Author: Steve Peters (Page 13 of 25)

Original Owner, Godfather of ARG
Steve was the creator and original owner of argn.com. After three years of authoring articles, Steve moved on to bigger and better things at No Mimes Media. During his time here, Steve was also one of the puppetmasters for the popular ARG Project MU. He is affectionately known as the Godfather of ARG.

Perplex City Ramping Up

December 15, 2004 / Steve Peters

Perplex City has been reaching out and touching real world locations in the form of an intriguing postcard that has been found in airports, Starbucks, and on college campuses around the world (North Carolina, Cambridge UK and Balogna Italy, so far). A message on the back is yet another communique from someone calling themselves Sente, asking for help in finding a missing cube. The postcard includes references to the Perplex City Academy, Academy tours, a gift shop, and the game’s trailhead website at perplexcity.com. Upon closer scrutiny, the postcard has revealed some hidden messages as well, but we’ll leave that for your own discovery.

Word is that Perplex City will be launching in early 2005, so it seems this is their cool way of starting to get the word out. We’ll be watching this one carefully for developments.

Discussion at Unfiction
Chat in #syzygy
Primer
Netninja Reference Pages

ARG: PandoraNext

December 13, 2004 / Steve Peters

Deaddrop reports that PandoraNext will be launching on December 22nd. Word is that this will have some sort of multi-team player element to it, so it will be very interesting to see where it will go.

This will actually be a re-launch of the game, as it originally got started back in October, but was put on hold after just 2 1/2 weeks due to various timing and gameplay issues. These will have been addressed this time around, so it looks like everything will be more robust. Players have already gotten an initial response by emailing [email protected].

Discussion at Unfiction
Chat in #pandoranext

ARGN Chat Client Back On Line

December 10, 2004 / Steve Peters

As part of the ongoing server upgrades, etc. going on around here, we’ve gotten the ARGN IRC chat applet back on line. This is a browser-based IRC client that can be used in lieu of installing a dedicated IRC application on your computer, similar to the applet over at unfiction. This latest version enables connection to multiple channels at once, among other cool things.

So, if you’ve never stopped in to say hello, now’s a perfect time. Simply let the applet load, choose a channel and a nickname and hit the connect button. There’s usually something happening in #unfiction (the general ARG chat area), but there are also dedicated channels for the various games going on.

Ilovebees-Inspired Artwork to Raise Money for Charity

December 9, 2004 / Steve Peters

Artist Charles Allen Harris has announced that he will donate 50% of sales on his prints, to Child’s Play, the Penny Arcade Led Gamer Charity. Notably, one of his prints was inspired by the recent Ilovebees ARG, entitled Melissa-The Operator.

So, if you’ve got a Beekeeper on your Christmas list, pick up a Melissa print and help a great charity at the same time. 🙂

ARG: Daemon Works

December 2, 2004 / Steve Peters

Daemon Works, which bills itself as a new Alternate Reality Game, has been gaining momentum since its launch on October 31st. While it may or may not be your typical ARG, it does seem to be living up to its claim of being a “website puzzle intended to be solved collaboratively.”

As far as we can tell, there is a compelling series of challenges being revealed, along with a plot involving a missing girl named Jill and the town of Idunn, CT. Hmmm, Idunn and its links to the quest for immortality (sounds….familiar, somehow). Overall, the player seems to be being led through a series of puzzles by a mysterious figure, reminiscent of the game Missing. Who is behind all this? What happened to Jill? Stop by the forums below and help solve the mystery!

Discussion on Unfiction

Project MU Anniversary Tribute and Book Release

November 30, 2004 / Steve Peters

October 1st marked the one-year anniversary of Project MU, a grassroots ARG that was based in the Matrix universe. To commemorate the occasion, some of the more dedicated players created an anniverary puzzle trail that took folks on a trip down memory lane, complete with some pretty tough puzzles.

The trail was finally completed today, and led to a nice credits page and a link to an online book that chronicles the Project MU experience for those who may have missed it. It provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of the players and puppetmasters alike, and was obviously a labor of love to compile. If you’ve got some spare time, grab a cup of coffee and sit down for an entertaining read.

Mad props go out to giskard, wishi, xnbomb and yanka for a job well done. If anyone wants to recruit some pm’s for a future ARG, you know where to look! 🙂