Month: July 2008 (Page 2 of 3)

ARGFest 2008 in Review: Serious and Independent Games (Move Over, MoveOn)

July 23, 2008 / Michael Andersen

ARGNet Writers pose at ARGFest 2008

This article is the second in a series, providing summaries of the panel presentations at ARGFest-o-Con 2008 in Boston.

The second panel discussion featured Ken Eklund of World Without Oil as moderator, Brian Clark (GMD Studios), Alice Leung (BBN Technologies), and Dave Szulborski. The panel discussed a little of everything, from projects born from passion to penny-pinching PMs and politics.

Dave Szulborski noted that independent games are the mainstay of the genre, and kept it alive when marketing executives were questioning its effectiveness. He noted that successful games of any type tend to inspire new developers to try their hand in development. Independent ARGs also encourage developers to innovate in new and surprising ways. As Brian Clark noted, “the riskiest things we do are those we do for ourselves,” and grassroots games are the ideal testing grounds for aspiring developers, as long as the project doesn’t serve as a resume of technical development skills that avoids the critical “fun” factor necessary for independent and serious games alike.

ARGFest 2008 in Review: Extended Media Experiences (The Mustache Strikes Back)

July 23, 2008 / Michael Andersen

ARGNet Writers pose at ARGFest 2008

This article is the first in a series, providing summaries of the panel presentations at ARGFest-o-Con 2008 in Boston.

The first panel discussion featured Evan Jones of Stitch Media as the moderator, Yomi Ayeni (Expanding Universe), Elan Lee (Fourth Wall Studios), Lance Weiler (Seize the Media), and Blair Erickson (Millions of Us). The panel explored the challenges and advantages that arise from cross-media productions.

Blair Erickson started the discussion with a description of an early project, an alternate reality game promoting World Wrestling Entertainment. Recognizing that a major draw of wrestling is the love of a fight, Erickson moved the rivalry between two wrestlers onto virtual worlds, with a game that played out over more than 100,000 threads, with players contributing in support of their favored athlete. The game culminated in Summer Slam, a pay-per-view match between the wrestlers. More recently, Millions of Us developed an ARG for the Sarah Connor Chronicles, which delved deep into the franchise’s mythology.

Yomi Ayeni discussed his work with Violette’s Dream, an ARG running as part of the upcoming video game, Velvet Assassin. The video game is based on the true story of a female soldier in World War II. The alternate reality portion of the game operates under the assumption that the game’s protagonist repurposed Nazi gold to help undercover agents in need. The aim was to make the game as real to life as possible: the first gold bar was found by former ARGNet writer Dee Cook in Fredericksburg, Texas, a town with deep historical ties to Germany. Ayeni described the project as a “fingerprintless” project that runs parallel to the video game.

ARGNet is SciFi’s Site of the Week!

July 23, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

SciFi logo As television stations go, we’re big fans of Sci Fi, and not just because they named us the Site of the Week earlier today. With original programming like Battlestar Galactica (the best show on television), the 4400 (which had an ARG of it’s own) and the Stargate series, it’s hard not to be a fan of the network.

Thanks to Ken Newquist at Sci Fi for recognizing our efforts here at ARGNet, and as we told him in an email a few minutes ago, it comes at a great time for us, as we have a series of articles coming this week on ARGFest-o-Con 2008, which officially wrapped upon Sunday this past weekend. Look for the first in the series to hit the site later today, with the rest coming in the next few days!

ACME Launches Aporia Agathon Project, Hits Coyote

July 17, 2008 / Michael Andersen

Aporia logo Mere days before this year’s ARGFest-o-Con, Aporia CME has launched the alternate reality game code-named “The Aporia Agathon Project” with the introduction of Mikey Surry, Private Eye. Over the past few months, the project team provided tidbits of clues regarding the game’s plot in dribs and drabs. With the addition of Surry’s website at SurryInvestigations.com, however, the slow trickle of information has increased to a steady stream of updates, and the hint of more to come.

In January 2008, Aporia CME released the game’s trailer. A month later, a promotional puzzle trail created to promote the LagTV Network revealed some tantalizing clues about the game. They even mailed a mask to players who posted YouTube videos making predictions about the game’s plot.

Diego, his sister Isobella, and his friend Jan are three youths with a secret. The secret wouldn’t be a very good one if it was already known, but a password used by Isobella referencing chaneques, creatures of Mexican folklore, implies the secret is slightly supernatural.

Which brings us to the present. Last week, Isobella posted a video describing an encounter with Mikey Surry of Surry Investigations that left him rather incapacitated and walletless. He’s still recovering, but just learned that someone in Boston this weekend knows a thing or two about his experiences. Completely coincidentally, I’m sure, a large contingent of ARG fans will be in town.

The game’s pace is picking up fairly quickly, with daily updates, two additional characters, a slew of blog entries, and some great acting. It’s safe to say that the game has finally launched, although the development team has rather gleefully refused to confirm or deny the launch when reached for comment.

Click Here for the thread at Unfiction
Click Here for the game’s wiki

Superstruct: (Re)Building Our Future

July 13, 2008 / Brandie Minchew

Our world is in deep trouble, and as the danger mounts, the Institute for the Future‘s Ten-Year Forecast team and Dr. Jane McGonigal have a new mission for you! IFTF recently announced Superstruct, “the world’s first massively multiplayer forecasting game.” Scheduled to begin on September 22, 2008, Superstruct is expected to run for six weeks. The human race has only 23 years left, and it’s up to you to save us! The countdown begins in 2019.

Dr. McGonigal is no stranger to games that use future forecasting as a design element. She helped develop World Without Oil, a game that asked players to imagine and document their lives during an oil shock. Like World Without Oil, Superstruct will ask players to project themselves into the year 2019, at a time when a supercomputer simulation dubbed “GEAS” has predicted that the human race has a survival horizon of 23 years. GEAS, or the “Global Extinction Awareness System,” has pinpointed five “super-threats” that may bring about the collapse of human civilization as we know it. (Perhaps incidentally, a “geas” is also a vow or binding, often magical or supernatural, that is difficult or impossible to ignore or cast off.)

What does the name “Superstruct” mean, and what does it tell us about the goals of the game? According to the game’s FAQ, “superstructing” refers to the building of new structures on top of old structures. The problems uncovered in 2019 indicate that the existing structures – social, commercial, environmental, etc. – are not enough to support the survival of the human race. Superstruct asks players to work towards building new structures and finding new solutions to overcome the “super-threats” identified by the GEAS.

“This is a game of survival, and we need you to survive” states IFTF’s mission briefing. Rather than simply projecting or predicting the future, Superstruct aims to “invent the future” through player contributions, survival stories, strategies, and more. “Bring what you know and who you know,” IFTF’s Superstruct FAQ invites, “and we’ll all figure out how to make 2019 a world we want to live in.”

While we wait for September, IFTF has invited players to get a head start on the game by sending a description of their future selves and their lives in 2019 to [email protected]. Players’ responses will be posted on the Superstruct blog throughout the summer.

Holomove Post-Game Chat Announced

July 9, 2008 / Celina Beach

Holomove logo Spring is over, but the “little birds” are still whispering – this time regarding the long-awaited Holomove Post-Game PM Chat! Members of the team behind the game will be gathering in Boston on Friday, July 18th at 4PM ET to chat with players, mere hours before ARGFest officially kicks off. Fear not, for non-ARGFesters will still be able to participate via live audio chat (details to follow).