Month: June 2011

Six to Start and BBC Team Up for “The Code Challenge”

June 28, 2011 /


Six to Start and the BBC have teamed up to create a transmedia experience tied in with BBC Two documentary The Code, expected to air at the end of July. The Code is presented by Professor of Mathematics Marcus du Sautoy (Horizon on BBC2, The Beauty of Diagrams on BBC4) and explores how the world around us conforms to and can be explained by mathematical codes. Six to Start are next-generation storytellers with plenty of experience creating storytelling projects for different clients, often in the form of alternate reality games or treasure hunts. They’ve worked with the BBC before on projects like Spooks: Code 9 and Seven Ages Quest. As a first for the BBC and possibly a world first, an interactive experience called The Code Challenge has been seamlessly integrated in the writing and filming of The Code since inception. Viewers can participate in an engaging treasure hunt which will take place before, during, and after the series that will extend their understanding of basic mathematical principles.

The Code Challenge begins well before the airing of the actual show. Soon, 1000 people in the UK will receive a secret message with one of the first puzzles of the challenge. For a chance to be one of those 1000, keep an eye on Twitter @bbccode and apply via Twitter or e-mail. A few weeks before the show airs, several Flash games containing clues, puzzles, and more information about the Code will also appear online.  The series itself is expected to air at the end of July and will be split into three 60-minute episodes: Magic Numbers, Nature’s Building Blocks and Predicting the Future. Six clues are connected to each episode. Three will be hidden in the programme itself, which can be watched live on BBC Two or on BBC iPlayer. One community clue can only be solved by working together with a group of players. Two further clues will be revealed on the blog and through a Flash game. Players can then enter the six answers they found for each episode into the ‘codebreaker’ to receive three passwords with which they can unlock the ultimate challenge.

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Engage In Some Covert Affairs, Twitter-Style

June 27, 2011 /


USA Network is running a “tweetcast“ called Mission: Budapest to promote their show, Covert Affairs, where players are recruited as remote CIA operatives and tasked with assisting operatives on the ground in Budapest. Players can follow one or all of four CIA agents as they work the mission in Budapest by viewing photos, files, and videos uncovered by the agents. The lead character, Auggie Anderson, is also a main character on the TV series, and acts as the main conduit between users and the other agents. Auggie poses questions to the players about how the agents on the ground in Budapest should proceed, or poses questions they should ask of suspects or CIA “assets” (usually foreign civilians providing information to the CIA) in order to further the mission.

The tweetcast is not an entirely new idea: ABC’s Castle has run a “summer mystery” tweetcast during the hiatuses between seasons 1 and 2 through the @WriteRCastle twitter account . . . due to the “tragic events” in the Castle season 3 finale, there will be no Castle summer mystery tweetcast during the current hiatus. While players are more spectator than participant in these experiences, the content is entertaining and there is just enough interaction to give the players that warm fuzzy feeling when their suggestion or information is used and called out on Auggie’s twitter account.

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ARGFest-o-Con 2011 – The 10th Anniversary

June 16, 2011 /

ARGFest 2011It’s the 10th anniversary of ARGFest-o-Con August 18th-21st in Bloomington, Indiana. Perhaps this seems inconsequential to you. Perhaps, you forget that 10 years ago an interactive experience called The Beast shook people’s lives more than any church mass ever has. So, chew on this: what once seemed crazy is now a definitive part of the future of interactive media. Today everyone from across the entertainment and media industries now lines up to imagine how an alternate reality game or transmedia storytelling strategies could be used to help market their products or shake their communities into action. In the music business right now, it’s the Lady Gaga ARG, while video games generate buzz through ARGs as with Valve 2’s ARG, and ARGs are used to support reality TV. Earlier this year, Fourth Wall Studios received a $15-million investment to bring together some of the most renowned ARG designers in one studio. They’re preparing to tempt the ever-growing audience for some of the latest and greatest blockbuster films on the horizon.

Not sure if ARGFest is for you? In the words of ARGFest’s primary organizer, Jonathan Waite, are you “ready to take part in a unique, perhaps life-altering experience”? Do you have “an open mind and a curiosity about how gaming can go beyond traditional media”? Then by all means, catch the early bird discount (promotion ends today!) and get yourself a ticket to ARGFest.

I asked Waite about the context of this year’s ARGFest: “I think one of the most exciting things about ARGFest-o-Con 2011 is that we are celebrating our tenth “anniversary.” Even though the first ARGFest-o-Con was in 2003, this is the 10th time we are gathering as a community, and the tenth city playing host for the event. I’m also very excited to be visiting Bloomington, Indiana, as it is a unique and welcoming city that we think will really impress the attendees. As always, ARGFest-o-Con will be a fun, informative and educational event where fans and players of games can sit alongside leaders in transmedia while enjoying intimate, interactive discussions and presentations.”

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Dude, Where’s Cesar’s Car? The Super Civic Quest

June 7, 2011 /

“¿Donde parke mi Civic?”

No, this isn’t a scene from the Spanish remake of Dude, Where’s My Car: it’s the call to action for an online puzzle hunt featuring champion Luchador Cesar, whose 2012 Rallye Red Civic Coupe went missing prior to his title match with el Burrito Caliente. As the online quest’s video explains, “the shiny red Civic Coupe was last spotted on YouTube but of course, by now, could be anywhere out there on the world wide interweb.” Complete the 25 puzzles, and you could win Facebook Credits, Amazon music downloads, and even brand new Honda Civic LX Sedans for you and your “bestie.”

Upon starting the Super Civic Quest, players are asked to join the team of one of five eccentric and distinct characters: Jack the Urban Woodsman, Mitch the Zombie Salesman, Teeny the college coed Monster, Aiko the Ninja, or Cesar the Luchador. Players are then asked to hunt through an impressive array of partner sites: expanding beyond the Facebook-YouTube-Twitter social media triumvirate, puzzle content has infiltrated sites like Pandora, Yelp, FailBlog, Foodily, I Can Has Cheezburger, and The Daily Monster. Custom microsites ask players to wear an augmented reality Luchador mask, download ringtones, monitor an online security camera, and read an eBook.

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42 Entertainment Involved in Potential ARG for Wrigley

June 1, 2011 /

Last week, cryptic print advertisements started to appear pointing readers to the TestSubjectsNeeded.com website. In last week’s issue of the comic Flashpoint, morse code led the way. In the Seattle Weekly newspaper, it was a QR Code. Both paths lead to a psychedelic movie introducing the viewer to the Human Preservation Project and then goes through an interactive experience asking the users to react to a few prompts around their five senses. Users who complete the interaction and register get a user id badge, which to date has no known purpose.

Some television viewers have noticed the TestSubjectsNeeded.com url flashing during commercials for 5 Gum, so it appears as though Wrigley is involved in this Human Preservation Project. Players have also confirmed 42 Entertainment’s involvement in the campaign by analyzing the website’s .swf file and locating the placement listing for the Seattle Weekly QR code.

Despite the lack of content, news of the project and 42 Entertainment’s involvement has generated interest on MovieViral and the Unfiction forums. Is that enough to get you excited as well? If so, check out the website testsubjectsneeded.com. Let us know if you know anything more about the campaign.

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