Month: March 2009 (Page 3 of 3)

ARG Lab: UT Dallas Class Offers Practicum in ARG Design

March 9, 2009 / Michael Andersen

Last fall, veteran alternate reality game designer Adam Brackin taught a class on alternate reality gaming at the University of Texas at Dallas’ Emerging Media and Communications program. The course required graduate students interested in the developing field to read a series of academic works on the subject, learn about the history of the genre, and follow a currently running game. This semester, Brackin is offering students the opportunity to put their theoretical knowledge to the test with the ARG Lab, a class where students will design their own six-week long alternate reality game, scheduled to launch in early April.

Brackin’s graduate students seem eager to trade their tuition dollars for the opportunity to experiment with game development through the practicum. Candace Barnhill, one of the ARG Lab students, explains that “we learned so much about the history of ARGs and player experiences last semester that I coudn’t resist a peek behind the curtain. I had no idea PMs did so much to prepare for what often appears to be player developed.”

Roller coaster enters phone booth, exits as alternate reality game

March 9, 2009 / Nicko Demeter

Up in the sky! Itâ€™s a birdâ€¦itâ€™s a planeâ€¦itâ€™s the New Superman ARG!

A new project set in the world created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932, this alternate reality game is taking an interesting shape. Within the boundaries of the game, the existence of Superman is recognized, but in a way that a citizen of Metropolis would — by having Superman be a very real super-hero within their â€œuniverseâ€.

The game includes Clawshun Industries, a company hired by Six Flags to build a Superman ride. However, a little bit of investigation on the companyâ€™s site informs that Clawshun is actually owned LexCorp, the fictional conglomerate steered by none other than Lex Luthor, Supermanâ€™s nemesis.

The rift between ARGs and interactive storytelling

March 9, 2009 / Nicko Demeter

As the Watchmen ARG (and for the purposes of this article I will assume itâ€™s still an ARG) neared the movieâ€™s release date, it became clear to the players that this was not necessarily an alternate reality game with something for them to do. It was more of a story, promoting the movie by giving the players a look into the world of the Watchmen before the premiere. After all, this was to be expected when an ARG deals with a story that is concrete and already clearly defined.

An interactive story seems clearly to be an acceptable way of generating marketing buzz around a product. But when the crowd of seasoned ARG players takes notice, there seems to be a desire from the player perspective for something more. When a player commits their time it should be for more something more than merely the act of lurking a site or subscribing to a YouTube profile.

Six Minutes to Midnight: Watchmen goes interactive (sort-of)

March 4, 2009 / Jonathan Waite

A mere two days before the release of The Watchmen, the highly anticipated film version of the famous graphic novel, another viral web site has launched, and this time, participants are thrust into the middle of a narrated peek at the six main characters of the story. Six Minutes to Midnight is the latest in a long string of web-based buzz-generating campaigns promoting the film, and has the look and feel similar to Eagle Eye: Freefall, the enjoyable 10-minute experience first discovered in September 2008.

Upon arriving at the site, players are asked to provide their first name and, if they feel up to it, their phone number — so far, U.S. and Canadian numbers have been proven to work. For those that choose the web-only version, the experience kicks off with an introductory video and then jumps into the game, whereas those brave enough to enter their digits are treated to a phone call (complete with a Warner Brothers pre-amble about a do-not-call list, yuck) as the intro video kicks in. Either way, the end result is the same — the player’s job is to enter words into a text box based on what they see within a looping, changing ink blot image. Figure out the correct terms, earn a reward: a video clip montage of each of the six characters, narrated by Rorschach himself (we assume).

Month: March 2009 (Page 3 of 3)

ARG Lab: UT Dallas Class Offers Practicum in ARG Design

Roller coaster enters phone booth, exits as alternate reality game

The rift between ARGs and interactive storytelling

Six Minutes to Midnight: Watchmen goes interactive (sort-of)

now playing

Archives

More From Us

Find Stuff Like Us