The DefCon 18 Ninja Networks badge on the left is clearly leaps and bounds ahead of the the previous year’s badge, which was impressive for a badge permitting entry to a free party.
The badge comes with a booklet that is a near-perfect replica of a Nintendo video game manual.
The badge’s LCD display connects to an Arduino for graphics testing.
The back of the badge lists the creators and sponsors and contains hidden messages.
The badge comes in a fancy box with an instruction booklet, battery and lanyard.
The badge is wired in to an Android phone running custom software that passively collects player’s scores and uploads them to the leader board display.
With the LCD removed the processor, shift-registers and handily placed and labeled test and debugging points can be seen. Note the headers on the lower left for easily attaching a programming cable.
Creators used an iPhone app to test gameplay while the badges were being built. This screen shows the general stats of a player’s ninja.
The enemy list shows nearby ninjas a player can choose to fight.
During the fight, stats are displayed onscreen.
Page 1 of the instruction manual warns the badge holder that the badge they have is wireless and talks to other badges.
Page 2 shows a quick-start guide.
Page 3 of the manual explains the controls of the badge.
