Month: September 2007 (Page 1 of 2)

What do Education, iPhones, and LG15 Have in Common?

September 30, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

After cleaning out my inbox (1300+ messages!), I found a few stories from the past month or so that I found interesting, and I hope you will too:

Over at Cross-Media Entertainment, Christy Dena is reporting on a new educational ARG called Help Me Solve a Mystery. Quoting from the Research Quest blog , Dena notes that the ARG will be “designed to teach critical thinking and information literacy skill. The game will be targeted to college students, yet will be freely open and promoted in order to attract a broad range of participants.” Our very own Michael Andersen started up a discussion thread at the Unfiction forums earlier this week. Gayla Keesee, who blogs at Ed Tech Lady, has written an article asking for assistance from people currently playing this game, so if you can help her out, be a good samaritan!

Also on the educational front comes this article by Ian Bogost at Water Cooler Games. It tells of an instructional counter-terrorism ARG called the Never Rest Game and links to a discussion thread at the Unfiction forums.

Just as the news of two instructional ARGs comes to our attention Jeremy Vernon blogs about using ARGs as an educational tool. We hope Jeremy is watching the same blogs and web sites as we are.

The last of the education-themed story alerts pointed us in the direction of Dr. Scott J. Warren, a professor at the University of North Texas. Dr. Warren is teaching his students about alternate reality gaming through a course called CECS 1000, describing the course as a “hybrid course.” Warren is extending his classroom environment to Second Life, but exactly what kind of ARG this will turn out to be is unknown, as it is closed to outside access. However, you can read Warren’s own blog at doorarg.wordpress.com.

Shifting gears now, Wagner James Au and Jane Pinckard at GigaOm have pontificated about the most-wanted games for the iPhone, and #7 on the list is Perplex City, or another top ARG. Their argument is that an ARG would showcase the multi-funcionality of the iPhone, and they are calling for Jane McGonigal to be hired for the project.

Elan Lee of 42 Entertainment was recently a speaker at one of the IGNITE discussion nights in Seattle. Video of his talk can be seen at YouTube.

And finally, another ARG set in the universe of Lonelygirl15 has launched. Mission Anchor Cove is being run by TheLadyLazarus, according to this post at LG15 Today.

It’s Been Five Long Years and I Love You Just the Same

September 26, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

On September 26, 2002, this site was born with the groundbreaking news: Forums Closed. Yes, on that day, the Godfather of alternate reality gaming, Steve Peters, relayed the sad news that the ARGN forums were closing, but this led the way to new forums at Unfiction and a new direction for this site as a news source and, shortly thereafter, a hub for community resources. Along the way, Steve found work at 42 Entertainment, which is when I was fortunate enough to be asked to take the site under my wing. The site shifted from a community hub to a full-time ARG news resource in 2006, which is what you see today on our fifth anniversary.

While we don’t have any cake to share on this wonderful day, I do have some bouquets to pass along:

First and foremost, I’d like to thank all of the current and former staff who have made this site a wonderful place to be a part of. The tireless work of these hard-working volunteers has always impressed and amazed me, so they deserve their due.

Secondly, I will thank those leaders out there who continue to dedicate their individual efforts in making sure the ARG community is a warm, welcoming place to be a part of. While we are no longer an official ‘network’ of resources, the camaraderie of the community members proves that we are as much a family as a group of puzzle-solving instant-messaging story-loving people can be.

And last, but mostly, I want to thank all of you readers who continue to make us a part of your day and your life. As cliche as it may sound, without you we’re nothing. We continue to work for this genre because we love and care for this genre, and it’s not only because of the great games, it’s also because of the great people playing them.

So, with all of that said, help us to blow out the candles and celebrate another birthday as we look forward to many more celebrations in the future.

Game Tip Round-Up

September 24, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

We have been a bit preoccupied here at the ARGNet Ranch, but that doesn’t mean that we’re not paying attention to the inbox. While we haven’t had much opportunity to follow up on some of the tips we’ve received, we thought it’d be best to release them into the wild to see what happened. Here, in no particular order, are the tips.

From someone calling themselves Fiddlefaddle comes a link to Worse Than a Fairy Tale, which is “ARGesque” in nature and is tied into the new CD of the same name by Drop Dead Gorgeous, a “hardcore/screamo band” that Fiddlefaddle digs. The plot involves murders and the game/experience looks pretty slick and well-produced upon initial viewing.

Guillaume Hugo led us to Nowheremen, but we’re not sure exactly what it is yet. Something to keep an eye on, perhaps?

Michele wanted us to know about SilverLadder, which already as a lot of discussion at the Unfiction forums. We mentioned it on Episode 37 of the ARG Netcast series (to be released in the next few days) and will be watching it closely. There are references to Alice in Wonderland and involves a mysterious “Korporation”, so there are definitely mysteries afoot.

There have been three emails — a tip, and two reminders (okay, we got the message!) — for a new game at What is this Game?. It has a spooky theme, registrations open on Halloween, and the game apparently starts January 1, 2008. No idea what the need is for a two month registration period, but hopefully it amounts to something worthwhile. And, hey, look at that, a MySpace profile that ties in!

Ty Kieth sent us this gem: “I’m sitting in a Safe Room right now surrounded by a random-signal quantum field so the damn Monks can’t see me. I’ve managed to compromise the site. Hopefully I can warn a few converts away while I’m at it. Avery, if you’re there, I’ve left some breadcrumbs for you,” with a link to The Electric Church. This is a tie-in with the book of the same name, authored by Jeff Somers, but we haven’t looked deeper than the front page. Besides, if this game tip isn’t supposed to be written by an in-game character, we’re not so much curious as we are bewildered and a bit scared. Seriously — random-signal quantum fields are our greatest fear.

(Actually, we’re not that scared, as Alex tipped us off to what’s really happening at the site: “It’s not technically an ARG, but Jeff Somers, author of the forthcoming novel The Electric Church, has included a deviously complicated series of codes and puzzles… which should appeal to ARG fans.” Thanks for making us feel safer, Alex.)

Finally, things seem to be progressing quickly at Dunder Mifflin Infinity, so much so that many regional managers have been chosen for new Dunder Mifflin Paper Company branches across North America. If you’re completely lost at this point, we’re talking about the fictional company at the center of NBC’s hit comedy The Office. if you’re a fan of the show, this one is shaping up to be something very, very cool.

And that does it for another few weeks worth of game tips. Keep them coming folks — we anticipate having a bit more time in the coming months for more frequent updates about new games. And, as always, you can check in with the Unfiction forums News & Rumors section for more news and game tips.

Breaking News: Eldricth Errors PM Chat Tonight

September 10, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

Sorry for the late-breaking update, but we’ve just found about a puppetmaster chat for Eldritch Errors, which recently wrapped up the first stage of its game. You can join the chat via IRC (chat applets here or at Unfiction) in the #stfeline room, starting at 9:30 pm ET/6:30 pm PT. This will hopefully be an opportunity to have your questions answered by the team of creators and designers before they disappear back into the mists of Book Two. Someone with a terrible sense of pun-humor might say, “I’ll B Seeing U there!” but there is no one on our staff willing to sink to that level of wit, so just show up, okay?

Welcome to Schmeldritch?

September 6, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

After almost five months of game play, Book One of Eldritch Errors has come to a close. What began in April with mysterious Craigslist postings and targeted snail mail ended with a live event in Atlanta last Monday, during which a hard drive and boarding pass were found in a room which included three “shrouded ‘figures’ that looked about 4-5 feet tall,” according to this account by sapagoo at the Sentry Outpost in-game message boards. As an epilogue to this climactic event, several additional Craigslists postings have been discovered, where it has been noted that B.A. St. Feline, the psychic character who runs BSeeingU, is experiencing “excruciating pain. Oh, and there were a series of grotesque and disturbing photos uploaded to a player’s personal web site without his consent (or so he says). If this seems confusing out of context, the story-so-far at the Eldritch Errors web site might be a good place to catch up on recent events, as well as the fan-run BSUWiki.

With loose ends being tied up and a break in the action forthcoming, the puppetmasters have come out from the other side of the curtain to talk about the game so far at Schmeldritch, a behind-the-scenes blog. So far, one post has revealed how the recipients of the mailed packages were chosen, and a chapter one credits list is up as well. Game creator Brian Clark describes the site as, “something that happens in between the episodes of Eldritch,” and as “an opportunity to share some tidbits from behind the scenes and some “how to” tutorials for other immersive narrativists dissecting the production.”

Pics of the found hard drive
Contents of the hard drive

Of All the Gin Joints in All the World: Casablanca Game Goes Live

September 5, 2007 / Michael Andersen

After months of development and testing, the new social networking game Casablanca launches today. As a winner of mtvU and Cisco’s Digital Incubator 2.0 competition, the four NYU University students behind the game received a $30,000 grant towards the development of the game.

Set in the city of Casablanca during World War II, players are assigned roles working for the Resistance or Occupation forces. While Resistance forces are striving to create large networks of contacts, Occupation forces are attempting to infiltrate the Resistance cells. Resistance forces can check to see if their network is compromised seven times during the course of the game. NYU students engaged in the beta-test of the game went to extreme lengths to ensure the sanctity of their networks and communications, including the establishment of password-protected websites. Gameplay can proceed on the website as well as through a special text-messaging service.

The real appeal of Casablanca is its scalability. The crew behind Casablanca encourage groups to play Casablanca as an ice-breaker or for team-building, combining the gameplay with live meet-ups. Anyone interested in facilitating a local running of the game merely needs to contact the staff, load up the email addresses of prospective players onto the site, and choose the duration of the game. Promotional materials are available upon request.