Month: March 2009 (Page 1 of 3)

Skynet Research: Resist or be Terminated

March 27, 2009 / Robbie Smith

This past Tuesday, Twitter birds that were following Skynet Research got several frantic messages advising them to ignore the “audio interference” on the Skynet homepage. Skynet, apparently afraid that the Twitter-verse would not get the word out fast enough, followed up with a mass e-mail warning visitors of “technical difficulties” that had created said audio interference while reassuring all that the problem would soon be fixed. Skynet also pointed out that the rumors circulating on resistorbeterminated.com were false and should be disregarded.

Skynet’s calming efforts had quite the opposite effect as visitors flooded both sites, discovering that the audio interference was no interference at all, but rather a distorted message. Upon slowing down the audio, players made a startling discovery: — the audio was, in fact, a message from a military unit named Recon Unit Strider Three reporting in and requesting extraction after coming under fire during a recon mission on Skynet “Tech Com Units.”

Audio interference indeed.

Harperâ€™s Globe â€“ TV never looked so deadly

March 26, 2009 / Nicko Demeter

harpersisland An islandâ€™s quiet life is rocked by a brutal murder — that is the beginning of the story behind Harperâ€™s Island, the new TV series by CBS set to air starting on April 9th. But even before the series premiere, the curious among us can already immerse themselves into the narrative by participating in the “social show” that has been built to promote the show, and we have news from the team at EQAL as to what we can expect from both Harper’s Island and its multimedia counterpart.

The proverbial rabbit hole, or starting point, is found at the web site harpersglobe.com. Designed as the islandâ€™s news resource, it introduces the players to Robin, a college student that was recently hired under mysterious circumstances to be the paperâ€™s community manager and archivist. Working diligently, she posts videos of her progress which is when things get weird. As she starts to unravel the mystery of the islandâ€™s past (in full view of all the players, no less), a new character is introduced that has seemingly sinister intentions, drastically changing the atmosphere of the community.

Once the TV show airs, the players will advance further into the story and the mystery surrounding it. CBS is tight lipped about the projectâ€™s details, other than promising that the players/viewers will not only watch but also help catch the real killer. It’s possible that this is why people are encouraged to setup their profile once they sign up on Harperâ€™s Globe — the social networking features may help players to interact with the characters of the ARG/TV show.

We had a few questions about what might happen with the online experience once the television show debuts in two weeks, so we went straight to the source yesterday and got in touch with Miles Beckett, the co-founder and CEO at EQAL, who has partnered with the producers of Harper’s Island to create Harper’s Globe. Beckett had as many answers as we had questions, so hit the jump for all of the gritty details.

Slicing Code for PIE Theory: A Sun Microsystems ARG

March 25, 2009 / Michael Andersen

Baron Rude and Hector Macchiato are quickly establishing themselves as the arbiters of all things paranormal on YouTube. The pair of nerds offer caustically humorous analyses of paranormal sightings. These Paranormal Investigations Experts (colloquially referred to as “the PIE Guys”) are looking for evidence of legitimate paranormal activity to support their theory. The PIE Guys are part of a new alternate reality game sponsored by Sun Microsystems that promises to give programmers a chance to get out and play.

The PIE Guys have a theory about technological development. According to their research, strange events preceded many of history’s greatest developmental leaps in science, technology, and agriculture. Throwing everything we know about causation to the wind, the pair are convinced that recent sightings imply the next JUMP is quickly approaching. In order to prepare, they have created a website at PieTheory.com to track strange phenomena and debunk hoaxes.

According to the website’s Terms of Service Sun Microsystems is behind the game, offering free downloads of Netbeans 6.5 and the JavaFX Production Suite 1.1 as part of the “Recruit Toolkit.” The Terms of Service also implies that some of the challenges of the game will involve the development of source code.

PieTheory.com is rapidly churning out new content, so keep your eyes peeled for more wacky antics from the website’s dynamic duo. There are already a few clues that there’s something going on beneath the surface, so start searching for proof of the paranormal, wherever you may find it.

Click Here to check out the game at Pietheory.com
Click Here for the discussion at the PieTheory forums
Click Here for the discussion at Unfiction

The Architect – Israel’s First Alternate Reality Game

March 25, 2009 / Brandie Minchew

mysarona

A few weeks ago, the biggest mystery in Yoni Grishman‘s life was why the people of Tel Aviv so despise the members of his chosen profession – that of a parking attendant writing tickets for the hapless drivers of Israel. Now, he’s got a lot more to worry about. His girlfriend has disappeared, suspiciously soon after he started the Facebook group “Real Estate is Not a Game” to protest the purchase of her apartment building and impending eviction by a rich real estate developer.

After receiving threats from a mysterious group, Yoni, with the help of the people of Tel Aviv, has been attempting to uncover the group’s secrets, determine their connection with the mysterious Architect, and find his girlfriend.

Called “The Architect” and billed as Israel’s first alternate reality game, the story has attracted several hundred players across Israel. Two live events have already taken place in Tel Aviv’s Sarona district as players took to the streets to protest the building of My Sarona, a luxury spa featuring an anti-gravitation room in addition to other more typical spa offerings. (The My Sarona promotional video has English subtitles.)

Israeli ARGers meet to discuss the game in an Israeli gamer’s forum and have set up a wiki to keep track of their information. Most of the game content and discussion is in Hebrew, but don’t let that stop you from having a look around!

Although the game is set to end on March 31st, take a peek at the websites and video. Once the game wraps up, we’ll have a follow-up article for you on the puppetmasters behind the scenes of Israel’s first – but hopefully not last – alternate reality game.

Rachael Webster Is Calling Me a Liar: Meet Her at GDC

March 19, 2009 / Michael Andersen

Remember how I insisted a few months ago that Rachael Webster, the video game blogger behind PixelVixen707.com, was fake? The folks at GameSetWatch and I were convinced she was all part of an elaborate yet eloquent ruse to get people to buy JC Hutchins’ new book, Personal Effects: Dark Art.

Rachael Webster called us out. She’s real, and she’s willing to prove it.

Rachael Webster will be attending the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco next week shaking hands and passing out business cards. The first ten people to crack the puzzle on the back of the card and email a picture of themself holding the card to [email protected] will receive “something cool” from her friend Jessica.

During last week’s ARG Netcast, JC Hutchins talked about his work on the transmedia novel Personal Effects: Dark Art. Explaining the debate over Rachael Webster, Hutchins told us that “Rachael is Rachael. Rachael is real in a way that is really kind of brainbending and really cool…Rachael is as real as you want her to be.”

As for me, I’ll believe it when I see it. So if you receive the business card seen above from a snarky woman at the Game Developer’s Conference, convince her to take a picture with you, and send it to us at [email protected]. And if I’m wrong, I’ll commit myself to Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital.

Click Here for our previous coverage on Rachael Webster and Personal Effects: Dark Art

SXSW Interactive awards for TDK ARG, We Tell Stories, Lost Zombies

March 15, 2009 / Jonathan Waite

2009-sxsw-web-awards Image courtesy of the SXSW Interactive Web Awards site.

It’s a big night for three campaigns tonight, as the teams behind The Dark Knight ARG, Lost Zombies and We Tell Stories have won major awards at the 12th annual SXSW Interactive Web Awards. The awards were handed out earlier tonight at the Hilton Austin Downtown, and according to The Underwire blog at Wired, the major hardware found its way into the hands of the wonderful people behind these highly successful campaigns.

One of the biggest wins of the night came for We Tell Stories. This project was a collaboration between Six to Start and Penguin Books and, as reported here in March of 2008, was a way for media-savvy designers to retell classic stories through the use of technology. We Tell Stories won in the Experimental category, but as a bonus, also walked away with the Best in Show Award. This is a monumental win for the company, formed at the beginning of 2008 by former members of Mind Candy.