Category: Announcements (Page 7 of 16)

ARGNet Owner/Editor to appear on Irish talk radio morning show

October 30, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

So, it turns out that the folks in the Emerald Isle are itching for news on alternate reality gaming. After RTÃ‰ news ran a nice feature about Traces of Hope earlier in the month (which featured a brief appearance by yours truly), the newstalk radio station has called and arranged for a chat about ARGs on October 31st at 10:45 am local time (and yes, as I write this, that’s only a few hours away, at 6:45 am ET).

I am pleased to be a part of the on-air discussion, and hope that a few of our readers will be able to tune in, either on the radio or via the live Internet audio stream.

Editor’s note 10-31-08: Leave it to me to leave out the time zone. Added, but the interview has already happened. Watch this site for a downloadable mp3 version.)

Six years, 648 entries later, we still like ARGs

October 1, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

Birthday cake Whew! Just before the stroke of midnight, I’m ecstatic to say happy birthday to us! Yes, it’s been six years (give or take a few days) since this web site went live, and while the first article was the infamous sixteen word epic Forums Closed, it was really the second post on October 1, 2002 that kicked off what ARGNet (then ARGN) was to become.

Thanks to all of our wonderful staff members, our dedicated volunteers, and our network partners who continue to lend their hearts and minds to this site, and extra special thanks to the readers who visit for the latest info on the best damn game genre on the planet. We’re happy to keep on keepin’ on. To another year, huzzah!

(Oh, and lest we forget, this is also the five year anniversary of the wildly popular alternate reality game Metacortechs. Read all about it at the Unfiction forums archive. Stol!)

ARGNet gets YouTube’d, Twitterpated!

September 15, 2008 / Marie Lamb

ARGNet is pleased to announce our brand-new and shiny YouTube channel, argnetwork. Now playing: “ARGs and Extended Media Experiences,” the first panel from this year’s ARGFest-o-Con in Boston. Due to YouTube upload limits, we had to break it into six pieces, but it’s all there.

The rest of the panels will go up as fast as we can get to them. Attendees can relive the thrill of professional tattooed bodybuilders and black-bearded Grand Inquisitors, and if you weren’t there you can now see what you missed. We will also be moving over the ARG Video Netcasts as soon as possible. Enjoy!

Also, we might as well make our official announcement of the ARGNet Twitter account. Twitter is a great micro-blogging service that works well with announcements. So far, we’ve used it in an unofficial capacity for breaking news and article announcements, but we figure it’s time to make it official. Unfortunately for some, this means the end of the announcement email subscription, which will be phased out by October 1st. So, if you want the latest news on alternate reality games and related items, follow us on Twitter!

We’re helping to create the future at PICNIC ’08

September 3, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

PICNIC 08 Logo Back in 2006, a cross-media festival in Amsterdam called PICNIC ’06 caught the eye of our friend and cohort Sean C. Stacey. Billing itself as the “first ever annual event for people interested and involved in cross media content and technology in Europe, North America and Asia,” speakers included John de Mol, Philip Rosedale and Craig Newmark. It also included a presentation by the ARG IGDA SIG, who talked about their first published white paper. The conference was a smashing success, and plans were made for the following year’s festival.

In 2007, PICNIC ’07 expanded on the format of the previous year, incorporating nightly entertainment, partner events and a Green Challenge with their speaker presentations. Sir Richard Branson got involved with the Green Challenge, and visionaries such as Cory Doctorow, Walt Mossberg and Dennis Crowley delivered speeches and participated in discussion panels. Our man on the scene, Daniel van Gool, was especially impressed by a trio of speakers — Eduardo Dias, David Polinchock and Jeroen Mol, who collaborated on a presentation called “Augmented Reality for Advertisers.”

This brings us to 2008, and another installment of the popular cross-media festival. Things kick off on September 24th, and once again ARGNet is a proud media sponsor of the event. This year’s conference will feature a wide range of speakers which include Jyri EngEstrÃ¶m, a co-founder of social networking site Jaiku, Martin de Ronde of the Onebiggame charity, and Kara Swisher from AllThingsD.com, a tech and media web site. There are also special events planned for each day of the festival, such as book releases and breakfast sessions with speakers, and PICNIC Labs, which are “practical workshops that challenge you to re-imagine your business, develop new products and services, refine ideas and formats and come up with creative business concepts.” Daniel van Gool will once again attend the conference for ARGNet, and we’re looking forward to more of his stellar reporting and analysis.

You too can attend PICNIC ’08, and because you are such wonderful, loyal readers of this little news site, you get a discount! So, if you plan on being in the Westergasfabriek area of Amsterdam and want to save a few bucks on attendance costs, click the link below for details on how to register and to find out how to apply the discount code.

Puffin Books Announces “The Shadow War”: Young Bond ARG for Young Players

August 11, 2008 / Michael Andersen

The Shadow War logo Puffin Books announced the launch of The Shadow War, an alternate reality game set in the Bond universe. The game was designed by Six to Start and written by Charlie Higson to create a parallel experience for Higson’s newest Young Bond novel, By Royal Command. The series is intended for 9-14 year old children, and has sold over three-quarters of a million copies in the UK alone. Over 35,000 fans of the series are registered as members of The Danger Society over at YoungBond.com. While the Shadow War is intended for children 9 years and older, the young at heart are still permitted to play.

The game is comprised of seven missions spanning seven weeks, culminating in a live event on October 8th featuring Charlie Higson, allowing players to ask questions and influence the game. Each mission takes about an hour, and allows players to work as a British SIS agent or a Soviet OGPU spy, exploring familiar locations. Player decisions will directly influence the outcome of the game. Players can join and leave at any point, and can even switch sides if they choose to defect.

Penguin Group has been experimenting with book publishing, most recently with We Tell Stories, a reimagining of six classic novels using different media created with the help of Six to Start. In addition, Jasper Fforde released an alternate reality game to promote his most recent Thursday Next novel under the Penguin imprint, First Among Sequels.

The first mission for The Shadow War will be revealed by Charlie Higson at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on August 23rd. The festival will also feature a panel exploring the future of ARGs including Dan Hon (Six to Start), Alex Fleetwood (Hide & Seek), David Varela (formerly of Mind Candy), and Yomi Ayeni (Expanding Universe).

ARGNet is SciFi’s Site of the Week!

July 23, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

SciFi logo As television stations go, we’re big fans of Sci Fi, and not just because they named us the Site of the Week earlier today. With original programming like Battlestar Galactica (the best show on television), the 4400 (which had an ARG of it’s own) and the Stargate series, it’s hard not to be a fan of the network.

Thanks to Ken Newquist at Sci Fi for recognizing our efforts here at ARGNet, and as we told him in an email a few minutes ago, it comes at a great time for us, as we have a series of articles coming this week on ARGFest-o-Con 2008, which officially wrapped upon Sunday this past weekend. Look for the first in the series to hit the site later today, with the rest coming in the next few days!