« Michael Andersen | Main | Nicko Demeter »
May 15, 2008
Update: Folding the Wish
Last month, I asked for your help in making one thousand wish-filled cranes to send to Dave Szulborski for the Folding the Wish project. I'm delighted to say that the ARG community faced the challenge head on. In a little over two weeks time, more than one thousand cranes were made and shipped to me from at least seven different countries.
The cranes varied from the most delicate and tiny (no larger than a quarter) to the most extravagant made with handmade paper. Some even included a puzzle or two!
The cranes were carefully strung together and sent on their way last week, arriving on Dave's doorstep one day before he was discharged from the hospital.
Thanks to everyone who helped on this very special project. For pictures and a message from Dave, visit his website - www.daveszulborski.com/folding.html.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 6:10 PM | Comments (1)
April 18, 2008
A Call for Help: Folding the Wish
As ARG players, we often receive cries of help from mysterious strangers. Over the years, people in this community have banded together to help these strangers no matter what the task. We've found missing loved ones. We've defeated dangerous cults. We've saved the world countless number of times.
This time it isn't a mysterious stranger who needs our help, but one of our very own community members. Dave Szulborski, puppetmaster of countless ARGs over the years including Chasing the Wish and Urban Hunt, has recently fallen ill and will be undergoing treatment for the next several weeks.
So what can you do? Fold him a wish.
There is an ancient Japanese legend that says that anyone who receives one thousand paper cranes will be granted one wish. A few community members have been furiously folding cranes and we need your help.
How to fold a wish:
1. Find a square piece of paper.
2. Write your well wishes for Dave on the paper.
3. Use the paper to make a paper crane.
4. Stick the crane in the mail. Email varin[at]foldingthewish.com for the mailing address.
We will be stringing the cranes together and sending them to Dave by May 2nd. If for some reason you cannot make your own crane or won't be able to get it to us in time, we will make one for you. Just email us your wish for Dave. We'll also be compiling a list of the wishes for Dave to read so that he doesn't have to actually unfold all one thousand cranes to read them. So please be sure to let us know what your wish is if it's hidden inside the crane.
Check www.foldingthewish.com for updates on the project.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 1:58 AM | Comments (2)
January 31, 2008
Eldtrich Errors: Live Events Come in Threes for Book Three
As we reported a few days ago, Book Three of Eldritch Errors has officially launched. The ARG has started off with plans for three nearly concurrent live events in Sacramento, New York City and Austin. Several players had a clandestine meeting with an ingame contact last night at the first event in Sacramento. The remaining two events are scheduled to happen tonight at 8pm.
Check out the Sentry Outpost or Unfiction to follow the action!
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 7:08 PM | Comments (0)
January 14, 2008
Eldritch Errors, Book 3?
Much to the excitement and delight of Eldritch Errors players across the globe, it looks as if the launch of the ARG's third book, titled Red Moon Rising, may be imminent. Book two ended with a live event chock-full of Lovecraftian horror goodness. Players and in-game characters spent the weekend together in a rustic cabin on top of Bald Knob in West Virginia. The weekend was full of good-hearted fun, camaraderie, mediocre chili and terrified screaming.
ARGers who are looking for a new game can easily jump in and play without having participated in the previous two books. Players can catch up quickly by reading the detailed Story Thus Far on the game's meta site. Also, the puppetmasters' behind-the-scenes blog at www.schmeldritch.com gives a sneak peak behind the curtain (for those who are into that sort of thing).
Join in on the discussion at Unfiction or the in-game forums at sentryoutpost.com.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 1:00 AM | Comments (0)
November 16, 2007
Does Tom Tooman hail from Jericho, KS?
It started with a handwritten message on notebook paper and some barcode stickers found in the mailboxes of Sean Stacey and other alternate reality gaming players. These clues led to a website which showed nothing but an entry box and blank submit button. It was described by one player of the game, xnbomb, as "wonderfully devoid of anything encouraging, which in itself is encouraging". Eventually, after picking through the clues provided for them, the players entered the correct password and were rewarded with a black and white map of the midwest.
What kind of ARG could possibly come out of a sheet of notebook paper, some barcodes and a map of the midwest? Well, an ARG for a major network television show, of course! A source close to the game has confirmed that the Tom Tooman ARG is an official product for the CBS television show, Jericho.
Over the past three months, things have been slowly ramping up in the Tom Tooman ARG. The midwestern map went through several changes, finally giving an elusive message which included the words, "Are you bored yet?". While some of the more impatient players may have responded with a "yes" to that question and moved on, those who knew the adage about what comes to those who wait were rewarded with several new meaty updates. New websites were found including one for the Sakanas, Kansas community newspaper where players discovered that the midwest had been hit by several atomic bombs. Another website, for Black Hills Radio Control, has allowed players to scan the radio waves looking for communications from survivors of the attack.
Fans of Jericho might have noticed early on the similarities between the Tom Tooman ARG and the CBS show. Jericho revolves around how the residents of the small town cope after being isolated from most of the world following a nuclear attack. The speculation of a connection has proved true with a newly discovered website for Jennings and Rall, a company that will help rebuild the town of Jericho during season two of the show. The website details some of the many ways the company intends to rebuild America including: satellite monitoring, food services support, "city scrubbing" and the isolation of individuals contaminated by radioactive fallout.
ARGNet's inside source revealed that the best part of the ARG is yet to come, including an expanded narrative which will include some familiar names to fans of the Jericho show. According to the source, "CBS wanted to provide current and future fans with a richer experience in preparation for Season 2 and to keep the momentum for the show going during its hiatus." Jericho fans will surely be delighted to find out that the show they fought so hard for now has an alternate reality game connected to it. The show was cancelled last season and fans reacted by sending CBS over 40,000 pounds of nuts to pledge their loyalty to the show. The unprecedented grassroots campaign worked, CBS listened, and Jericho will return this season for seven episodes.
--
Jericho Sites
Jericho on CBS
Jericho Wiki on CBS
In Game Sites
www.ajkin.com
www.areyouaborder.com
www.blackhillsradiocontrol.org
www.sacredhatcasino.com
www.jenningsandrall.com
Player Resources
Tom Tooman Wiki
Tom Tooman Discussion at Unfiction
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 9:01 AM | Comments (3)
July 30, 2007
The Ultimate Search for Jason Bourne (and Prizes!)
Google and Universal Studios have joined forces to bring us the latest and greatest movie-themed timewaster, The Ultimate Search for Bourne. The sweepstakes timewaster coincides with the release of the latest movie in the Bourne series, The Bourne Ultimatum. Players join the game as an agent hot on the trail of Jason Bourne and are promised great rewards if they find him. The prizes include a 2008 Volkswagen, $25,000 and a four destination vacation.
Even if you've never seen the previous Bourne movies or read the original novels, the puzzles and storyline are simple enough that anyone can play. It's a fun little timewaster as long as you don't mind overlooking a slightly over-the-top obvious advertisement or two. Clues have led players to a fictional dating website and Mastercard's priceless.com website which doesn't hide the fact that it is associated with the game.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 8:59 AM | Comments (0)
July 29, 2007
Ludium II Follow-up: An Interview With Studio Cypher
Last month I reported live from the Synthetic Worlds Initiative's Ludium II conference at Indiana University in Bloomington. The Ludium was designed by one of Indiana's finest ARG companies, Studio Cypher.
At this point you're probably wondering what a Ludium is exactly. Thomas Malaby, the spokesperson elected at the conference, explains it best on the Terra Nova blog, "The Ludia are conferences structured as games, and this one was modeled on a political convention, the first Synthetic Worlds Congress." The goal of this Synthetic Worlds Congress was to develop a set of guidelines pertaining to virtual words that would be sent to all of the major 2008 presidential candidates along with members of Congress.
In the beginning, I wasn't sure if Alternate Reality Games were at all similar to virtual worlds like World of Warcraft or Second Life. I was reporting on the event purely because it was a Studio Cypher project and I was looking for ARGish elements in the Ludium's game design. By the end of the conference, I had become a full and willing participant in the Ludium fighting for what I thought fair and just much like the other attendees. I realized that many of the issues facing virtual world designers are the same or at least quite similar to the issues facing alternate reality game designers--issues like developer liability and freedom of expression.
After two days and numerous debates, the conference attendees came up with a ten statement platform -
A DECLARATION OF VIRTUAL WORLD POLICY made by representatives of law, industry and academia, assembled in full and free convention as the first Synthetic Worlds Congress.
Whereas virtual worlds are places with untapped potential, providing new and positive experiences and effects, we resolve that:
1. A self-governance group of virtual world stakeholders should be formed.
2. A players’ bill of rights should be drafted and should include the right of free speech and the rights to assemble and organize.
3. A universal age verification system should be created to support the individual rights of all users.
4. Virtual world designers should have freedom of expression.
5. Virtual worlds should include plain-language End-User License Agreements (EULA) to enable all individuals to understand their rights.
6. There are different types of virtual worlds with different policy implications.
7. Access is critical to virtual worlds, so net neutrality must be maintained.
8. Game developers shall not be liable for the actions taken by players.
9. Fair use may apply in virtual worlds that enable amateur creation of original works.
10. The government should provide a comprehensive package of funding for educational games research, development, and literacy
I recently had the chance to ask Will Emigh and Nathan Mishler of Studio Cypher a few questions about the conference -
Do you think the game format of the Ludium conference worked?
Yes. Our main goal was to get people to discuss and create instead of simply watching other attendees present. Ludium 2 definitely got people talking. The game itself could use a few tweaks, but it got results and the results were quite good overall.
In hindsight, is there anything you would have changed?
We definitely needed a better way to count votes. That bogged us down towards the end, when everyone was merging like crazy. We would also have liked to get more public debates happening. There were a lot of small group discussions that didn't always make it to the wider groups.
As with most conferences, we’d have liked more time. Things in conferences always take more time than you'd expect. A little bit of pre-game Thursday evening could have made Friday a little smoother.
Do you think the spies helped the process in the end?
Yes. The spies allowed us to make sure that all stakeholders were represented in the discussion. It turned out that representatives of all of the stakeholders were at the Ludium, but there was no way of knowing that ahead of time. If we did this again, we'd probably take prizes away from the spies and make them work more as confederate troublemakers to get people talking.
What did you think when some of the attendees tried to change the rules and merge two of the opposing groups?
That was least conference-like (and most ARG-like) aspect of the Ludium. It was that "The players are trying to do what?!" moment that comes out of nowhere and forces puppetmasters to scramble.
We thought it was pretty awesome emergent behavior, but there was a huge uproar. We were surprised at how controversial the concept was. From the larger perspective, it didn't seem like a big deal. The goal of the whole game was to get the ten policy points, and that was going to happen regardless. Still, we could see the possibility of the super group powergaming those results, so we quickly grabbed a representative from the underrepresented group and asked her to step in as a third candidate to keep things more or less equal – or at least keep things moving.
It turns out that wasn't needed, as the group as a whole rejected the idea by one or two votes. Some people felt that the entire discussion bogged the Ludium down, but it only took about an hour and it allowed people to talk a little about meta-game issues, like who should be targeted by the proposals.
If you were hosting another conference, would you use the Ludium format again?
Yes, as long as the conference is concerned with getting attendees to discuss directly with each other. It's not really the best fit for traditional conferences geared towards individuals presenting papers to a group. However, a combination paper-presentation and Ludium-style game to get the presenters to interact with each other would be interesting as well.
The Ludium 2 ruleset is a great idea-generation device and could be useful in other situations that require discussion as well. For example, a company might use the ruleset to encourage employees to discuss how they might change direction. Having everyone involved like this really encourages people to buy into the results, even if they disagree with parts.
Does Studio Cypher have any new projects on the horizon?
Yes, thanks for asking. :)
Oh, you want details? Well, we plan to expand the world of the Cyphers later this year with a more accessible (and hopefully replayable) multi-player novel system. We've been promising a new site design for ages and it's just about done. Once it is, we'll start putting up some sneak peeks of the ideas and concepts that we're playing with. We're just about to the point where outside feedback can really help.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 11:41 AM | Comments (1)
June 26, 2007
Live from Ludium II
Editor's Note: ARGNet's Michelle Senderhauf is attending and reporting from the Ludium II conference, put on by Indiana University's Synthetic Worlds Initiative.
This is Michelle Senderhauf reporting live from the Ludium II conference at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. The conference is being run in game format which is interesting since the conference itself is about developing principles for sensible video game policy.
The Ludium game has two goals -
1. to develop a set of policies regarding synthetic worlds that will be sent to real world governments and
2. vote a single person as our de facto spokesperson for the ideas in the platform.
We're in the second day of the Ludium conference and the group has reached a point where we 33 nominated policy statements and 3 nominees for the Speaker.
Of interest to ARG players, the conference has had its share of intrigue. Several "spies" are playing the game and are trying to derail the process. Also "reporters" are roaming the hall trying to get a scoop. Also, several of the conference attendees or players have thrown a wrench into the puppetmasters' plans. Overnight, several players tried to merge members from their opposing groups into one large group. A response for this was not written in the game rules that were originally laid out so the puppetmasters were sent scrambling.
These events have brought up many interesting questions. If you're using a serious game to solve a real world problem at some point or at what point do you abandon the game framework? Is there a point where the game becomes unimportant? Or even a hindrance? Many of the conference attendees agree that the game has definitely had a positive effect. It has successfully facilitated discussions in an organized fashion and allowed for a democratic decision-making process.
What will be the result? We won't know until the end of the conference. Stay tuned!
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 4:29 PM | Comments (1)
May 22, 2007
The 4400: The Battle for Promicin
USA Network has partnered with Campfire Media to produce an extended reality promotion for the hit television show, The 4400. Fans of the show can join in the debate over the use of Promicin, a neurotransmitter found in each of the 4400. When injected into someone who is not one of the 4400, it does one of two things: it either kills them instantly or gives them an amazing supernatural ability. Not surprisingly, the government wants to stop the use of Promicin, but many, like Jordan Collier, think the public deserves the right to choose for themselves.
While the promotion appears to be an extended reality rather than a full-fledged ARG, it's still definitely worth a look. According to the official press release, the campaign will use seven websites, 70+ videos, mobile phone network participation and several live events across the United States. The three sites found through the rabbithole are already chock-full of well done and entertaining videos, blogs and other fun goodies.
Join the discussion at the UnFiction forums.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)
April 17, 2007
B Seeing U
B.A. Saint Feline will tell you the truth, whether you want to hear it or not. She's not a cat person, even though strays follow her wherever she goes. She's a struggling actor. She's an honest psychic. She's an old soul. She also has been dreaming about a burning city, filled with smoke, flames and various ARG community members. Yep, that's right - we're going to burn, baby, burn.
Unless, of course, we figure out the mystery surrounding B.A. Saint Feline and her website, www.bseeingu.com. B.A. has been sending packages to the people she sees in her dreams, which include several loose pages from H. P. Lovecraft and various sea monster books (and unsolved puzzles too!). She seems to be searching for more fellow dreamers using craiglist posts in several cities.
To find out more, check out the thread over at the unForums or join in on the fun in the chat-Solutions irc channel #stfeline.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 8:45 AM | Comments (0)
February 8, 2007
Perplex City Cube Found by Rand0m Player!
Three years after the Receda Cube's disappearance, Perplexians can breathe a sigh of relief -- the Cube is finally on its way back to Perplex City. Earlier today, Andy Darley (aka Rand0m of the Unfiction forums) visited the Mind Candy office in London to exchange the Cube for his $200,000 reward.
Darley, an amateur archaeologist, found the Cube buried in Wakerley Great Wood, a historic ancient woodland 110 miles north of London. He spent three days digging trenches in the woods before he spotted the Cube in wet clay. Darley could hardly believe that he beat over 50,000 other people to the prize.
In a press release, Darley was quoted as saying, "Of all the 50,000 players, from all these different countries, I never thought for a moment I would be the person to find the Cube. I was playing for the puzzles, and the stories, but it was only a few days ago that I thought I was in with a chance. As I pulled the Cube from the sticky, wet clay, and even after I'd found it, as I was waiting to return the Cube, all I could think about is how bizarre the whole thing really was.”
The game's in-game newspaper, the Perplex City Sentinel, reports that Perplexian celebrations are in high gear in honor of Darley and his fellow puzzle-solving Earthlings. There are also Earthly celebrations in store for people who can make it down to London on Saturday, February 24th, with a time and location yet to be announced.
Hopefully, more details will be released soon as to the exact location of the Cube and exactly how Darley waded through the myriad of puzzles and clues to find it. With Perplex City's second season starting in a few weeks, news of the discovery will likely inspire new and returning players to hop on board. One can only hope there won't be another cube to dig up! Also, we have requested an interview with Darley, so that we can focus more on his experiences as a whole after bringing finality to Season One of the Perplex City game.
Congratulations from all of us here at ARGNet, Andy, on finding one of the most sought-after prizes in alternate reality gaming history, and congratulations to all of the players for their tireless efforts and dedication to the game as it wound its way through the fabric of the past three years.
Photos for this article courtesy of Sandbox Strategies
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 6:22 PM | Comments (2)
January 17, 2007
Step Aside, Stepford Wives - Township Heights is the New "It" Place to Be Remodeled
Back in November, we reported that Virtuquest, makers of City of Domes and other popular ARGs, had announced that they would be producing a public ARG. At the time, it was known only as Open ARG 6.5. We're happy to report that the game has launched: Virtuquest's Township Heights is open for business, inviting players into a Stepford-like world where the most upstanding citizens may also be the most dangerous.
At first glance, the city of Township Heights appears normal enough. They have a yearly festival with a parade, fireworks at night, and concerts in the park. They have a nice little Italian restaurant and a lounge where local bands play. Ah, suburbia! The town's website proudly proclaims Township Heights "a model town," one for "living and enjoying" in bold, majestic prose. Stately homes speckle the landscape, making Township Heights appear a modern utopia, but any scholar of Thomas More could tell you that the most utopian of locales is usually anything but.
Among the businesses calling Township Heights home is Developmentis Corporation, which has become a sort of "corporate partner" for the community, aiding in the development of some… interesting... technologies. After DevCorp employee Andy Pence left the company to become the town's mayor, the company launched NetGuard, a “collection management software package” that monitors all cell phone, email, chat and internet communications in the area. Further city-wide accoutrements provided by DevCorp include the ParkTouch automated parking meter (residents use their driver’s license and handprint to start the meter, which sends back information about who is parking where and when) and the upcoming Aquatic Center (free to all community members).
Why is DevCorp interested in tracking every move made by the Township Heights residents? Is DevCorp giving new meaning to the saying “there must be something in the water?" Is soylent green really people?! Why haven’t the residents noticed the looming dark cloud in the sky?! Well, it seems a couple of them have… right before they become cheerleaders for DevCorp's plans.
Township Heights is another variation on the pay-to-play model, charging players $5 to participate in the game. Registration for Township Heights is full, however. Interested lurkers can follow along at Unfiction or in #vqth on Chat-Solutions.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 7:22 PM | Comments (0)
September 27, 2006
Where is Jason C?
An interesting viral campaign for the upcoming Grudge 2 has popped up on ARGN's radar. While not really an ARG, the campaign does try to blur the lines between reality and fiction and is a fun little time waster.
A student filmmaker, Jason C, is filming his thesis documentary on the making of the Grudge 2 in Tokyo, Japan. The movie's writer, Stephen Susco, tells him that the movie was based on real events and several pieces of the real Grudge house were used to build the set. Soon after, several of the actors, including Amber Tamblyn and Sarah Michelle Gellar, start experiencing strange phenomena similar to events in the Grudge movies. Jason C suddenly disappears and his roommate back home is left to scour through the documentary videos looking for clues to solve the mystery.
While the most recent post is from June, more updates may appear with the release of the movie set for October 13th.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)
August 18, 2006
Studio Cypher: Perfect Friends Forever
Studio Cypher's second case, Perfect Friends Forever, concluded last month and players finally discovered who was trying to kill Madame Z, the psychic founder of the Perfect Friends Forever website.
Perfect Friends Forever is a friend matching service where six ghostly spiritual advisors examine and compare members' spirits to pair up perfect eternal friends. Madame Z lives with these six spirits in the former residence of the wealthy E.S. Wylie and the most famous house in Bay Horse, MO. Just as the PFF service was about to launch, Madame Z received a grim warning, "Die Z", written in plates and silverware on the floor of her bedroom. Yes, that's right. Not only did the psycho madman threaten Z, but he threw grandma's fine china on the carpet to do it!
Players joined forces with a skeptical gumshoe named Anton Jeffries and solved the case. Or did they? As the perp, an antiques dealer who wanted to find the hidden treasure of E.S. Wylie, was handcuffed and taken away to the big house he yelled out that the treasure was still out there waiting to be found. The Studio Cypher PMs have confirmed that the treasure's location can be found in E.S. Wylie's will. So those who are looking for a good unsolved puzzle to defeat, check out the thread about it at UnFiction.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 9:40 AM | Comments (0)
August 3, 2006
It's Staring at Me, Mommy! Make the Oculus Stop!
The last time we looked in on Ocular Effect there wasn't much more to report on than a mysterious countdown and possible connection to an ABC Family movie. Since then the countdown has ended and what looks to be an ARG has appeared in its place.
When the countdown ran to zero, an strange coded sphere called the Oculus appeared. When opened, the Oculus now redirects to the website of Miss Vix's tattoo parlor in Seattle, WA. Miss Vix was lucky enough to stumble upon and hire a young artist named Faith Arella. Faith has become the hottest new thing to hit the Seattle tattoo scene with her own style of tattoos which seem to give their recipients good fortune.
The all knowing Oculus also reveals a school for gifted children called the Bethlehem Conservatory which privately recruits its students, assuredly for some yet-to-be-determined nefarious purposes. Listed on their site are several missing alumni, one of which we've seen before, Faith Arella the tattoo artist. Although yet to be directly proven, it is heavily speculated that Faith could be a Nephilim, or half angel/half human, like the main character of the Fallen movie, Aaron.
If you haven't yet checked out Ocular Effect you can easily catch up by reading through the many resources for the game including the ingame recap, the discussion forums on UnFiction, the official OE forums and the extensive player-created OE wiki.
Check your local listings for the next showing of Fallen or watch the movie online at the ABC Family website.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 9:17 AM | Comments (1)
June 10, 2006
Did Studio Cypher Leave Agents Out in the Cold?
The first Studio Cypher Case, Out in the Cold, was released last month when a Cypher field agent, Chuck Lehner, disappeared. Soon after the case launched, players started to receive postcards in the mail from Lehner which led them to his website and a blog that belongs to his friend Sue Terrini. The game, which ended yesterday, had some difficult puzzles, real world hidden caches and even an ingame band which seems to be the hip ARG thing to do these days. Players had been working to unravel the mystery of what happened to dear old Chuck and what mysterious brown pieces of clay had to do with it.
To many, the real mystery surrounding Studio Cypher is whether or not the pay-to-fully-play model is working on all levels. In order to fully participate in each case, players must become a Wakeful Agent for $9.99 ($13.99 outside the U.S.). Only Wakeful Agents will receive special content and can interact directly with the characters. Paying players also get access to game updates before the non-paying players. Those who don't pay can still play along, but it still remains to be seen whether or not this limited access really allows players to immerse themselves in the story enough to want more and become a Wakeful Agent.
One player, Steffeny Muller (aka Magesteff), who didn't pay said of the experience, "Not being a WA makes it difficult for me to follow along, and since I can't contact the in game characters, or enter solutions, I really have not felt like I am involved with the game. The information that is flowing to the non-WA about the puzzles is difficult to follow along with since some of the information is coming from in-game characters, and only WA who have paid for the contact rights can e-mail them. Since Character Interaction is one of my favorite things, and I am really bad at puzzles, I'm not getting much enjoyment out of the game so far. However, I do wish the gang over at Studio Cypher the best of luck with their business plan. I am very interested to see how it works out for them and people new to the ARG genre. "
Players who did pay seem to be thoroughly enjoying the experience. One Wakeful Agent, ilikepucks, said of Out in the Cold, "This is the first ARG I have actually taken full participation in. Usually I lurk through the forums solving puzzles here and there, but never really getting into the story with character interactions and so forth. I think Studio Cypher has done a good job so far, and I will definitely be taking more in-depth roles in future ARGs because of it... I think the fee was well worth it."
Since Out in the Cold is only the first Studio Cypher case, it is difficult to predict whether or not the pay-to-fully-play model will work in the end. Hopefully, Studio Cypher will continue to release quality cases and more players will be able to join the Wakeful Agents and find out for themselves. The PMs behind the project are open to feedback and have a section on their forums dedicated to just that for those who would like to share their experiences.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 3:30 PM | Comments (6)
April 9, 2006
Studio Cypher
During the live event for the IDEAS Festival ARG, I came across a laminated cipher reference card made by a company calling themselves Studio Cypher. After the curtain was lifted, I got the chance to speak with the Puppetmasters behind both the IDEAS Festival ARG and Ares Station. Ian Pottmeyer, Will Emigh and Nathan Mishler have formed a company dedicated to the production of ARGs called Studio Cypher.
Their website describes Studio Cypher as a company that “creates multi-player novels: stories that place you in the middle of a mystery you can help solve.” Mishler and Emigh explained that they use the term “multi-player novel” rather than ARG to avoid alienating potential players who aren’t familiar with the term. Studio Cypher is going to use a partial pay-to-play model for their ARGs. Players will be able to play along without paying a fee, but won’t be able to access some of the premium content in the game. Although they haven’t announced an official price, I was told that the cost will be less than $10 per adventure. The first episode is due to launch sometime over the next month.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 11:07 PM
IDEAS Festival 2006
As previously reported, the 2006 IDEAS Festival took place this past weekend at Indiana University in Bloomington. The annual festival celebrates Interactive Digital Environments, Arts and Storytelling (IDEAS) and promotes the university's Masters Program in Interactive Media and Game Design (MIME). In past years, the festival exhibits were judged and awarded prizes. The coordinators of this year's festival decided to eliminate the judging to create a more open environment where ideas could be shared.
Works in several different media were exhibited including video games, alternate reality games, immersive virtual reality environments, interactive sculpture and mobile art. Many of these pieces explore different ways to immerse or interact with the audience. One piece by Robert Derr, Chance, immerses the art museum-goers by giving them the opportunity to interact with the artist by rolling a die to determine his fate. Derr places four video cameras on his body and moves throughout the city in the direction determined by what number is shown on the die. Another piece, The Uncanny Road Ahead, uses virtual reality technology to immerse players in the virtual environment. I attended the event myself to exhibit Orbital Colony as interactive art and storytelling, but the IDEAS Festival had an ARG of its own, IDEAS Festival 1906. I actually was lucky enough to take part in a live finale for the game during the show:
One of the characters, Director Anderson, entered the hall and announced that he was going to exhibit a game from the future called Non Compos Mentis. This was the cue to begin my mission. I nervously made my way through the halls of the university building, keeping an eye out for Anderson's cronies. Agent Sueno and Silas McGuffin were counting on me to retrieve the evidence they needed to bring down Director Anderson. I made my way to the locker and unlocked it with the combination they had given me. I found enough evidence inside to ensure that Anderson was going to be brought to justice. Soon after, I joined Sueno and McGuffin to confront Anderson and show him the video of his future arrest.
Overall, the most exciting part of the festival was the high level of awareness about Alternate Reality Games. A surprising number of people in attendance knew what an ARG was and could name at least one example. Most of those who weren't already familiar with the genre were very interested in learning more.
Posted by Michelle Senderhauf at 10:53 PM