ARG Netcast, Episode 28.1: Elanapalooza, Part 1

 ARG Netcast, Episode 28.1: Elanapalooza [36:20m]: Play in Popup | Download

This week, host Jon Waite, “Jamesi’s Angels” (Celina Beach, Jessica Price and Michelle Senderhauf), and regular panelist Geoff May are joined by a very special guest: Elan Lee, founder and Vice President of Experience Design at 42 Entertainment, gummi bear addict, and all-around interesting guy. Never prone to wasting an opportunity, the panelists get his thoughts on everything from what ARGs need to do to be viable mainstream entertainment to the effects of massive sugar intake vs. caffeine on sleep-deprived puppetmasters. They also manage to coax from him not one, but two exclusive statements. Take that, WIRED!

This Week In ARGland…

…there was an incredible amount of news.

• An ARGlike promotion for Halo 3 seems to have been launched with posts from a mysterious character known as Adjutant Reflex on the Bungie forums. Further clues led to a website called Society of the Ancients and a countdown which will end (providing the ARGNet editors can do math) this Thursday. There have also been live protests by the Society of the Ancients in New York, Vancouver, San Francisco and London.
• What appeared to be an ARG launched with emails titled “Warmest Hello,” turned out to be, instead, a test of the viability of email trailheads by Unfiction’s Rogi Ocnorb. Go check out the results.
• The TV show KyleXY, which had an extended reality component, premiered Friday night, and the extended reality appears to have restarted.
• CourtTV’s SaveMyHusband contest ended Tuesday to mixed reviews from the players. There is no word yet on the winners.
• If you felt that World Without Oil didn’t feature enough brain-eating, mark June 13 of next year on your calendar so you don’t miss Blog Like It’s The End Of The World next time around. This year’s inaugural run featured bloggers writing about an apocalyptic zombie uprising. The blogging festival’s creator said his blog had received over 45,000 hits and is devising a plan for next year, which may involve triffids, a Martian invasion, or a sudden ice age.
• It’s not quite an ARG, but a new game called Plundr will determine your real-life location and use it as part of a pirate adventure.
• Cross-Media Entertainment has an article about the ARG associated with a novel called the Raw Shark Texts. If you liked House of Leaves or the Traveller, you may want to check it out. The site’s author, Christy Dena, notes in her analysis that, “This is the big change we’re going to see over the next few years: more and more creators coming out with trans/cross-media projects that are a natural extension of what THEY are interested (not what they’re told to be interested in).”
• Ocular Effect, produced by Xenophile Media as an extended reality complement to ABC’s show Fallen, picked up a Banff award in the Interactive Program Enhancement category.
• Margot Knight was the central figure in an individually-focused ARG that took place last week both in Orlando, Florida, and in a virtual environment called Olive. In a setup reminiscent of the 1997 movie The Game, Knight was the protagonist in a fictional art heist directed by Jeff Wirth, director of the University of Central Florida’s school of film and digital media. “It is a little reminiscent of The Game,” Knight said, “because there’s a sense of real jeopardy about it. It puts you on high alert. There’s no question that all my synapses were firing in the virtual world and in real reality.”
• Xenophile Media, best known in the ARG world for their work on the Regenesis Extended Reality game, is reportedly tapping into the children’s market, designing a series of games to accompany a new Teletoon series.
• The makers of MeiGeist have released a report on the results of the game summarizing feedback and learning from the production of the game.
• Those who have wanted to dip a toe in the waters of grassroots puppetmastering should check out the open call for puppetmasters on Jetamo’s blog. As always, keep an eye on Unfiction’s puppetmaster guide forum for other opportunities to volunteer as well.
• The University of Bologna was the unintentional host of a treasure hunt of sorts when students began finding cards hidden in their departments that claimed to be redeemable for one university credit. Check out this video about the elaborate joke — which may also have been a playful protest against the university credit system.
• Residents of Amsterdam may have been startled to see a white tent, leaking steam and surrounded by swarms of people in what appeared to biohazard suits, downtown, but the stunt appears to have been part of a promotion by NBC to build interest in the launch of two new channels. If anyone has more information about it, please send it our way.
• A site called MeeVee has reviewed the components of the Heroes 360 Experience in detail, also providing a nice summary of the game. With Heroes: Origins on the horizon, we expect that the extended reality experience is likely to continue, so the review might be a good place for interested newcomers to catch up quickly.
• Eric Harshburger, one of the designers of Mind Candy’s Perplex City, has revealed that he’s working on a separate project called Alice Is Lost. ARGNet’s Geoff May has the details.
• A creepy series of videos on YouTube has Unfiction players wondering if it might be a promotion for Hostel II. Check out the Unfiction thread for more details, but be warned: viewer discretion is advised.

Q&A With Elan Lee

We discuss what Elan’s job title should be. Then we pepper Elan with questions.

• Why is a financially self-sustaining model so elusive? Elan reveals that he has no idea what an ARG is. We also talk a bit about the politics of World Without Oil.
• Elan describes how seeing the ILB logo in the presidential debate made him a very happy puppetmaster. And he explains why he can’t blame the players for things that make his life more difficult. He also accepts a MySpace friend request on air.
• Pirates or Ninjas? We pin Elan down and force him to choose.
• Has anyone tried to buy 42 Entertainment? Go ask Trent Reznor. Elan deflects the question into a discussion about how the world doesn’t quite know what to do with ARGs.
• Jetamo wants to understand how Elan is so awesome. The answer? Gummi bears. And then he gets all serious about inspiration ‘n stuff, demonstrating just how awesome he really is, because the panelists all assumed it was just a throwaway question.
• Legal issues and ARGs. Why the Elan Virus hasn’t been released onto the web, plus cadavers and outer space. Elan gives us a very telling “no comment” when we cry for a zombie ARG. BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIINS.
• How does 42 cope with projects that go awry? They like challenges! Bring it on. Muahahaha, yes, he actually said that.

END PART 1

We’re still getting around to editing and posting Part 2, but stay tuned. And we wouldn’t mind if you also called and emailed us when we don’t have special guests. Just sayin’.

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