Month: February 2009 (Page 1 of 3)

Skynet Researchâ€™s Glowing Gift

February 24, 2009 / Robbie Smith

Remember Skynet Research? On Friday the 13th the mysterious Terminator site went live, and users who had previously signed up for updates returned to find a fully functional website with company bios, contact information, testimonials and outreach efforts. There was also a robotic community page that detailed Skynetâ€™s Enhancement Module 101, a product guaranteed to improve the functionality of any robot. Of course, being a proper ARGamer I requested a module with little hope of anything actually happening, but then the whispers started over on the Unfiction forums, where some members claimed they had actually gotten an Enhancement Module in the mail. Incredulous, I went about my business until today, when I found a small box in the mail from Skynet Research.

Tucked inside the box was the Enhancement Module in all its glory. While in all actuality it is just a piece of flickering plastic, I still found myself upset I didnâ€™t have a robot to attach it to. The paperwork seemed to hint at the fact that Skynet would take over any robot that was â€œenhancedâ€ and I dearly wanted to see the carnage that would follow from such a hostile takeover.

All Enhancement Modules aside, the accompanying paperwork included proof without a doubt that Skynet Research is an ARG for the Terminator: Salvation film that will hit theaters on May 22nd, a date the installation sheet reiterated for its readers. While the puppetmasters acknowledged that the module was a â€œThank youâ€ for playing along, they still encouraged players to take part in the ARG and submit user-created videos detailing their newly enhanced robots.

Skeleton Creek

February 22, 2009 / Nicko Demeter

For those of you looking for a great cross-media spooky mystery comes Skeleton Creek, a half book, half movie experience by best selling author Patrick Carman. Published by Scholastic Press, the book serves as the doorway to the world of Sarah Fincher and Ryan McCray as they try to solve the mystery of Skeleton Creek. Their challenges come in the form of ghosts, mysterious park rangers, and other discoveries that set the path for their adventure — to which the reader, of course, has a front row seat. Ryan is hurt early on in the story, during one of his and Sarah’s first escapades, and so he resorts to writing down his thoughts in his journal (which is the book) and watching the videos that Sarah provides him via her password protected website (which is the movie element).

Due to the nature of this work, one could not just read the book or watch only the movies and get the entire story. Both media are intricately tied together and work to give the reader/viewer a sense of the story and the world of Skeleton Creek. However, even as the reader reaches the end of the book and has watched all of Sarah’s movies, the Skeleton Creek experience is not over.

Available for a Limited Time, CLUE Goes Cross-Media

February 18, 2009 / Michael Andersen

According to a recent press release, Hasbro is taking board gaming to the next level with the upcoming release of CLUE: Secrets & Spies Edition. Setting aside their ropes, knives, and candlesticks, the iconic characters from Hasbro’s classic board game will embark on a “globetrotting adventure to foil the plans of the Criminal League for Ultimate Espionage (C.L.U.E.)” starting this fall.

Unlike the classic game of Clue, the goal of CLUE: Secrets & Spies is to infiltrate C.L.U.E. and intercept Agent Black before he discovers your true identity. Players work to complete as many missions as possible with the help of in-game clues using an ultraviolet secret decoder and optional tips sent via cell phone text messages. Jill Hambley, the Global Marketing Vice President of the CLUE brand, notes that Secrets and Spies “takes text messaging from mere novelty to world saving technology. By using their own cell phones, players will turn their every-day phone into a top-secret spy device that is certain to add excitement and suspense to game play.” Hasbro has committed to maintaining text messaging support through December 31, 2011.

Using text messaging to send independent missions and missions to players has the potential to detract from the communal experience of playing a board game. However, it also allows for increased immersion in the gameplay experience. I still have vivid memories of playing the Star Trek the Next Generation Interactive Video Board Game with family and friends, happily shouting responses to a VHS tape. And with the growing ubiquity of cell phone use in families along with decreasing data plan pricing, the time may be right for a board game that text back at you.

Thanks to Steve Peters for the tip

“Save Hazel”: Fox Launches Official Dollhouse Alternate Reality Game

February 12, 2009 / Michael Andersen

rprimelab

Dollhouse, Joss Whedon’s newest drama, is premiering on Fox this Friday at 9PM EST. In case you’re interested in getting immersed in Whedon’s new universe a little early, Fox Broadcasting Company has launched “Save Hazel”, an official participation drama for the show at rprimelab.com.

According to the game’s website, “Save Hazel” allows you to “jump in headfirst and wreak creative havoc in the story” by watching and communicating with Hazel, a character trapped inside the Dollhouse. Every night, a new video will be uploaded in response to user-generated videos. Players will control the story’s progression. While Fox carefully avoids referring to the participation drama as an alternate reality game, the description seems to warrant the use of the term.

Last May, ARGNet reported on the launch of “Find Kimi”, which appeared to be the start of an alternate reality game for the show revolving around Kimi Lassek, a character presumably trapped inside the Dollhouse. However, shortly after reporting on the launch, the game stopped releasing updates and faded into obscurity.

With daily video updates and a strong push for user-generated content, “Save Hazel” appears to be aiming for a highly participatory storytelling format that will draw on fan creativity. If the fan submissions to the Evil League of Evil from Whedon’s previous project Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog are any indication, “Save Hazel” has the potential to be highly entertaining.

Click Here for the discussion at the Unfiction forums.
Click Here for the discussion at Whedonesque.

The next phase of Heroes Evolutions is the iStory

February 10, 2009 / Jonathan Waite

heroes_evolutions_istory

Editor’s note: This article deals with the television show Heroes. If you are not up to date with the most recent episode, and you don’t want to be spoiled by details, you may want to turn back now.

So there I was, watching Heroes on NBC tonight, when I saw a commercial about Rachel. Rachel, as the ad told me, somehow survived the explosion at Pinehearst that marked the end of ‘volume three’ or the series. As curious people often do, I headed over to the Heroes web site at NBC to see what the deal was, hoping for a return to what was formerly known as Heroes 360, which became Heroes Evolutions. I had not had the opportunity to play along with the original experience, and as I’m still a huge Heroes fan, I thought that now would be a good time to jump back into the ARG. While what I found wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for, it’s still a pretty cool experience for fans of the show.

Enter the iStory titled The Private. Described on the web site as an “ongoing, interactive story,” players will be given the chance to play along with the choose-your-own-adventure style narrative, as the choices they make will determine the outcome of the story and its characters. This appears to be a game that players can jump into at any time, as all new players start at the first “book” of the series, and progress can be saved in the player profile.

heroes_istory_characters I had a chance to play through the first story tonight — there have been four published to date — and was impressed by both the narrative and the artwork. Within the story, there was a Morse Code puzzle, and while the choices were few and far between, there’s a great deal of potential here for future chapters of the story. Combine this aspect of the Evolutions experience with a web series called The Recruit, a series of graphic novels and season walkthroughs and it appears to be a robust expansion of the universe laid out within the boundaries of the weekly hour-long action show. Again, it may not be the type of interaction the typical ARG player might expect, but it deserves a second (and third, and fourth…) look from anyone who wants to more about Hiro, Peter and Claire the cheerleader.

“Routes” Alternate Reality Game Explores the Human Genome with Infectious Fun

February 9, 2009 / Michael Andersen

In 2003, the Human Genome Project completed the sequencing of the human genome. This herculean achievement has already had far-reaching effects in the fields of science, medicine, and bio-ethics. And on January 29th, the UK’s Channel 4 Education officially released the alternate reality game Routes, an eight-week experience exploring cutting-edge issues involving the human genome. With the help of Oil Productions and Mind’s Eye Media, Channel 4 aims to elicit interest in science amongst teens in the UK through the game.

Back in October, Professor Markus Schoenberg gave a presentation at the Game City Festival in Nottingham raising concerns about the bio-ethical concerns raised by recent scientific advances. He announced the release of Routes Game, a series of flash games highlighting the many uses of genetic information. Sadly, at the Routes Game launch party, Professor Schoenberg’s neice Rachel Burren received a phone call informing her the professor was found dead in his Peruvian hotel room. With the help of investigative journalist Matt Blacker, Rachel is trying to find out why her father died. Were the professor’s former employers at the bio-genetic research company Prometha responsible? Or did activist group DEPAA go too far in combatting the exploitation of indigenous knowledge?

Every week, Routes releases a new ~~flash~~ game addressing a different aspect of genetic information: Breeder; Sneeze; Experimental; Human Zoo; DNA Heroes; Mutants; Ginger Dawn; and Life, Jim! In Breeder, players earn points by selectively breeding their organism in order to achieve targeted characteristics. In Sneeze, players assume the role of Patient Zero, attempting to infect as many people as possible with a single sneeze. Additionally, award-winning comedian Katherine Ryan explores her own genetic identity through a series of informational videos. UK residents are eligible to win prizes for participating including a Playstation 3 and a home entertainment system: a mysterious “Star Prize” is also available to “the natural explorers and those who really get into the whole experience.”

Thanks to a highly intuitive user-interface and accessible video summaries, the barrier to entry for this alternate reality game is relatively low, and the flash games are both addictive and challenging. So head on over and register at the Routes Game website and discover the secrets in your genes.

Click Here to join the discussion at Unfiction.
Click Here to read the article at Wikibruce.