Episode 30 features panelists Geoff May (thebruce), Jessica Price (ARGNet), Michelle Senderhauf (varin.org) and Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction) as they join host Jonathan Waite (ARGNet) for a rousing discussion of the latest news in alternate reality gaming. Subscribe to the ARG Netcast feed through this link or via iTunes. Contact us at our special netcast email address, netcast@argnetcast.info with your tips, suggestions, concerns and submissions. Call us on the ARGNet voicemail at 630-274-5425.
NEWS OF THE (PAST SEVERAL) WEEKS
- A Halo fan got a little closer to the world of the game than he’d ever expected when players of Iris, a promotional game connected with the release of Halo 3, decided that an XBox Live gamertag might be an in-game phone number. Their calls went to Grand Rapids Community College student Michael Vanderzand, who happened to have an outgoing voicemail message that included snippets from the popular Halo machinima series Red vs. Blue, which convinced players that they were on the right track. In an interview with Hushed Casket, a Halo fan site, Vanderzand reveals that he has a healthy sense of humor about the whole thing, was surprised that most of the people who called him didn’t have the courage to actually talk to him, and expressed his disappointment that none of the callers were female. Sorry Michael!
- The Hunt, a Pirates of the Caribbean-themed puzzle trail produced by Volvo, won a Silver Lion award at Cannes.
- There may be a sequel to Court TV’s Save My Husband contest in the works. Players received an email telling them that 30,000 people had played, and 6,013 actually solved the mystery. The email also asked players to stick around, because one of the characters had disappeared, and promised that next time, things might get more complicated.
- Penguin Books has been in talks with members of Mind Candy’s recently released creative team about how to use ARGs to promote books. The blog entry ends with this tantalizing quote, “So that is what the finest minds of Penguin will be attaching their skulls to. Over the next few months, we’ll be attempting to schmooze with those great originators, and will hopefully bring you, Dear Reader, the fruits of our labour.”
- An upcoming Pixar film, WALL-E, may be planning a promotional ARG. Here’s the Unfiction thread.
- Is J.J. Abrams, of Alias and LOST fame, running an ARG? A cryptic trailer for a project called Cloverfield has fans speculating.
- Is unlimited free energy possible? A company called Steorn claims that they can provide it. The claim sounds like something out of science fiction, making many people wonder if this was the start of an ARG. Almost a year after it tripped Unfiction’s radar, many people still seem uncertain as to whether it’s a game or a hoax. Now it’s back in the news. A group of intelligent design creationists have seized on the company’s claims as disproving certain elements of modern science.
- Amy Greenford, an ARG promoting the new Jasper Fforde Thursday Next novel, which involved characters escaping from the confines of the printed page, has wrapped up at a Fforde booksigning and live event, complete with a puzzle trail and appearances by Dickens’ Miss Havisham and other characters.
- Illumina Digital, a UK-based company that produces “interactive dramas” such as the BBC’s Wannabes — a participatory soap opera — and Axon — an attempt to use interactive drama to encourage curriculum-based science learning — appears to have quite a bit more in store. Toward the end of an interview with InteractiveTV Today, the company’s head of development, Mike Dicks, gives readers a sneak preview of their upcoming work, saying, “I’ve probably dropped myself in it enough during this interview, but look out for the Second Life play we’re planning, for an interactive movie I’m really close to, and for something clever in the drama/alternate reality game world.”
- HBO may be launching something ARGish with HBOVoyeur.com, a site that lets you peer through the windows of several city-dwellers’ apartments. There’s also a blog at thestorygetsdeeper.com and a preview on HBO OnDemand that says, ominously, “See what happens when you get caught watching.”
- Jon Williams, one of the creative forces behind the MeiGeist ARG, is set to launch a proof-of-concept game soon that players are calling Mr. A. Plasm. Discussion has begun on the Unfiction forums if you want to check it out.
- With yesterday’s magical 7-7-07 date comes the end of a countdown at instealthmode.com. The site claims to be an ARG in its source code, but is put up by “Taboo”, an online domain camper with a portfolio of thousands of websites. There is a small puzzle to be solved at the site, but your mileage may vary on this one.
Sammeeeees II
We apologize for our lack of news on the Sammeeeees sequel, and promise to bring more coverage in the next netcast.
Topic Discussion
A voicemail from Caspian sets off our topic discussion: Do alternate reality games need to be less complex in order to become more mainstream?
Voicemail & Email
Along with the aforementioned voicemail came an interesting email from Kyle Stallone, reprinted here:
I wanted to thank you for asking the question that I proposed too Mr. Lee on your NetCast. It was very interesting to hear his response.
I would also like to thank you for editing my question as you made me sound more dignified and well-spoken then I am in reality. I guess we could all use a lesson in proper grammar.
My main purpose for this particular e-mail was to respond to a comment that one of your panelists made in reference to my question. While the comment about “The Beast” was “right on” I did want to clarify my question a little bit, if I may.
Whenever I think about “creation” I think about 3 phases in the process:
1) Discovery
2) Weeding Out
3) FocusingI consider “The Beast” as being in the “Discovery” Phase of the “ARG genre creation process”, as opposed to the “Art of the Heist”, which I would put into the “Weeding Out” process (when the community begins to come together and suggest what and what does not belong in the “ARG” category). My question was more about what to expect in the “Focusing” phase of the genre, when the creators and the community have finally decided on what an “Alternate Reality Game” really is.
During the “weeding out” phase I saw a lot of games move away from “The Beast” and into a more “could this really be happening” form of story. “The Art of the Heist”, “Wildfire Industries”, “Urban Hunt”, even “Ares Station” had the feeling that it might actually be real (besides the lack of artistic talent in the drawings). Now it looks like the genre is beginning to include more stories like that of “The Beast” which leads me to wonder if we will begin to come back to more “real” stories or accept that stories which tend to ask for a bit of a leap from its players (as Elan so stated) are going to be a part of the community forever?
So, yes, I agree with your panelist about “The Beast”, I was just curious about the “where are we going from here” part.
Sincerely;
Kyle Stallone
P.S. Keep up the good work. You have a life listener in me, for sure.
Thanks, Kyle & Caspian. We look forward to hearing from both of you (and many more of our listeners) in upcoming episodes. See you next week!
No Comment Received
Leave A Reply