Month: June 2005 (Page 1 of 3)

The Art of the H3ist Wrap-up and Review

June 30, 2005 / Carie Ward

June 29, 2005 marked the Relaunch Event for Tatum Think as well as the finale for the Audi sponsored Alternate Reality Game The Art of the H3ist. Players gathered at The Viceroy in Santa Monica as well as on the web to watch the live event play out.

The beginning of the end started 36 hours in advance with one of the lead characters, Ian Yarbrough, breaking into his rival Virgil Tatumâ€™s house. While Ian found the incriminating evidence he was looking for, he also managed to get himself caught red-handed by Virgil and his two goons and was promptly captured.

“Art of the H3ist” Finale Set for Wednesday

June 26, 2005 / Steve Peters

Players of Audi’s Art of the H3ist (as it’s now presenting itself) are preparing for what looks to be the culmination of the three month-long alternate reality game. Many players are converging on an event scheduled for this Wednesday, June 29th, to witness what goes down.

The Art of The H3ist unfolded in real time over the course of the last three months, its players experiencing a quality story of theft, love and betrayal through many diverse media: Print ads, billboards, television commercials, radio spots, Web Sites, live events, e-mails, videos, IRC chats, voice transcripts, machinima, puzzles, photos, scanned documents, and more.

ARGTalk Shows Its True Stripes?

June 24, 2005 / Jonathan Waite

While some of us like to think we are ‘in the know’ when it comes to Alternate Reality Gaming, there is always opportunity to pull the wool over the collective eyes of the community every so often. Tonight, there is evidence (although wildly speculative) that ARGTalk, an ARG meta discussion site that popped up this year out of the blue, might actually be a front for a new ARG. Confused? Me too.

Sin2 Viral Site Discovered

June 17, 2005 / Steve Peters

Those who are waiting for the sequel to Ritual Entertainment’s game Sin got a little surprise recently when trying to access the Sin2 website. The site, www.sin2.com, suddenly began redirecting to Legion Pharmaceutical (www.legionpharma.com).

A very little digging revealed a small puzzle. Semi-Hidden text revealed “First is the key!” followed by an alphanumeric series: P12-66/P1-13/P2-3/P6-39/P3-9/P4-4/P5-8/P7-14/P8-45/P9-6/P10-12/P11-45.

That’s about it for now. To keep tabs on what’s solved/discovered and whether this leads to anything like an alternate reality game, follow this thread at Unfiction.

The Traveler Returns?

June 15, 2005 / Steve Peters

In December of 2004, we told you about some interesting web activity surrounding the then-upcoming novel The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks. Links were found to multiple websites that looked very much like a new alternate reality game. Players scoured websites for the Evergreen Foundation, Resurrection Auto Parts, Hollis Martial Arts and Judith Strand, where thye found many hidden goodies, including memos about something escaping from a Genetic Research Center. Everything looked pretty promising, and further investigation led to……nothing. A dead end. A few cool sites that made for a nice internet marketing campaign, but that’s all.

Or was it?

Super ARGFest-O-Con 4 : New York City, July 22-24, 2005

June 14, 2005 / Steve Peters

After successful ARGFest-O-Cons in Las Vegas, Orlando and Vancouver BC, we think it’s high time to invade the Big Apple! Meet other ARG-obsessed souls, eat, drink, and be merry at our 4th glorified ARGParty!

ARGFest-O-Con 4 looks to be the biggest gathering of ARG players and developers yet, with players from all over the US, Canada and Great Britain planning to attend. In addition, you’ll be able to meet some of the folks behind such games as The Art of the Heist, The Beast, Chasing the Wish, Lockjaw, Metacortechs, and Perplex City.