Author: Michelle Senderhauf (Page 6 of 6)

Staff Writer
Michelle's first ARG love affair was with Majestic back in 2001. Just as she was about to discover the world of ARGs she was persuaded to play herself in another alternate reality that included a husband and a baby girl. Once she came to her senses, Michelle returned to play ABC's Push, Nevada. That's when she realized that she wasn't really all that good at solving puzzles, so she stuck around to learn a thing or two from the people playing Chasing the Wish and JMX.

Michelle has played or lurked through countless games since and even took a stab at being a Puppetmaster with Omnifam and Orbital Colony. She intends on keeping up with that trend by only becoming involved with ARGs that begin with the letter O. In her free time she likes to pretend that she's still a young, artsy college student by splattering paint and pencil shavings around the house.

Studio Cypher: Perfect Friends Forever

August 18, 2006 /

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Studio Cypher’s second case, Perfect Friends Forever, concluded last month and players finally discovered who was trying to kill Madame Z, the psychic founder of the Perfect Friends Forever website.

Perfect Friends Forever is a friend matching service where six ghostly spiritual advisors examine and compare members’ spirits to pair up perfect eternal friends. Madame Z lives with these six spirits in the former residence of the wealthy E.S. Wylie and the most famous house in Bay Horse, MO. Just as the PFF service was about to launch, Madame Z received a grim warning, “Die Z”, written in plates and silverware on the floor of her bedroom. Yes, that’s right. Not only did the psycho madman threaten Z, but he threw grandma’s fine china on the carpet to do it!

Players joined forces with a skeptical gumshoe named Anton Jeffries and solved the case. Or did they? As the perp, an antiques dealer who wanted to find the hidden treasure of E.S. Wylie, was handcuffed and taken away to the big house he yelled out that the treasure was still out there waiting to be found. The Studio Cypher PMs have confirmed that the treasure’s location can be found in E.S. Wylie’s will. So those who are looking for a good unsolved puzzle to defeat, check out the thread about it at UnFiction.

It’s Staring at Me, Mommy! Make the Oculus Stop!

August 3, 2006 /

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The last time we looked in on Ocular Effect there wasn’t much more to report on than a mysterious countdown and possible connection to an ABC Family movie. Since then the countdown has ended and what looks to be an ARG has appeared in its place.

When the countdown ran to zero, an strange coded sphere called the Oculus appeared. When opened, the Oculus now redirects to the website of Miss Vix’s tattoo parlor in Seattle, WA. Miss Vix was lucky enough to stumble upon and hire a young artist named Faith Arella. Faith has become the hottest new thing to hit the Seattle tattoo scene with her own style of tattoos which seem to give their recipients good fortune.

The all knowing Oculus also reveals a school for gifted children called the Bethlehem Conservatory which privately recruits its students, assuredly for some yet-to-be-determined nefarious purposes. Listed on their site are several missing alumni, one of which we’ve seen before, Faith Arella the tattoo artist. Although yet to be directly proven, it is heavily speculated that Faith could be a Nephilim, or half angel/half human, like the main character of the Fallen movie, Aaron.

If you haven’t yet checked out Ocular Effect you can easily catch up by reading through the many resources for the game including the ingame recap, the discussion forums on UnFiction, the official OE forums and the extensive player-created OE wiki.

Check your local listings for the next showing of Fallen or watch the movie online at the ABC Family website.

Did Studio Cypher Leave Agents Out in the Cold?

June 10, 2006 /

studiocypher_02.jpgThe first Studio Cypher Case, Out in the Cold, was released last month when a Cypher field agent, Chuck Lehner, disappeared. Soon after the case launched, players started to receive postcards in the mail from Lehner which led them to his website and a blog that belongs to his friend Sue Terrini. The game, which ended yesterday, had some difficult puzzles, real world hidden caches and even an ingame band which seems to be the hip ARG thing to do these days. Players had been working to unravel the mystery of what happened to dear old Chuck and what mysterious brown pieces of clay had to do with it.

To many, the real mystery surrounding Studio Cypher is whether or not the pay-to-fully-play model is working on all levels. In order to fully participate in each case, players must become a Wakeful Agent for $9.99 ($13.99 outside the U.S.). Only Wakeful Agents will receive special content and can interact directly with the characters. Paying players also get access to game updates before the non-paying players. Those who don’t pay can still play along, but it still remains to be seen whether or not this limited access really allows players to immerse themselves in the story enough to want more and become a Wakeful Agent.

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Studio Cypher

April 9, 2006 /

During the live event for the IDEAS Festival ARG, I came across a laminated cipher reference card made by a company calling themselves Studio Cypher. After the curtain was lifted, I got the chance to speak with the Puppetmasters behind both the IDEAS Festival ARG and Ares Station. Ian Pottmeyer, Will Emigh and Nathan Mishler have formed a company dedicated to the production of ARGs called Studio Cypher.

Their website describes Studio Cypher as a company that “creates multi-player novels: stories that place you in the middle of a mystery you can help solve.” Mishler and Emigh explained that they use the term “multi-player novel” rather than ARG to avoid alienating potential players who aren’t familiar with the term. Studio Cypher is going to use a partial pay-to-play model for their ARGs. Players will be able to play along without paying a fee, but won’t be able to access some of the premium content in the game. Although they haven’t announced an official price, I was told that the cost will be less than $10 per adventure. The first episode is due to launch sometime over the next month.

IDEAS Festival 2006

April 9, 2006 /

ideasfestL.jpgAs previously reported, the 2006 IDEAS Festival took place this past weekend at Indiana University in Bloomington. The annual festival celebrates Interactive Digital Environments, Arts and Storytelling (IDEAS) and promotes the university’s Masters Program in Interactive Media and Game Design (MIME). In past years, the festival exhibits were judged and awarded prizes. The coordinators of this year’s festival decided to eliminate the judging to create a more open environment where ideas could be shared.

Works in several different media were exhibited including video games, alternate reality games, immersive virtual reality environments, interactive sculpture and mobile art. Many of these pieces explore different ways to immerse or interact with the audience. One piece by Robert Derr, Chance, immerses the art museum-goers by giving them the opportunity to interact with the artist by rolling a die to determine his fate. Derr places four video cameras on his body and moves throughout the city in the direction determined by what number is shown on the die. Another piece, The Uncanny Road Ahead, uses virtual reality technology to immerse players in the virtual environment. I attended the event myself to exhibit Orbital Colony as interactive art and storytelling, but the IDEAS Festival had an ARG of its own, IDEAS Festival 1906. I actually was lucky enough to take part in a live finale for the game during the show:

One of the characters, Director Anderson, entered the hall and announced that he was going to exhibit a game from the future called Non Compos Mentis. This was the cue to begin my mission. I nervously made my way through the halls of the university building, keeping an eye out for Anderson’s cronies. Agent Sueno and Silas McGuffin were counting on me to retrieve the evidence they needed to bring down Director Anderson. I made my way to the locker and unlocked it with the combination they had given me. I found enough evidence inside to ensure that Anderson was going to be brought to justice. Soon after, I joined Sueno and McGuffin to confront Anderson and show him the video of his future arrest.

Overall, the most exciting part of the festival was the high level of awareness about Alternate Reality Games. A surprising number of people in attendance knew what an ARG was and could name at least one example. Most of those who weren’t already familiar with the genre were very interested in learning more.

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