Month: January 2008 (Page 2 of 4)

Have you caught the Abrams virus yet?

January 22, 2008 / Geoff May

Producer/Director JJ Abrams is on a viral rampage this year, it seems. Hot on the tail of Cloverfield’s big screen debute, was the premiere of the initial teaser trailer for the 11th installment in the Star Trek film franchise. Reportedly, the movie will carry only the name “Star Trek”, as it returns to the academy days of our beloved Enterprise crew. The teaser can be seen on the official website. But as beautiful as it is, that is not the reason for this article.

If you navigate to the official website, scroll down to the “Under Construction” label. See the little red dot beside it? Click it. Yes, you’ve just found another viral website. JJ is known for tying common threads between his creative productions – his unique drink Slusho! being the most prominent example. Slusho has made cameo appearances in Alias, Heroes, and Kenan and Kel. But recently he’s taken a liking to extending his works beyond their base medium, into the internet world, and the real world.

If you’re familiar with the TV show Lost (also an Abrams production), there was a very well received extended reality called The Lost Experience which ran along the TV show. Currently leading up to the North American airing of season 4 is another campaign called Find 815. You’ve been living under a rock if you haven’t heard of the viral campaign surrounding the months leading up to the premiere of Cloverfield (which also, by the way, has a backstory around the development of the Slusho drink and its secret ingredient Seabed’s Nectar).

So the question is, will Abrams be providing another extended experience or alternate reality game related to the Star Trek franchise leading up to the movie’s release? Or will this turn out just to be another typical viral marketing campaign? Personally, I would love to see a Slusho! cameo appearance in the movie. Imagine: Kirk and Spock order a Slusho from a bar at the Academy. And Guinan serves it to them.

At the very least, we have a new website – a relatively covert website, which seems to be showing ‘streaming video’ from the construction site of the Enterprise NCC-1701. What will the days ahead reveal to us? We have nearly a whole year to find out. JJ knows how to bait and taunt his target market, so expect a lot of mystery and viral advertising.

Live long, and drink Slusho.

Official website
NCC-1701.com Trailhead
Discussion at Unfiction
Resource wiki

ACME Creates an ARG: Not Just an Anvil Company Anymore

January 21, 2008 / Michael Andersen

Aporia Cross-Media Entertainment has released the trailer for their new alternate reality game code-named “Aporia Agathon”, scheduled to run for a year, starting in the summer of 2008.

Aporia CME, formerly known as Naked Rabbit Studios, developed Ny Takma, a science fiction themed alternate reality game running from September to November of 2006. The team has not been idle in the intervening months, and promise a unique user interface that will, according to Jason Chrest, use “an existing medium that just has not yet been used within the ARG/CF genre.”

Through a tip posted at Despoiler, Jason elaborates that the game will pull from genres ranging “from world history, to sci-fi, to conspiracy, drama, and more.” The text of the message also includes a hidden message revealing a bit more about the mysterious interface under development.

The trailer, set to the soothing sound of Cecil Grant’s classic hit “I Wonder”, introduces the character “GC” as he composes a letter to his dearest love. A series of flashbacks depict his escape from an unknown pursuer by train.

Stay tuned to ARGNet for updates on this and other games.

Cloverfield is Out — What Now?

January 20, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

Editor’s Note: This article is spoiler-free, for those who haven’t see the movie yet. However, outgoing links may contain spoiler information.

Who was to know that when J.J. Abrams launched the first trailer for what we now know as Cloverfield that the buzz surrounding the movie would be so powerful that the famous Mann Chinese Theater in Los Angeles would have a special midnight showing of the film? Well, we won’t say “told you so!” — in fact, we didn’t tell you much, except that there were curious web sites to be found in July of last year, and that the Ethan Haas viral web site was officially unconnected to the 1-18-08 mystery. Thankfully, there are many resources out there for fans of the movie to get caught up on what’s happened in the web campaign so far, in case (like me) you decide that today is the day you finally take a look at some of this stuff.

I began this morning by taking a look through the Cloverfield forum section at Unfiction. I thanked my lucky stars when I came across this post by TheRabbit, which summarizes the story so far, chronologically, and links to all of the relevant sites. It’s easy to follow and helps to connect some of the dots that Abrams and his crew have left along the trail. Essentially, the experience seems to be a tale of the effect of environmental misdoings, which may or may not be connected to a secret ingredient in a popular beverage. I highly recommend reading the post, which looks to be a work in progress.

From there, I surfed over to cloverfieldclues.com which has been an ongoing archive of news regarding the movie and the online experience. The owner of the site, Dennis Acevedo, was recently interviewed on the NPR show “All Things Considered” as part of a feature on the movie and the buzz that was built along the way — our own Sean C. Stacey was also interviewed, but his contribution never made it to the final edit. The Cloverfield Clues web site offers readers a chance to view archives of the in-game web sites as well, which was handy to see today, as many of the sites are “under construction” after the U.S. release of the film.

Onward I went, to the Cloverfield wiki at Despoiler, which is another great source of information and archived items. Wikis seem to be the easiest way to compile info into a trail, and this one is as comprehensive as one would hope. User contributions help to keep facts organized, while discussion is relegated to tabbed Talk pages. The latest news page has documented the recent changes to the game’s web sites, and updates are ongoing.

So now that we’re all caught up, what now? Will the experience keep going, now that the movie is out? Will we see an extended reality that further explains events as they happened in the film? Or is this it for the Cloverfield web presence? While no one knows for sure — except Abrams and his creative team, of course — it seems to be a shame if all of this goes fades into the ether.

UPDATE: Sneak Peek at Heroes 360, Now Heroes Evolution

January 14, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

There’s something to be said about major broadcasters who go out of their way to bring interactive content to their dedicated viewership, so when we were tipped off about the continuation of “Heroes Evolution”, the official Heroes ARG, we were quite pleased. This is the same game we began talking about almost a year ago, which we previously knew as the Heroes 360 Experience, so those of you familiar with web sites such as primatechpaper.com and YamagatoFellowship.org are going to be happy to know that the campaign will most likely continue to use these resources.

The announcement of the next stage of the game is part of a press release we dug up at The Futon Critic in which the message is clear — NBC is big on transmedia experiences. On top of announcing expansive digital experiences for new series “Lipstick Jungle” and “Knight Rider,” the release contained this:

The next chapter in the highly anticipated “Heroes” online mythology continues with “Heroes Evolution.” Fans will discover intriguing new back-story and plot twists through the “Heroes” online and mobile micro-sites. The popular graphic novel continues in originals all winter long as well.

So, we mentioned an sneak peek, right? Well, it’s waiting for you, just after the jump, so click on to bask in the glory of exclusive, unreleased content!

Torchwood Needs You

January 14, 2008 / Marie Lamb

From the BBC comes word of an online game that will run concurrently with the new season of its sci-fi drama, Torchwood. If the name Torchwood doesn’t mean anything to you, you might have heard of the series it was spun off of, a little show called Doctor Who.

In the guise of being recruited as Freelance Operatives working for the mysterious Torchwood Institute, players will be given weekly “missions” which they must complete to prove they are worthy to join the Torchwood team. A genetics professor who claimed to be hunted by aliens has gone missing. The Torchwood team passes this minor case on to its new recruits. Do they have what it takes to figure out what’s going on?

The game story was especially written by show writer Phil Ford, and will be revealed slowly, with new details weekly leading up to a final climax. Game content includes video “minisodes” featuring cast members Eve Myles, Gareth David Lloyd and Naoko Mori. Appearances by other cast members and special guests have been hinted at. The game story is separate from the series, but will intertwine with what is happening on screen. “The game is what happens in Torchwood between each episode. You’ll see and hear characters referring to events that have just happened in the show,” says Senior Producer Mat Fidell. “The only difference from the TV show is that it’s up to you to move the story forward. You must solve the clues, find out what’s going on and report back to the team. You’ll need to use all the skills and talents you have â€“ and Torchwood will provide you with some tools to help you along the way.” The Torchwood website has been redesigned for season two, and incorporates the online game component with an interface very similar to the computer set-up the characters use in the show.

Although registration is not required to play, players who sign up to take part at the show’s website will be emailed as each mission is launched (one per week) and will be able to track their progress from week to week. Recruitment starts January 16th, along with the U.K. premiere of Torchwood Season Two.

Tell Captain Jack we’re on our way!

Update: As noted in the comments, the game (and, sadly, much of the website) is restricted to U.K. use only. Our contact at the Beeb apologizes, but this is due to the public funding of the BBC. We hope our U.K. readers will report in and let us know what they think of the game!

Eldritch Errors, Book 3?

January 14, 2008 / Michelle Senderhauf

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.