streetsweeperAs promised, here is our second installment of the spring cleaning of the ARGNet inbox, with game tips and news items dating back to the beginning of the week. Enjoy!

May 21: “N” sent us in the following game tip which he found on “this new site online”: I found this article below on this new site online. There have been random texts with riddles going around about it. What do you guys make of it? I figure this is your area. ——————————— Is When they were Pharaohs really an A.R.G. in disguise? by E.A. Wallis First there was The Beast, then there was I Love Bees and Lost Experience, now an A.R.G. in a story on ancient Egypt? In an age where alternate reality gaming has taken on many forms, there are practically no limits in the way that mass online adventures are now being played, but in the novelization of an upcoming theatrical stage play? In a way When they were Pharaohs might represent the ultimate in reality fact finding, puzzle-solving missions, in what is looking to be another world-hopping adventure, but you’ll need to be an Egyptologist or hieroglyphics expert to crack some of these modern takes on ancient riddles, because though some clues are hidden out in plain sight with hieroglyphic translations conveniently included, others are presented completely without. Of course the ancient Egyptians themselves had games and other leisurely pastimes to remedy their boredom (although without Facebook) but a modern-day reenactment of the mythological quest of Horus and Isis to revenge Osiris? With the re-discovery of the mummy of Hatshepsut in 2007, this real life saga has enough drama and irony, worthy of a Greek Tragedy. I may have found the eye of Horus, but if you can tell me where Osiris is laid, you might as well solve the riddle of the Sphinx. We did a little Google-fu and found this exact text (save for one line) on Craigslist ads from Los Angeles and Baltimore. After looking at the web site from the ad, I’m going to go out on a limb and say no, not an ARG in disguise. However, prove me wrong and earn a place in my heart.

May 21: The good and wonderful Tony Walsh send in this tidbit about an upcoming event: Hi guys, just wanted to let you know about this upcoming event in San Francisco. Tony Walsh (Phantom Compass), Lance Weiler (the WorkBook Project), and Ken Ecklund (sic) (World Without Oil) will all be appearing at KQED in San Francisco next Saturday. http://www.bavc.org/index.php?option=com_registrationpro&Itemid=935&func=details&did=903 On Saturday, May 30 at 1:30PM Pacific in the KQED ATRIUM, Tony Walsh (Phantom Compass) and Ken Eklund (World Without Oil) will present on the topic of games for change: Games for Change has turned into its own movement of creatives, technologists and gamers who are developing interactive and game projects driven by social issues.Tony Walsh, CEO of Canadian game design firm Phantom Compass, and Ken Eklund, developer of the award-winning ARG World Without Oil unpack some of the most successful social change games and related creative experiments and provide a blueprint for filmmakers looking to get into “game space.” Hey, that’s only three days from now! Hopefully this meas that some of our Bay-area readers can make it down to see this presentation!

May 21: Wow, this was one busy day for tips! Barbara Chung (I suspect this is a pseudonym of some sort) sent in the following press-release-style game launch tip: Life1K Serum New Drug Application Submitted to DDEA GROVER’S LANE, May 20 – DNArgus, a world-class biopharmaceutical and health services company, today announced that it has submitted a new drug application for its novel life extension therapy Life1K to the DDEA. Life1K is an oral liquid nutraceutical that is administered once a month. “The Life1K submission is a milestone for DNArgus and mankind,” said Dr. Dan Collins, Founder & CEO of DNArgus. “Once Life1K becomes widely available, humans will enjoy longer life spans and increased resistance to disease.” Life1K was studied extensively over a five-year period in two major clinical trials, EXTEND and DREAM. 77% of elderly patients in both trials significantly improved their health and vitality after one year of treatment. The most common side effects associated with Life1K treatment include headache, nausea, migraines, blurred vision and constipation. .005% of patients in DREAM and EXTEND developed cancer of the esophagus. In all cases, the cancer was cured after standard medical treatment. DNArgus expects the DDEA to make a decision on Life1K within six to eight months. About DNArgus DNArgus is a world-class biopharmaceutical and health services company specializing in the development and commercialization of life extension therapies. Our flagship cryobooth, AICryogenesis II, is the safest and most well-studied product of its kind in the world. Learn more about the company at www.DNArgus.com. There’s already a thread at the Unfiction forums about this one, so perhaps you might want to jump in now while it’s early.

May 24: marc, a fan of the TV show Lost, shared this bit of info: hey! i’m a big lost fan, and it looks like someone’s doing a fan-made one during the hiatus and i thought you’d want to know about it. the pm cleared up confusion in the ‘purge’ post on the blog so its not a hoax i don’t think. anyway it looks pretty active with new things to do happening everyday so maybe you’d want to know. here’s the links i found connected to it: http://whoissimeonhobbes.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/elliottgraves http://twitter.com/simeonhobbes http://twitter.com/epithetalpha http://www.youtube.com/whoissimeonhobbes http://the8thspoke.co.cc/ i guess there was a lot of gamejacks so the pm put up the relevant sites on the ‘watching’ thing on the blog. anyway just thought u would want to know, later. Thanks marc! Some of us on staff are big fans of Lost as well, and may be checking on this one soon.

That brings us to today, and a chance for us to take a bit of a breather. In the coming days, we will have updates on some of the game tips we published previously, as well as a look at Xi (Playstation Home ARG). Thanks to everyone who was kind (and diligent) enough to send in their tips and news!