Through the course of today, ARGNet may or may not have been unavailable, or may have been slow or sluggish. Our host has had sporadic, random problems with their servers today, especially (we found, anyway) with their SQL servers. We apologize if the site was misbehaving for anyone earlier, but things seem to be fine now, so hopefully they have their problems fixed.
Category: Announcements (Page 9 of 16)
Do you like spending money? How would you like your very own American Express Black card? If the answer to either of those questions is yes, I have some good news for you. Jackie Turnure (Rockpool Productions and LAMP Story Mentor) won a Content 360 award at Milia 2007 in April for her Alternate Reality Game, “Diamond Reef”. As the Ogilvy One Worldwide Category winner at the conference, Jackie is engaged in talks with American Express to get the project underway, with a development prize of 10,000 euros. Milia is an annual conference in Cannes, France that brings together content creators, producers, and distributors to conduct business and discuss the future of creative content.
The award-winning “Diamond Reef” alternate reality game centers around the American Express online credit card. While following a gripping tale of adventure and intrigue, players will explore the features of American Express credit cards within the spy thriller format. Jackie describes the project as a collaborative online treasure hunt paying homage to James Bond stories: in her words,
The world’s most expensive diamond has been stolen, a beautiful young woman has gone missing, and you must find the diamond and rescue the girl, using your American Express card. This alternate reality game is an interactive treasure hunt where clues and story are distributed across the real and virtual worlds. And the stakes are high – if you are one of the top 10 players to solve the mystery, you win 10,000 euros!
Players are issued a Blue Amex card and make numerous virtual purchases both on their own and in groups to arrange for DNA tests, billboard purchases and package deliveries. Through the course of the game, savvy players will see their cards upgraded from Blue to Green to Gold and finally to the famed Black American Express card in an extended experience. A game that integrates money management with mystery solving should be a novel experience. And with the backing and support of OgilvyOne Worldwide, a major player in the advertising world, this game has the potential for truly redefining the cross-media experience.
Although a launch date for “Diamond Reef” has not yet been set, keep your eyes peeled over the next few months for updates on this exciting project. This might be your only chance to experience the American Express Black card firsthand, unless you have a rich great-uncle on his deathbed who always thought of you as his favorite.
We here at ARGNet would like to recognize the addition of a new team member, and the promotion of another. First, we’re happy to announce that long-time ARG community member Celina Beach (aka celina63) has joined our staff, and has already published a great article about Project Osprey. Celina was an invaluable resource at the latest ARGFest, recording video of all the panel discussions, which were later encoded and uploaded to Youtube. She is also a frequent panelist on the ARG Netcast series. Welcome, Celina!
Second, we’re ecstatic to tell you that Marie Lamb has moved up in the ARGNet ranks to become an associate editor. For those unaware of the responsibilities involved, Marie now has the dubious distinction of reading through, proofreading and publishing staff and reader-submitted articles, as well as answering emails and messages sent through our contact form. This is a big responsibility, especially for a volunteer (which we all still are), so we’re very grateful to the very lovely and wonderful Marie. She will work with Jessica Price and me to make sure that all the news that’s fit to print will get out to our readers in a timely fashion.
Speaking of articles, are you up for the task of writing short, blurbtastic news items about currently active games? Do you have a rumor that you want your fellow readers to know about? Is there a feature article or editorial burning in the back of your mind that you simply must publish before it gives you a stroke? Well, we’ve got a deal for you — ARGNet is looking for writers, and we think you might be someone we’re looking for. We have openings for staff writers who are interested in working in a professional(ish), fun, interesting environment, so if you want to help us crank the news out as a volunteer writer, drop us a line.
As the steady stream of news concerning alternate reality news continues to keep us very busy here at ARGNet, we are pleased to announce the addition of six staff members since we put out our open call for writers in January. Joining us are Jessie Greene, Michael Andersen, Brian Clark, Will Emigh, Geoff May and Andy Darley — be sure to check out their work at our author archive, and to read their bios at our staff page.
A press release issued earlier today outlines great news for alternate reality gaming community site Unfiction. The site has received its largest donation to date of $8,000 from Perplex City Season One winner and Unfiction forum member Andy Darley (Rand0m).
Darley, who made news last month after finding the Receda Cube and earning $200,000 (US) as part of the Perplex City ARG, explained his generous donation by saying, “Perplex City is the first ARG to end with a significant sum of money in the hands of one of its players, and it’s only right that some of that money should find its way back to benefit the whole ARG community.” Explaining why he chose Unfiction, he added, “While Unfiction certainly isn’t the only place where PXC players gather – indeed it may no longer even be the main place – it’s still the biggest and most important resource for players across the broad spectrum of ARGs”.
With over 13,000 registered members, Unfiction is the largest online community dedicated towards the promotion and discussion of Alternate Reality Games, chaotic fiction, and related puzzles. In addition to providing the server space for game discussion and archival, Unfiction is responsible for sponsoring ARGFest-o-Con, a yearly conference that allows players and developers to get together for a weekend of discussions on the genre.
Unfiction founder (and ARGNet staff writer) Sean C. Stacey expressed his gratitude for Darley’s generous donation, and announced plans to use the funds to develop alternative revenue streams and to help defray the site’s operating costs. Past efforts to subsidize operating and hosting costs at Unfiction have included a donation drive and a Perplex City-themed online auction, and similar efforts will continue to take place including another series of online auctions scheduled to occur later this month.
It’s a whole new world for the ARG Netcast series. We have our spiffy new website, and a whole new attitude. It’s like Extreme Makeover, ARG style! Episode 14‘s panel, hosted by ARGnet‘s Jonathan Waite, includes Jessica Price, Marie Lamb, Jackie Kerr, and Sean C. Stacey. Subscribe to the ARG Netcast feed through this link or via iTunes.
Head over to the new site for all of the details. Please note: because of the move to the new site, the iTunes podcast number has changed, so many of you regular subscribers will need to update your bookmarks in iTunes.
simulacra
generation loss
escape rooms
meow wolf
welcome home
black watchmen