Author: Jackie Kerr (Page 3 of 3)

Staff Writer, Associate Editor
While working as a lowly research assistant at a pharmaceutical company, Jackie discovered that science involves a lot of incubations and waiting time, and thus found that the best way to kill five hours was by surfing the internet and playing MahJong on Yahoo! Games. Luckily, a little TV show called Push, Nevada with its big monetary prize began around this time and Jackie, believing she was a worldly genius, decided that an online puzzle game was the perfect way to get the world to acknowledge her greatness. Instead, she discovered that she was only one of many genius hopefuls and that taking active notes on Peter Pan while watching primetime network television did not make for engaging watercooler chit-chat. Though the watercooler society had decided she was a dork-freak and banned her from all social activities, Jackie had been sucked into the world of IRC and the ARGN community, where dork-freaks are relished. During her tenure, Jackie has been an active player, lurker, pithy commentator, evil satirist, and Unfiction forum cop/admin, as well as a PM of Acheron.

Currently, Jackie can be found lurking the hallways of the University of Maryland Medical campus in Baltimore, where she is a PhD candidate in Molecular Physiology with an emphasis in the signaling pathways involved in the development and prevention of cardiovascular disease. She hopes to have a positive income by the age of 30, and vents often about this on her website, intellinuts.com.

The Laramie Project – Charity ARG Event

August 3, 2005 / Jackie Kerr

Starting August 6th, gamers will have the chance to participate in a 24-hour ARG in conjunction with Blogathon 2005.

The ARG is based around Gillian Laramie, leader of the Interred Technology Council, who recently escaped from prison where she was serving time for murder. Last seen in the York area, this places her, perhaps coincidently, where many of her former lieutenants relocated. Players, together with her former employees, will go for a crazy 24-hour spree to hunt down and stop Gillian from attacking again.

The Traveler – It’s A Series?

July 30, 2005 / Jackie Kerr

traveler There it was â€“ its silvery pinstriped cover, twinkling oddly in the fluorescent lighting, resting atop the black lacquer display shelves before me as I stumbled in the front door. I paused, catching my breath â€“ I could almost see her winking at me from behind the glistening blue sunglass lens, â€œIâ€™m here, waiting.â€

Stepping forward, momentarily detained by the security guard that seemed desirous of wishing me a good evening, I snatched a copy off of the shelves. It was in my possession â€“ that â€œrumored for monthsâ€ novel, written by the elusive John Twelve Hawks, with the delectable story-based game companion websites â€“ The Traveler.

I rushed over to the counter, whipped out my Barnes and Noble membership card (really, itâ€™s made me spend more money than itâ€™s saved me. Tricky corporate entities!), saved myself 10% off the cover price, and rushed out of the store, once again being wished a good evening by the kindly guard. It was to be a good night for at last, I had The Traveler in my possession.

The Daughters of Freya are Gonna Get Ya

June 10, 2005 / Jackie Kerr

Every once in a while, the staff of ARGN are approached by people wanting to share their talents and ideas with the ARG community. When Michael Betcherman, a co-creator of emailmystery.com approached us with an opportunity to experience the mystery of The Daughters of Freya, I jumped upon the chance to try something a little out of the ordinary.

ARGers, when not in the midst of a game, usually spend their time honing their puzzling skills by creating or playing puzzle trails and dunking their pens into the ink well of the internet to find some similar puzzle game. Rarely do they find the chance to indulge themselves in the â€œother sideâ€ of ARGs, the more literary, story and character driven half. Michael and his co-creator, David Diamond, have tapped the proverbial beer keg of immersive story greatness that allows even the most hardcore, plot-driven ARGers the opportunity to flex their brainpower on something other than vigenere or the latest Dan Brown novel.

More Cowbell, Please: A Memoir

May 6, 2005 / Jackie Kerr

It was a sunny day â€“ the kind of day that springs forth from the drudgery of winter to blind you with its brilliant sunshine and pleasant breezes, imprinting itself onto your memory. The air was filled with the smells of cherry and tulip blossoms and the slight overtone of a diesel-fueled truck, while the thumping of nearby construction pounded out the rhythm of a downtown rave party, minus the fancy lights, drugs and half-naked dancing people thrumming against your leg.

I had decided to leave the lab early. The spring day called out to me, â€œJackie! Leave the window-less torture of a lab youâ€™re sitting in! Drop the data analysis and run and frolic in my splendor!â€ Not being one to ignore calls of nature in the off chance that I might end up with wet pants, I grabbed my things and snuck out. My sandaled feet skipped along the sidewalk, my toes happy to be wriggling in the air of spring and reveling in the vitamin D of the sun. As I waited to cross the street outside of the University of Maryland Medical Center, I felt someone sneak up behind me.

â€œMoooooo.â€

Location33 – A Trip Through Time and Space

April 28, 2005 / Jackie Kerr

For anyone wishing to explore their city through their ears and the voice of the future, Will Carver, a student with the Interactive Media Division at the University of Southern California, has created a “location-based sci-fi folk album” that unravels as the player pieces together musical clues streaming from locations in Culver City, California. By connecting to the game network in Culver City via cell phone or PDA, the player is able to unlock a musical story while moving between the 20 nodes as they walk the path of the composition from day to day, turning Carverâ€™s location33 into a week-long, interactive aural experience for the player.