Author: Celina Beach (Page 3 of 6)

Staff Writer

UPDATE: Dexter Game On More Than Just A SCVNGR Hunt

August 1, 2010 / Celina Beach

When it was first announced, Dexter Game On appeared to be nothing more than a fun adventure through the streets of San Diego during Comic-Con, hopefully leading to either Dexter swag or DVDs. However, once players reached the last SCVNGR location, a “kill room” was found containing what appeared to be evidence of torture and murder . . . and several cleverly hidden clues written on the room’s mirrors that lead to the Sleep Superbly site. Upon first entering the room, visitors were shown an introduction video by Dee Pratt, an FBI agent who also goes by the name Serial Huntress, explaining her unique method of crowdsourcing to catch serial killers, the latest one being the “Infinity Killer.” Pratt suspects the Infinity Killer is responsible for the kill room and the murder that apparently occurred within, as the room bears his hallmark, the infinity symbol, on one of the mirrors.

Since then, a lot of activity has occurred, including weekly updates from Serial Huntress on her website; information on the Infinity Killer on the SleepSuberbly site; and even more sites and Twitter feeds . . . and a number of puzzles to solve. To get involved in the hunt, check out the game thread on Unfiction. For a quick summary of the game so far, refer to this excellent post.

Comic-Con Buzz: Dexter and SCVNGR Challenge You to â€œGame On” at Comic-Con or at Home

July 20, 2010 / Celina Beach

Launching viral campaigns at San Diego Comic-Con is no longer a surprise, and has become almost expected. Some campaigns have even managed to incorporate participation from those not at Comic-Con,Â allowingÂ playersÂ atÂ homeÂ to provide assistance to those on the ground. Showtime, however, has upped the ante with its viral campaign for the hit series Dexter by giving non-Con goers the ability to participate in their own towns. There is a caveat, however.Â Your townÂ must be one ofÂ five major metropolitan areas chosen to participate: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, and Atlanta.

Whether or not you will be attending Comic-Con, participation requires downloading the SCVNGR application, available for iPhone and Android, in order to view the Dexter-themed Treks challenge. The purpose of the game is to record â€œkillsâ€ by completing the challenges located both at the Convention Center and at nearby locations, and earning limited edition SCVNGR badges that can be redeemed for Dexter merchandise. For players in the otherÂ five participating cities, the same game-play applies but with SCVNGR Treks designed for their area.

Encom to Hold Press Conference, Flynn Lives to Infiltrate

March 30, 2010 / Celina Beach

EncomLogo This Friday at 8PM in San Francisco, Encom’s Executive Consultant Alan Bradley will address invited press and employees regarding a brand new Encom product. Little does he (and hopefully the Encom security) know that his audience will also include many intrepid members of the Flynn Lives organization posing as Encom employees.

Several weeks ago, the enigmatic Zack challenged the group to a little game called ArcadeAid – a site filled with pictures of clever (and sometimes groan-worthy) puns representing several generations of video games, from Pong to Asteroids, Space Ace to… well even Discs of Tron. As players named video games, they were awarded badges at certain levels. Naming all 56 earned them the opportunity to acquire their very own Encom security badge,Â and as we were to find out later, the ability to attend an exclusive press conference hosted by Alan Bradley himselfÂ (played by Bruce Boxleitner).

So if you’re one of the intrepid numbers who completed the ArcadeAid challenge and received an Encom badge, the place to be is the Justin Herman Plaza in the Embarcadero Center, San Francisco, CA at 8PM, April 2 2010. No word yet on whether non-badge holders will be able to find other ways to attend, or if the event will be aired online either live or after the fact. However, Wondercon will be occuring this weekend, and Disney does have a panel there: so if you are going to Wondercon, take it from an old San Diego Comic-Con pro and keep an eye out for opportunities to attend, either at the Disney booth (if present) or at the panel. You can also follow along on the Unfiction forums thread .

Good luck to all FlynnLives Infiltrators!

UPDATE: Zack from FlynnLives is asking all participants to meet at the Hyatt Regency (across the street from the press conference venue) from 6:15-7:45PM. t-shirts and posters will be handed out to participants, and the group will march to the press conference site en masse in order to get a good location in front of the stage.

It has also announced been announced that while there is going to be a VIP area for Encom employees (hence the infiltrators having Encom badges), the press conference itself is open to the public. So if you’re in the area, get down there and check it out!

Flynn Lives Welcomes You To The Pit Cell

February 25, 2010 / Celina Beach

PitCellSmall
As we reported earlier, ZeroHour reached the end of its countdown at 11AM EST (4PM GMT) and had players all over the globe sitting by their computers, compulsively pounding their F5 keys to see when their city’s listing would go live and a drop location would be revealed.Â Chicago, Orlando, and Paris were the first to update, and it was quickly discovered the drop points were located, fittingly, at arcades. Â Upon arriving, players looked for their contacts in Flynn Lives t-shirts.Â The first one to reach the contact gave a pass phrase (such as “Downloadable Content” or “Power Slide”) and was rewarded with a phone, but no further instructions. Â Once players figured out there was a number in the phone’s contact listÂ labeled “Call Me”, they called and talked to a live person who gave them instructions to find the rest of their package – an 80’s style vinyl velcro “TRON” wallet containing 3 Tron trading cards with codes to be input into the ZeroHour website, aÂ few Flynn’s Arcade tokens, and newspaper clippings about ENCOM.Â A PM helper shadowed the players and, once the package was found, the ZeroHour website was updated with a check mark to note the drop had been successfully picked up.Â The players then logged into the ZeroHour site to enter the codes, which unlocked the cards on the site.

As the day went on, more cities went live and more drops were collected.Â Except for a glitch or two (the Toronto package wasÂ taken before the player could reach it, and the Madrid drop was never recovered) the drop collections were rapidly collected and the codes were entered.Â Finally, whenÂ Las Vegas and SydneyÂ were the only locations left, the “No” Bit under the card icons changed to a “Yes” Bit.Â Â ClickingÂ on the BitÂ led to a new site, The Pit Cell.

The Pit Cell contains information on an “exclusive limited event” to be heldÂ this SaturdayÂ in 4 different IMAX theater locations – New York, Los Angeles, London, Toronto; and a fifth on Sunday in Sydney.Â Ticket distributionÂ starts todayÂ at 4PM EST (9PM GMT), on a first-come, first-served basis.

UPDATE: Flynn Lives ZeroHour is Live

February 24, 2010 / Celina Beach

flynnlives1 As previously covered, the fine folks at Flynn Lives, ever vigilant in their quest to find the lost Kevin Flynn, released a countdown 8 days ago.Â Yesterday, an email was sent to players who had previously signed up on the Flynn Lives site reminding them of the quest and a request for “operatives” in 25 cities, with a link to the countdown. Â The countdown expired today, and players clicked on the binary countdown flash which lead them to a new page on the Flynn Lives site, and contains a list of the previously revealed 25 cities, a grid with numbers into which codes can be entered (apparently similar to last July’s Comic-Con event), and a blank list for 66 “Operatives.” Â Currently, 3 cities are live: Chicago, Orlando, and Paris: directions have players heading to what are possibly arcades.

Players can now manage their profile information to provide contact information to “[g]et information, assignments and important artifacts through regular post/mail” and “[g]et quick updates via phone and text for important coordinated activities on the ground.”Â These profiles can then be linked toÂ players’ Facebook accounts to post Badges and Honors.Â

Stay tuned throughout the day as events unfold!

UPDATE: Flynn Lives Gradually Revealing a List of City Names

February 19, 2010 / Celina Beach

flynnlivescities Shortly after the countdown began at FlynnLives.com/zerohour, players noticed that what appeared to be a picture was slowly forming, pixel by pixel, beneath the binary countdown.Â That image, although not complete, has started to reveal a list of city names, a good portion of which can be deduced.Â Washington DC, Atlanta, Orlando, Raleigh, San Diego, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas, and Phoenix are fairly legible, with more becoming so as the countdown approaches the zero hour on February 24th.Â Stay tuned in the coming days to see if YOUR city appears on the list!