Editor’s Note: for information on events since this article’s publication, check out ARGNet’s follow-up article on the Super 8 alternate reality game.
Over the past few weeks, rumors have been floating around about Super 8, a new movie by JJ Abrams. Many speculated the film would be the newest installment in the Cloverfield universe. Abrams is going to extreme measures to maintain the mystique of this new project, sending the film’s trailers to theaters in canisters that required special codes to open. Despite these security measures, a “bootleg copy” of the trailer was posted on YouTube prior to the trailer’s release during select Iron Man 2 screenings at last night’s midnight showings.
Hidden within the trailer was the phrase “THESCARIESTTHINGIEVERSAW,” leading astute followers to the website ScariestThingIEverSaw.com, which accesses a “PDP-11 Simulator” operating on a remote desktop. The simulator was developed by “D. Morris” on February 5, 1977, and executes an as-yet-unknown operation that takes days to load.
Very little is known about Super 8 or its related viral experience, although MovieViral.com has provided a succinct summary of what little information is available. Abrams has gone on the record clarifying that the film “has nothing whatsoever to do with Cloverfield,” but has remained silent on any further details regarding the project. Abrams has a proven track record of building buzz around his projects through interactive experiences that attract dedicated followings (including viral campaigns for Star Trek, Fringe, Cloverfield, LOST, and Alias) so this newest installment might be worth exploring. Abrams’ alternate reality games have been inconsistent at times, considering the cancellation of LOST‘s Dharma Initiative ARG and the Fringe ARG devolving into a series of glyph ciphers hidden in each episode. However, the highs seem to be overpowering the occassional low. Two LOST alternate reality games have won a Primetime Emmy for Interactive Media – Fiction, and WIRED’s puzzle-filled “mystery issue” guest-edited by Abrams won an Ellie for best special-topic issue. Furthermore, Abrams’ most recent alternate reality game Alert Vulcan demonstrated that he is still willing to go the extra mile to provide an immersive transmedia experience that crosses over into the real world, so this may very well turn into the scariest thing I ever saw.
Click Here for the discussion at the Unfiction forums.
Click Here for the wiki at Wikibruce.com.
UPDATE 05/08/2010: the original leaked trailer has been deleted from YouTube.
dad
light in the mist
welcome home
subtext game
simulacra
dont feed the muse
May 9, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Score Event 1977…
May 10, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Beware: May 20th, 12:00AM…
May 11, 2010 at 2:16 pm
The Dharma Initiative ARG was canceled?? I thought it merely ended.
May 11, 2010 at 2:36 pm
Andre: the Dharma Initiative ARG was indeed cancelled due to financial constraints. To make it up to fans, Dharma Special Access was set up, providing exclusive LOST content.
May 13, 2010 at 10:49 pm
does anyone know what to put for “device?”?
May 15, 2010 at 1:16 am
minimize the window, theirs more stuff behind the original window
June 25, 2010 at 4:01 am
It’s DOC, if you click on the link it will go inside your computer and if you tell it what to do correctly, it will rearrange the way your computer works. Don’t put anything for “Device” It may completely ruin your computer. Even if you think your computer runs on windows, it runs on DOC underneath. Be careful with the PDP-11 Simulator it is very fragile
July 2, 2010 at 3:45 pm
Hi,
if you watch the trailer you can see numers on a pole at 59 seconds. can you see what is written there?
I read s.th. like 21+10.ch but i can’t find s.th. with that. any idea?
July 15, 2010 at 6:18 pm
if u go on facebook about super 8 and click on photos u can see alien it looks ugly as fuck