The 2006 batch of Alternate Reality Games is upon us, and coming soon to a computer (and telephone, and cell phone, and real world mail box) near you is Find Araya, set to launch on January 26th. While not much is known about the game at this point, action will center around helping a detective locate a woman named Araya. The game has already established in-game forums and a chatroom for players to talk with the detective character, so we expect this to be a very interactive experience. Currently, there is a pre-game element that allows players to do some preliminary research and preview what Find Araya has in store, and there is already an active group at UnFiction working on the case. Head on over to get involved — perhaps you will be the one to Find Araya?
Author: Jonathan Waite (Page 30 of 37)
Jonathan Waite was an innocent lurker when The Beast hit the Internet in 2001. From his temporary residence in Jeon Ju, South Korea, he was immediately captivated by the lush environment that had been laid out before his feet. Moving back to his hometown (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) in July of the same year, Jonathan continued to be involved in the burdgeoning genre of Alternate Reality Gaming, getting into Plexata and finding a voice on the forums dedicated to the game. Once Lockjaw hit in 2002, there was no looking back. Jonathan adopted the alias 'jamesi', started a fansite called GuysGuise, and the rest is history.
Jonathan can currently be found as an administrator on Unfiction's forums, as well as co-hosting the ARG Netcast audio show. In the past, he has been involved with Smirkbox, a humor site that focuses on the realm of ARGs, as well as actively creating and maintaining JMX, a puzzle trail website that is currently working (yes, still) on a second run.
As a freelance developer and consultant, Jonathan has worked on such games as Ocular Effect (for Fallen on ABC family), Reach the Future (aka Holomove, for Microsoft), Enitech Labs (for Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles on FOX) and Monster Hunter Club (for The Host by Magnolia Films). He is happily married and has two wonderful daughters.
If you had to archive your entire life history into suitcases, how many do you think you would fill? Tulse Luper needed 92. Tulse, a recurring character in projects by film director Peter Greenaway, is currently appearing in an ambitious game by production company Submarine. We first caught wind of the Tulse Luper Suitcases back in 2003 at UnFiction when it was released at the Cannes Film Festival. This new incarnation of the journey certainly appears to have several key Alternate Reality Gaming elements to it, including collaborative community play, puzzles, and interactive online gameplay.
From the tip we received, The Tulse Luper Journey is free and will “continue to grow for the next 18 months.” If you are interested in going on “an extensive journey through Europe’s 20th century history” by becoming “a detective determined to reconstruct the eventful life of… Tulse Luper, who led a life shrouded in mystery and doubt,” then you should definitely check it out — from what we’ve read about the game, people are really getting into it.
Take a trip down memory lane, back to a simpler time — a time when Alternate Reality Gaming was still in its infancy. In 2002, ABC television featured a little show called Push, Nevada that caught the attention of the ARG community because the series was designed to include a puzzle that, when solved, would earn one person a million dollars. Unfortunately, the show came to a premature end after only a handful of episodes.
Come back to the present and head over to Push, NC, a new game from CM: Gaming Complex. The site looks simple enough to navigate, but there are already some secrets to be discovered. Mysterious puzzles on secretive websites always earn a blip on the ARGN radar, and even if the game ends up being something other than an ARG, it looks like it could be a lot of fun to play anyway.
When you hear the name Sean Stewart, what comes to your mind first — author or puppetmaster? While most of the ARG community knows Stewart as one of the creative forces behind The Beast, ilovebees and Last Call Poker, a few were initially introduced to his work as a writer within his many novels, such as Nobody’s Son and Galveston. John Borland at c|net has picked up on the buzz surrounding Stewart and his impressive body of work, both in the literary world as well as the world of ARG, in a poignant article titled “A novelist turned gaming innovator“. It’s a great read, and has an interesting perspective from the ‘other side of the curtain’.
Just in time for the holiday season comes the online release of the ARGFest NYC 2005 DVD “How Do You Like Your Reality?”. Consisting of two torrent files (hosted by GreyLodge), the release was made possible by Dave Szulborski and Abacus Video Productions.
The files (available for download with your favorite .torrent program) include all of the presentations that took place at the Pennsylvania Hotel during the three day event, including:
* Perplex City by Mind Candy Ltd (with Michael Smith and Adrian Hon)
* The Art of the Heist by the PM team (with Mike Monello, Brian Cain, Brian Clark, Matt Fischvogt, Jim Gunshanan, Gabriel Georgeian, and Dave Szulborski)
* MetaCortechs by the PM team (with Steve Peters, Krystyn Wells, Brooke Thompson, and Sean Stacey)
* There is No Such Thing as an ARG (by special guest speaker Jane McGonigal)
There is a section which includes various pictures from ARG Fest NYC 2005, most of which were submitted by the attendees, as well as a “few special surprises!” So, if you missed the event, or simply want to reminisce, now is your chance to get your hands on these recordings.
By the way, in this writer’s humble opinion, what better way to introduce your friends and family to the wonderful world of ARG than by stuffing their stocking with a DVD copy of these presentations?
A new anonymous tip leads us (and, maybe, you too) to Another Contest Worth Entering where you (and, hopefully, us too) has a chance to win one of three fantabulous prizes! The difference between this and the garden variety annoying-pop-up-pyramid-scheme-scam-type web site? This one has a puzzle… which could mean nothing, or it could mean everything. In any case, while you try your hand at solving the puzzle, we’ll have to wait until at least February 6th, 2006 to see where this is going.
simulacra
black watchmen
undertone
scp afterworld
curators request
subtext game