Author: Jane Doh (Page 6 of 9)

Staff Writer

Jane Doh is the online gaming persona of an otherwise ordinary person. Jane has a particular love for grassroots and independent projects, especially those run out of basements and breakfast nooks, and is working on several creative projects of her own.

Dos Equis Cargo Hunt: The Most Interesting Man in the World Is Hiring

June 30, 2010 / Jane Doh

The Most Interesting Man in the World is the charming gentleman spokesperson for Dos Equis beer, and he is looking for five Personal Collectionneurs for a “research trip” in Mexico. But, there’s a problem: as the Most Interesting Man was transporting his amazing collection of treasures, the plane’s engine failed, and he had to “parachute” all his exotic goods, scattering them all around North America. Prove your mettle to the Most Interesting Man in the World by helping him recover his lost artifacts in the Dos Equis Cargo Hunt.

Since the Most Interesting Man in the World first appeared in 2009, he’s gathered a bit of a cult following. As described in this Slate article, the “well-made, amusing ads . . . somehow manage to blend absurd humor with suave sophistication.” The clever one-liners that accompany the retro/vintage footage of “The Man” in action are pithy, entertaining, and yes, maybe a little bit sexy. Â (“He can speak French… in Russian.”) Last year, Dos Equis also ran a companion extended experience project, The Most Interesting Academy, which might not have been as well-received as “The Man” himself.

By signing up at the Dos Equis Cargo Hunt site, players become “Cargo Hunters” and can collect virtual treasures in several ways: through the Cargo Hunter’s map on theÂ website, through codes on specially marked Dos Equis packaging, and at special promotional events this summer. So far, there was at least one event in May, there wasÂ another Cargo Hunt event on June 30th in San Antonio, withÂ more events near Houston in the future, promoted through a local radio station.

Must Love . . . The Latest from Awkward Hug

June 19, 2010 / Jane Doh

Fictional funny-guy Timothy Scribbles is full of amazing inventions, and you can check them out at his blog, Super Great Ideas.Â Timothy Scribbles used his first Super Great Ideas post in almost a year to announce his new blog, Must Love Socks. A lot of people (and apparently robots) around the world wear socks, soÂ his most recent ideaÂ is bound to take off.

Opening soon, Must Love Socks is the latest project from independent transmedia production company Awkward Hug, the Brooklyn-based duo that created last year’s critically acclaimed ARG hit, Must Love Robots. Despite the title,Â Must Love Socks isn’t strictly a sequel to the highly successfulÂ Must Love Robots. According to Awkward Hug founder Jim Babb, “While the narrative isn’t a continuation of the narrative from MLR, we are using things we learned from MLR and expanding into new territory.”

The story in Must Love Robots followed the comedic, romantic travails of 011iver as he looked for love, “helped” along by his well-meaning human friend, Tim. 011iver is quite the catch and even has his own line of t-shirts.Â A high point in Must Love Robots was the speed dating event at ARGFest 2009 in Portland, Oregon, which also featured the official “Must Love ARGFest” t-shirt designed by gamer Rowan, who also had a special date with 011iver in New York City. Babb was vague when asked about possible tie-ins with ARGFest 2010 this July in Atlanta, Georgia: “You never know what is going to happen at ARGfest, there might even be some awesome games of ‘Overit.'”

So what can players expect in the upcoming Must Love Socks? According to Babb, Must Love Socks “involves so much transmedia, that it has the potential to surpass transmedia and become ‘transtransmedia’ or just ‘media.’ I donâ€™t want to blow anybodyâ€™s mind, but it will sort of be the iPad of ARGs.”

Must Love Socks opens very soon, and players can sign up at the Must Love Socks website and follow along at the Unfiction forums. Follow Tim and 011iver on Twitter for the latest developments.

EDITOR’S NOTE 06/23/2010: Jim Babb has subsequently set up a Kickstarter page to raise funds for the Socks, Inc. alternate reality game with the goal of raising $6,000 by Friday, August 6th. The page includes a video that explains further details about the project.

Local Summer Reading ARG: The Mystery Guest

June 8, 2010 / Jane Doh

Last month, the Finksburg Library in Carroll County, Maryland, started its second alternate reality game tied to its summer reading program. The Mystery Guest is a strange, out-of-place fellow who has fallen out from the pages of a book, and local teens in Finksburg are trying to find a way to put him back. They tried using an iron (ouch!) and stuffing him in, but nothing is working.

Will young Finskburg readers be able to uncover the Mystery Guest’s identity and return him to wherever he came from? You can follow the adventure at The Mystery Guest blog shared by tweeners Kitty, Alyson, and Caroline and the “voice of reason”â€”the Librarian.

Last year, the Finksburg Library hosted its first alternate reality game, Find Chesia, which centered on a 14-year-old girl whose parents had gone missing on an archaeological dig. The game itself was created by small teams of young local teenagers.

In The Mystery Guest, local players can win limited edition gold Library Bucks and other prizes for answering the Librarian’s challenges. The overall story is linked with Carroll County Public Library System’sÂ summer reading program. Teens can use Library Bucks to buy things at the Auction Wrap-Up Party on August 21st to be held at the Westminster Branch Library. The Mystery Guest adventure ends August 14th.

For more information about the Finksburg Library’s outreach programs, check out its Facebook fan page and its Twitter profile.

ARG Tools for iPhone: Pocket-Sized Power

June 7, 2010 / Jane Doh

ARGTools Netninja.com released the ARG Tools iPhone app this weekâ€”a well thought-out collection of tools, resources, and links for alternate reality gamers of all levels. Included in this free app are helpful interactive tools for solving substitution ciphers, base64 encoding, VignÃ¨re ciphers, and much more. The homegrown app also features cheat sheets for other reference materials, such as English word frequencies.

While this might seem intimidating, newcomers to ARGs can really benefit from the informative panels explaining many of the interactive tools. Puppetmasters may find many of the utilities, such as the countdown timer decoder, useful for creating and running ARGs.

According to developer Brian Enigma’s blog, ARG Tools is “a bit of a niche utility, aimed mainly toward puzzle solvers and ARG players, specifically with an eye toward live events”â€”the native iPhone app can be run offline once installed, except for the Google search bar and pre-built links leading to key ARG community and news resources.

Download ARG Tools in the iTunes Store. No iPhone? Check outÂ netninja.com for some great low-fi gaming resources, like a one-page wiki markup language cheat sheet and anÂ Emergency ARG Pocket Reference.Â Â Some of these tools are printouts that fit in your pocket. (You have those, right?)

Six to Start Makes a Game Out of Wired UK Issue

June 1, 2010 / Jane Doh

Wired UK has teamed up with alternate reality game designers Six to Start, creators of the 2010 SXSW Best Game Award winner Smokescreen, to make this month’s issue of Wired UK a platform for a transmedia game contest. Six to Start’s immersive transmedia games have been widely recognized for high-quality storytelling and entertaining game play. In Smokescreen, Six to Start and Channel 4 launched a fictional social network that brought issues of online identity and privacy to the forefront for a target audience of 14- to 19-year-olds. We Tell Stories, winner of the 2008 SXSW Experimental and Best in Show Awards, involved a collaboration with Penguin Books to encourage the reinvention and retelling of classic stories.

A novel mix of traditional print publishing and digital experience, this month’s issue of Wired UK contains a game within its pages. According to Six to Start producer and game designer Matt Wieteska,

The game has been designed to exist within and alongside this month’s Wired. The issue’s focus is on the rise of location-based and social gaming, and the idea of game-like ‘achievements’ and how they drive our curiosity and progress. Our tasks and puzzles are scattered throughout its pages, margins, graphics and text – so keep your eyes peeled! Of course, the issue is just the beginning – the game soon expands to take in online content and puzzles, alongside some cool bells and whistles that I don’t want to spoil for you!

Suggesting something even more than a puzzle contest, Wieteska teased me with this: “[t]he game itself does have a theme, an interesting setting, and some cool little stories nestling inside it. I don’t want to give too much away, but we’re hoping you’ll enjoy the fun, tongue-in-cheek tone and all the little easter eggs and references we’ve hidden to some of our favourite things.”

Only players based in the United Kingdom will be eligible for the grand prize Â of an iPad, but according to Six to Start co-founder, acting CEO, and chief creative officer Adrian Hon, the creators have “made an effort to make as many of the assets available internationally” as possible. Non-UK players will still be able to experience most of the game online, even though, according to Wieteska, “[w]e’ve got some really cool stuff going on inside the issue, so people should grab one if they can!”

Global Competition Awards Millions to Digital Media and Learning Projects

May 27, 2010 / Jane Doh

This month, winners are being announced for the third annual MacArthur Digital Media and Learning Competition, who will share over $1.7 million in funding to pioneer the use of games, mobile phone applications, virtual worlds, and social networks in education and learning.

Launched in collaboration with President Obamaâ€™s Educate to Innovate Initiative, the Learning Lab Designer Awards will fund learning environments and digital media-based experiences that encourage young people to grapple with social challenges using activities rooted in the social nature, contexts, and ideas of science, technology, engineering, and math. The Game Changers Awards, to be announced at this month’s Games for Change Festival in New York, will recognize creative levels designed for either LittleBigPlanetâ„¢Â or Sporeâ„¢Â Galactic Adventures that offer young people learning opportunities and engaging game play.Â