Month: March 2010 (Page 1 of 2)

Encom to Hold Press Conference, Flynn Lives to Infiltrate

March 30, 2010 / Celina Beach

EncomLogo This Friday at 8PM in San Francisco, Encom’s Executive Consultant Alan Bradley will address invited press and employees regarding a brand new Encom product. Little does he (and hopefully the Encom security) know that his audience will also include many intrepid members of the Flynn Lives organization posing as Encom employees.

Several weeks ago, the enigmatic Zack challenged the group to a little game called ArcadeAid – a site filled with pictures of clever (and sometimes groan-worthy) puns representing several generations of video games, from Pong to Asteroids, Space Ace to… well even Discs of Tron. As players named video games, they were awarded badges at certain levels. Naming all 56 earned them the opportunity to acquire their very own Encom security badge,Â and as we were to find out later, the ability to attend an exclusive press conference hosted by Alan Bradley himselfÂ (played by Bruce Boxleitner).

So if you’re one of the intrepid numbers who completed the ArcadeAid challenge and received an Encom badge, the place to be is the Justin Herman Plaza in the Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA at 8PM, April 2 2010. No word yet on whether non-badge holders will be able to find other ways to attend, or if the event will be aired online either live or after the fact. However, Wondercon will be occuring this weekend, and Disney does have a panel there: so if you are going to Wondercon, take it from an old San Diego Comic-Con pro and keep an eye out for opportunities to attend, either at the Disney booth (if present) or at the panel. You can also follow along on the Unfiction forums thread .

Good luck to all FlynnLives Infiltrators!

UPDATE: Zack from FlynnLives is asking all participants to meet at the Hyatt Regency (across the street from the press conference venue) from 6:15-7:45PM. t-shirts and posters will be handed out to participants, and the group will march to the press conference site en masse in order to get a good location in front of the stage.

It has also announced been announced that while there is going to be a VIP area for Encom employees (hence the infiltrators having Encom badges), the press conference itself is open to the public. So if you’re in the area, get down there and check it out!

Come Out and Play in Brooklyn this June

March 26, 2010 / Marie Lamb

Get ready for another exciting edition of Come Out and Play!Â This New York-based public games festival is gearing up for its 2010 edition, which will be headquartered at the Lyceum in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood June 4-6.Â The Festival has extended its deadline for submitting games to April 19th, so if you have an idea for a fun game, there’s still time to get involved. The Festival planners are working with game designers to refine their ideas and make sure they fit the location and scope of the event. Past games presented/debuted at COAP include Cruel 2B Kind by Jane McGonigal and Ian Bogost, as well as Jane’s Cryptozoo and the Lost Sport of Olympia, Ken Eklund’s Spy School, and TAH II, which was an extension of TAH, an alternate reality game produced by Cultural Oil.

I spoke recently with Greg Trefry, Festival Co-Founder and the author of “Casual Game Design: Designing Play for the Gamer in ALL of Us,” to get some details on what to expect this year.Â Greg says there will be a mix of games requiring tech and not, and is very enthusiastic about location-based games that leverage tech like smartphones and apps for play.Â Festival sponsor SCVNGR, known for their smartphone based geo-gaming tech platform, will be presenting their own game, but CEO/Chief Ninja Seth Priebatsch was not forthcoming with details. “Well, I can’t tell you too much about what we’re going to be showing off (it’s some sweet new features) but in general it’s in the same vein as what SCVNGR’s all about; making building and playing location-based mobile games fun, quick and easy.”

Greg says that while no games have been officially accepted and announced yet, the popular “Circle Rules Football” from last year’s event will be returning, and he expects a great mix of games, including “weird new sports.” He would love to see submissions for ARGs and games that include ARG elements, as he feels location-based games and ARGs dovetail nicely by using the content of the real world and blurring the lines to enrich the experience of gameplay so you’re “not sure if you’re looking at the game any more.” The real world “is the highest resolution thing you’re gonna play,” he notes.

What Happened to Sarah?

March 21, 2010 / Jane Doh

Something spooky. In the middle of the night, we watch as Sarah wakes and slowly walks down to the lake behind her house. There, a mysterious glowing orb is just beyond the edge of the dock. She reaches out to touch it… and in a flash she disappears.

What Happened to Sarah? (officially called The Curtain) is an online game/webseries with a polished, professional look. Billed as a “showcase [for] the work of a small group of filmmakers, designers, and transmedia storytellers,” the story is just starting to unfold through video, websites, emails, and social networking sites. Already, the level of player interaction seems pretty high in the early stages of this game/web series, and weâ€™ll soon see how players will affect the cryptic story that is just starting to unfold.

So far, we’ve learned thatÂ Sarah DiMichaela is a new recruit at Goldman and Dawn Accounting Associates. With the slogan “Thereâ€™s Magick in our numbers!” Goldman and Dawn practice an unusual kind of accountancy, and, according to the website, will soon offer free web seminars. The first seminar will be on “Strategic Thelemic Accounting.” Sarahâ€™s brother, Vincent DiMichaela, is the new Dean at Thelema College, “the premiere institution for the expansion of the mind and human essence.” Thelema College also hosted Robert K. Maxwell, author of the controversial book The Hidden Secret of All Creation, who “dips deep into the wells of many numerous paradigms, including magick, shamanism, and quantum physics.”

Players can apply to Thelema College by filling out a form, creating a sigil, and uploading their sigil to a Flickr group. Much of the interaction right now seems to take place over e-mail, so newcomers should find the Unfiction thread incredibly useful. Players have also discovered an audio recording of a rather anxious conversation, and a family friend named Neil Desmarais has set up a Facebook group to track Sarah down.

Now, excuse me while I apply to Thelema College; I hope I come up with an appropriately esoteric name.

Lewis Hamilton’s Secret Life

March 17, 2010 / DaniÃ«l van Gool

97535117KR010_Lewis_Hamilto There’s a lot to envy about Formula 1 driver and former World Champion Lewis Hamilton: competing in the fastest sport in the world, being surrounded by beautiful women and earning ridiculous amounts of money while doing so. It turns out however, that even this life isn’t exciting enough for Mr. Hamilton, and that is why he’s involved in a whole other “secret” life on the side. Courtesy of Reebok , the company Hamilton has been commercially involved with since 2008, we now get to have a look inside this Secret Life.

A few weeks ago, Reebok launched secretlewis.com, giving visitors a little sneak preview of Lewis Hamilton breaking into a big mansion utilizing high tech gear, with the help of a pretty girl with a headset and some Reebok sneakers. The site also sported a timer, counting down to March 10.

Since then, it has become clear that Mr. Hamilton spends his free time stealing back art and other artifacts that were previously stolen from their rightful owners. And the good news? You get to help him do so! Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life provides players with an opportunity to help Hamilton train and prepare for his endeavors, solve puzzles and retrieve artifacts. The game is available in nine languages and can be played on the web and via mobile phone.

According to the buzz, the game has been in production for over 12 months and going by the look, feel and production value, players should be in a for quite a ride. “Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life” is being produced by nDreams, a digital media/games company set up by Patrick O’Luanaigh, former Eidos Creative Director.

Follow Hamilton’s escapades via secretlewis.com and his Twitter account. Unfiction has a thread following the game here .Â You can also follow the game at Patmo.de (in German) and Fais Moi Jouer (in French).

An Inside Look at the EVOKE Network

March 15, 2010 / Michael Andersen

evoke During her talk at TED 2010, Jane McGonigal argued that game developers have a responsibility to change the world for the better by harnessing the efforts of gamers to improve the real world. Her dream is to see a game developer win the Nobel Prize by 2032. EVOKE, McGonigal’s most recent foray into the serious games arena, launched on March 3rd and may be a step towards achieving that goal. To date, there are over 9,000 agents registered on the site, with more joining every day.

The primary outlet for gameplay in EVOKE is the EVOKE Network itself. After creating a profile on the game’s ning social networking platform, agents can post blogs, images, or video files responding to a number of Quests and Missions. Alternatively, content can be added or accessed via SMS, mobile web, or mobile Facebook to make the game more accessible to players without access to computers. By successfully completing Quests and Missions, students can earn “mission runes” and achievement badges to track their progress. They can also award EVOKE Powers to contributions that excel in a number of different categories. Structurally, the EVOKE Network is similar to McGonigal’s previous project, Top Secret Dance Off, which relied on the community to identify and reward positive contributions while offering loosely structured challenges.

In addition to the EVOKE Network, the game provides an opportunity to learn more aboutÂ the EVOKE organization and itsÂ leader, Alchemy,Â through a series of weekly graphic novels taking place in the year 2020. Through EVOKE, Alchemy provides anonymous services to countries in desperate need of assistance in exchange for a percentage of the profits from their contributions. Meanwhile, a second, equally secretive organization is seeking information about EVOKE for unknown reasons. So far, interactivity has been limited to the EVOKE Network, with the graphic novel serving as a passive accompaniment to the larger discussion. For example, in the first two installments of the graphic novel, EVOKE solved a food shortage in Tokyo without requiring or asking for the assistance of the game’s players.

BREAKING NEWS: Artiforg Defaulters Ciji and Usman Caught

March 10, 2010 / Michael Andersen

repomencaught1
On Monday night, Lone Shark Games, Evan Ratliff, and Repo Men runner Usman Akeju joined the ARGNetcast to talk about their cross-country hunt for four runners carrying artiforgs from the Union. Yesterday, Repo Men hunter Geneva Conventional caught both Usman Akeju and Ciji Thorton at Seabrook Roller Skating Rink in Lanham, Maryland. Â Prior to his capture, Usman visited his mother’s house, prompting Lone Shark GamesÂ President Mike Selinker to quip, “It proves what I’ve been saying for years: Nothing good can come from bringing a girl over to your mom’s house.”

MovieViral’s most recent RepoCast features an interview with Geneva Conventional along with Lone Shark Games’ Creative DirectorÂ Teeuwynn Woodruff and hunters Shinma22, fubarcrew, BiggKat77, semisweetCJ, and eviltikimonkey describing Ciji and Usman’s capture, as well as their efforts to catch the other two runners. Â Additionally, the Repo Men website has released an official statement announcing the capture, raising a number of questions:

How could two runners be so blind (especially as Thornton had a top-of-the-line Ocurity eye) as to miss someone sneaking up on both of them? Didnâ€™t they have a feeling deep inside (perhaps in Usmanâ€™s Nephrolux kidney) that they could both be caught doing one of their individual Groundswell tasks? Will Groundswell loosen its restrictions on the other two runners, Alex Gamble and Will LaFerriereâ€”or will the noose tighten even more?