Month: August 2011

ARGFest 2011: A Puzzle from Stitch Media

August 25, 2011 / Michael Andersen

ARGFest is a yearly gathering of transmedia players, designers, and enthusiasts that has been going on for almost ten years. And while the gathering is now dominated by the series of panels and presentation that make up the conference, every year offers ample opportunities for attendees to settle down and tackle perplexing puzzles as a group. Often, the most challenging part is finding the puzzles in the first place.

Stitch Media hid the following puzzle in the ARGFest program, leaving attendees perplexed under an ever-increasing stack of annotated programs. After receiving a number of hints from Evan Jones at Stitch Media, a few players managed to break the code and make their way into the Winner’s Circle. Do you have what it takes to do the same? We’ll release the full explanation for the solution after ARGFest coverage is completed . . . until then, see if you can figure it out yourself!

StoryWorld Conference Brings Transmedia Practitioners to San Francisco

August 25, 2011 / Michael Andersen

Between October 31st and November 2nd, the StoryWorld Conference & Expo will be taking transmedia to San Francisco. Last month, I gave a WEBCast for the conference discussing three recent campaigns, and I’m pleased to announce that ARGNet is one of the event’s media sponsors. The upside for you is the extension of our discount code for $50 off registration, available at the end of this article.

In a recent article on her blog, StoryWorld Conference Chair Alison Norrington explains her vision for the conference as an opportunity to bring together “writers, designers, filmmakers, producers, techies and digital mavens” to tackle the numerous challenges that arise in the planning and implementation of transmedia campaigns. Highlighting this focus, Norrington notes, “There are no theorists speaking at StoryWorld. I’ve done everything I can to remain focused on amplifying the wisdom of practitioners who will share their real-life experiences.” Thus, panel topics center around launch considerations, possible business models, and the integration of narrative and gaming elements.

And StoryWorld is not lacking in terms of practitioners: a quick glance at StoryWorld’s schedule for the first two days of the three day conference shows that one of the biggest challenges attendees will face is choosing between the different panel tracks, with many major players in the industry participating in panels at the same time. The final day of the conference is focused on the attendees themselves, offering speed mentoring sessions, workshops, an unconference, and a platform to present projects in development.

Early registration ends on August 31, but whether you register before or after that date, remember to use the discount code ARGN11 for an additional $50 off registration.

Edited to clarify: the StoryWorld discount rate only applies to Individual Full-Conference registrations

Michael Grant Brings Character to the Forefront with “Go BZRK”

August 20, 2011 / Michael Andersen

Michael Grant is a highly prolific author in the young adult fiction space, with over 150 books to his name. Grant worked on the popular Animorphs and Everworld series with his wife Katherine Applegate and recently went on to release the Gone series on his own. For his newest project, Go BZRK, Grant is trying something different: he’s attempting a project that “was fully conceived as a multi-platform experience with the books only being one aspect of a bigger picture.”

In a Q&A on Go BZRK‘s meta-site, Grant explains that the project is an experiment in transmedia storytelling that extends across websites, blogs, a mobile app, and video. The BZRK novel itself is slated for publication in Winter 2012 under the Egmont Publishing label, but the alternate reality game has already started, with content slowly trickling out over the month of August as the story ramps up at month’s end, “just in time to distract the kids from their schoolwork.” While the story hasn’t begun in earnest yet, the tantalizing tastes offered so far already present a rich cast of over-the-top characters that dominate the experience.

So far, the plot centers around the cult Nexus Humanus. The cult’s spokesperson, Armand Cage, founded the organization after failing at his previous careers as a Canadian meteorologist and a stand-up comic. Mixing the very worst traits of both professions, Cage promotes the cult with an earnest enthusiasm that leads one character to describe him as “like some kind of hypnotized Mr. Rogers.” Cage’s overly personable demeanor is offset by Nexus Humanus’ perpetually stiff president, Billie Carloff.

Get Ready to Play at ARGFest-o-Con 2011

August 12, 2011 / Jane Doh

Next week, from Thursday, August 18, to Sunday, August 21, alternate reality gamers and transmedia producers will descend on Bloomington, Indiana, for ARGFest-o-Con 2011. Led by this year’s Grand Inquisitor Andrea Phillips, the schedule taps into the local game development talent as well as the strong academic presence at Indiana University, which features such names as Professor of Telecommunications Edward Castronova.

Thursday night’s Kick-Off party will start the conference, now celebrating its 10th anniversary, with a special interactive event hosted by Awkward Hug, creators of the highly acclaimed ARG Must Love Robots and the pervasive kid-friendly community, Socks, Inc. I caught up with Awkward Hug’s own Jim Babb to ask about A Wisconsin Hustle. their first foray into the smartphone app space:

We are really excited to bring A Wisconsin Hustle to ARGFest! Wisconsin Hustle is something new for Awkward Hug and will be our first venture into Android apps. While the app is not ready to launch until the end of the year, we have turned the excitement of the app into a real-world pants-off dance-off. A Wisconsin Hustle is, an American tradition clothed in mystery and from unknown origins (we are doing intensive research ourselves into the legend). Men, and recently women, challenge each other in pantsless dance-offs for truth, money, and above all honor.

On a rare occasion Hustlers, as they are known, will pants-off dance-off to the death! Players at ARGFest need not worry, we are more interested in the ethnographic, ethnochoreographic, and pantsnographic study of A Wisconsin Hustle than running a “two man enter, one man leaves” sort of affair.

Time Is Running Out for LA Time/Trip

August 4, 2011 / Jane Doh

For the next few weeks, Los Angeles residents have a chance to do something many of us can only dream about: a little time traveling, courtesy of Superfreako Productions. Participants in time/trip LA are tasked with finding strategically placed QR codes located in 8 shops and stores around the Hollywood area, starting atÂ Meltdown Comics on West Sunset Boulevard. The QR codes unlock a series of videos revolving around time travel. TheÂ time/trip LAÂ experienceÂ followsÂ Katie and Kelly as they travels through time and space that guides participants through short films keyed to each location.

As part of the experience, time/trippers can submit five pictures of themselves with the QR codes for a chance to win swag from some of the participating retailers. Spoiler-riddenÂ details about the sweepstakesÂ explain the rules and prizes, but players in the LA area are advised to get moving: the contest ends at 11:59pm on August 31.

It’s worth noting thatÂ time/trip LA is not Superfreako’s first foray into the crossmedia storytelling space. One of its earliest attempts is the Last Days Journal, a social media storytelling site for survivors of a zombie apocalypse that launched in 2007. While Last Days JournalÂ was created to support a project that was never developed, the survivor site still “lives” on.

Between 2008-2009, Superfreako worked with Benji Schneider to createÂ The Society for Linian Studies, an art project with alternate reality gaming elements including a live lecture event at the Velaslavasay Panorama and an exhibition of related artifacts at San Diego State University.Â Having followed along with TheÂ Society for Linian Studies, I was impressed with the high production value of the artifacts, acting, and other assets for the project. According to Chad Kukahiko, Creative Director of the superfreakos, “it was fun as hell working on a piece of art so ridiculously original.” The idea of dueling institutes that permeated the narrative, along with the characters and story elements surrounding the Linian Society, was the brainchild of his friend and former coworker Benji Schneider.Â For theÂ TheÂ Society for Linian Studies,Â “the plan was to was continue to do mini-ARG installments perhaps 2 to 3 times a year,” but Schneider’s growing commitments to his band Lord Huron forced the team to modify the game’s plans.

The planning process for TheÂ Society for Linian StudiesÂ provided the inspiration for time/trip LA:Â not in terms of story world or plot, but in terms of techniques and technology.Â As Kukahiko explained to me: “The initial concept from which time/trip grew was a vague QR code wild posting dystopian-themed ARG off-shoot I was tooling around with in my head — something I was actually hoping to bring into the Linian Society fold.”

Month: August 2011

ARGFest 2011: A Puzzle from Stitch Media

StoryWorld Conference Brings Transmedia Practitioners to San Francisco

Michael Grant Brings Character to the Forefront with “Go BZRK”

Get Ready to Play at ARGFest-o-Con 2011

Time Is Running Out for LA Time/Trip

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