoot-outs against other shoppers over the last can of sauerkraut.
-- oatcake, May 09 2003


Funny! Here's the secret code for getting a free croissant: Edit menu | Pause... Ctrl-Alt-ScrollLock-keypad "3" then hold ESC for 3 seconds and insert a floppy disk into the drive while turning off the monitor.
-- phundug, May 09 2003


That woiks, phundug - thanks for the tip.
-- thumbwax, May 09 2003


I like the idea of including cheats... Perhaps promotional coupons could coupons could be used in this way.

Save 5p off your next purchase of persil, simply type IDKFA at any point in the game.
-- MikeOliver, May 12 2003


Nice idea - and more fun than the current online supermarket grocery shopping sites.
The scope for cleverness is almost endless - "Did you know that if you move all the bananas out of the the banana display, there's a secret trapdoor which leads to a hidden aisle of special-offer pastries?"
-- hippo, May 12 2003


But do you have to put all the bananas into your basket (and therefore buy them) to get into the secret aisle? Could be a fiendish trick by the supermarket to upsell their fruit.

Not possible just yet, but the potential for some kind of pc odour generator would be enormous... You could follow your nose to the secret bakery section.
-- MikeOliver, May 12 2003


I could swear this was here before, but I can't find it.

Nonetheless, I quite like this.

You could still have a hand-to-hand fighting option for sales in Filene's basement in Boston.
-- waugsqueke, May 12 2003


If other shoppers were as minutely skinnable as online trad FPS(hooter) games are, then much cowardly, mean-spirited fun could be had pointing out the fashion deficiencies of the other shoppers, via some sort of XBOX live type of a headset.
-- my face your, May 12 2003


If you bought new clothes from an online store, you could also download the relevent skin for your character. Create a virtual wardrobe on your pc.

Burns, my keyboard doesn't have a 'start' button... Surely the discounts aren't to be restricted to Xbox Live users?
-- MikeOliver, May 13 2003


I see some problems with online banking. If I want to transfer money from my current acccount to my credit card, I'll have to shoot my way into the bank, get everyone to lie down on the floor, hold the cashier up at gunpoint, and then ask politely if they could transfer money from one account to another. See, it doesn't really work.
-- hippo, May 13 2003


I take your point hippo, it is possible this idea could be taken too far.
-- MikeOliver, May 13 2003


Heck, why not!

This is probably what has been missing from the B2C model. It's too boring. This also has the advantage of being playable from any on-line capable game box. The CDs could be distributed free at the supermarket or on the cover of PC-Gamer, etc.

Shooting other shoppers probably wouldn't be commercially sensible, but there's plenty of other fun to be had. You could have the big-heads version, the gothic max-gore version and the 'adult' version. "Woah, buster, where do ya think you're going with that banana?!!"

Scoring could be based on dollars spent. This could be redeemed as a loyalty bonus, or spent to unlock specials.

Secret levels could be built in as diversions to other stores.

This is a freaking great idea. Would someone please bake it?
-- FloridaManatee, May 13 2003


6 years on, and I can't believe this hasn't been baked!
Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's... If you are reading, you can have this idea... All I'd want in return is 1% of any sales!
-- MikeOliver, Oct 07 2009


I like this idea. But, I would like a de-stress feature when resisting purhcasing unhealthy foods. To draw my attention away from, say, cookie dough, I would like a "minigun time" feature that is enabled if I resist.

What I find interesting is the possibility for the gamers to teleoperate robots for shelf restocking: fun for the gamers, less-than-minimum-wage labor for the grocer.
-- sninctown, Oct 08 2009



random, halfbakery