Category: Info (Page 12 of 16)

Sammeeeees PM Looks a Little Lonely

May 31, 2007 / Jessica Price

Recently, ARGNet learned that Jan Libby, solo PM of the popular indie game Sammeeeees, has joined the Lonelygirl15 team. She began by writing a recent Lonelygirl video, “Sing With Me,” and it sounds like we will be seeing a lot more of her work in the future.

“In addition to writing videos, Jan is also taking a leadership role in implementing more puzzles and interactivity into our show. We are thrilled to be working with her,” says Greg Goodfried, an executive producer for the series.

Jan herself adds, “I have found my eternal song with LG15! 😉 Seriously, Greg, Mesh, Miles, and Amanda make the collaboration process so much fun. I’m having a blast — although this ‘no curtain’ PM stuff will take some getting used to.”

We congratulate both parties on what we hope will be an exciting and productive relationship on both sides of the curtain, and look forward to seeing what’s in store for LG15! We would also like to congratulate the team on their recent Webby award — a well-deserved accolade for this engaging series.

Catch up on the Lonelygirl15 series at YouTube, or discuss the announcement at Unfiction.

Transcript Published for SXSW ARG Panel

May 25, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

Dan Hon was kind enough to send us an email letting us know that the transcript from the 2007 SWSX panel discussion “ARG! The Attack of the Alternate Reality Games” is pubished on his blog, Extenuating Circumstances. Alice Taylor, the Vice President of Digital Content at the BBC, was the moderator for the panel which included Hon (also the COO of Mind Candy), Brian Clark (Founder/CEO, GMD Studios/IndieWire), Evan Jones (Creative Director/Producer at Stitch Media) and Brooke Thompson (Giant Mice and ARGNet).

There is a lot of information to sift through, as the panel talks about everything from how ARG is still “emerging” to how budgets are created. Thanks, Dan.

42 Entertainment to be Featured on Spike TV Program

April 19, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

Alternate reality gaming has enjoyed a great deal of mainstream press lately, particularly for games like Year Zero and World Without Oil. Tomorrow night, 42 Entertainment will be featured on Spike TV’s Game Head, a “half-hour weekly program dedicated to everything that is happening in the world of video games,” according to the Spike TV web site. While the show description is interesting enough, a more intriguing tidbit of information game in a game tip sent in to ARGNet which states to watch the show closely, as there may be “something you are missing!”

If you are able to watch Spike, the show airs at 1 AM EST on “Friday” (technically, Saturday) / 10 PM PST on Friday. If you happen to miss it, there is a video archive on the show’s web site, but there’s no indication how long this episode will take to show up there after airing. So, just watch it!

The Brooke Thompson 2007 Conference Tour, Part One

March 25, 2007 / Brooke Thompson

Editor’s note: Brooke Thompson is back after a whirlwind tour of some of the biggest festivals so far this year. She attended the Game Developer’s Conference and was a speaker at the South By Southwest (SXSW) and ARGFest-o-Con conferences. This article is the first in a series about her experiences.

What happens when you spend 15 days on the road traveling from conference to conference? You get just about nothing done, including writing reports from the road for one of the greatest websites on the internet (that’d be ARGNet, of course). At first this distressed me, but then I realized that most of the conference sessions that I had attended were well documented on blogs and news sites â€“ some nearly word for word! â€“ and that waiting allowed the experiences that I had to sink in and meld together into a bigger picture. It’s that picture that I hope to paint for you over the next few articles.

The thing that I realized as I traveled from ARGfest to GDC to SXSW is that Alternate Reality Gaming is leading the future of entertainment.

We’ve been saying that for a long time. So, what’s different? What’s changed?

The word is out. People hear “Alternate Reality Game” or “ARG” and they understand what you are talking about. I don’t mean to say that everyone that I met understood it, but if I walked into a crowd at least one or two people did and they were able to get the rest of the crowd excited and curious. And explaining it to those that have never heard of ARGs is easier today than it’s ever been. People might not know that Lonelygirl15 has an alternate reality game component, but they’ve heard of it and when you talk about how the story is out there and it’s fiction outside of a book or TV show and, in fact, might send you an email or call you on the phone â€“ they get it. It doesn’t seem strange, it seems cool.

Rand0m Act Of Kindness

March 22, 2007 / Michael Andersen

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.”Â 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.Â In addition to providing the server space for game discussion and archival, Unfiction is responsible for sponsoringÂ 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.

ARG Netcast, Episode 9.5

January 15, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

In this supplemental, special netcast, the panel from episode 9 return to talk about ARGFest-O-Con. This is a very informative, relatively short netcast dedicated solely to discussion about the 7th installment of the ARG discussion conference and social get-together. Subscribe to the ARG Netcast feed through FeedBurner or via iTunes.

What’s the story?

ARGFest-O-Con 2007 is the 7th in a series of social events for the alternate reality gaming community. From the website: ARGFest-o-Con 2007 will be held Friday through Sunday, March 2-4, 2007, in San Francisco, California, USA. The focus will be on â€œHow to PM a Gameâ€ and â€œthe Future of ARGsâ€ (these are working titles).
The web site has a handy wiki where people interested in the event can communicate with attendees, view schedules (under construction), and get information on accommodations.
Speakers for the event, so far and officially announced, include Adrian Hon (Mind Candy), Evan Jones (xenophile), Kristen Rutherford, Brooke Thompson (Giant Mice), Krystyn Wells (glitterbook), Sean C. Stacey (Unfiction), speakers from sf0, Dave Szulborski, Brian Clark (GMD Studios), Jane McGonigal (avant game), Steve Peters (42 Entertainment), and keynote speakers Elan Lee and Sean Stewart of 42 Entertainment. Stewart will also be signing books at the event.
Events are still being planned, and restaurants are still being chosen for social gatherings.
Registration for the event is $10 US, which gets you a neat-o registration package. Registration will be available online soon, watch the web site for updates.
A Fest Quest is in order, but the organizers need locals to step in and help out. Sponsors are needed to help out with costs. Also, if you are particularly good at dealing with the media (who have expressed much interest), there’s a job waiting for you. Contact us here at ARGNet if you are available to help out with any of these situations.
A T-Shirt contest is open for the event, but will close soon. There’s a fabulous prize available, so enter now and enter often!
We go on (and on, and on) about how much fun these fests are. You just have to attend.

Contact us at our special netcast email address, [email protected] with your tips, suggestions, concerns and submissions. Call us on our ARGNet voicemail at 630-274-5425.