Category: News (Page 73 of 183)

JC Hutchins thinks you should be taken to the brink and committed

March 9, 2009 / Michael Andersen

brinkvale Last November, podcast novelist and author JC Hutchins spoke with ARGNet about his upcoming transmedia novel Personal Effects: Dark Art, produced by Smith & Tinker. In the interview, Hutchins explained that a number of online-based transmedia experiences would be released prior to the book’s release that would leverage his strengths as both a storyteller and a podcaster. Earlier this weekend, Hutchins announced that he was seeking volunteers interested in becoming committed…to an insane asylum.

By visiting JCHutchins.net/thebrink, volunteers can commit themselves to Brinkvale Psychiatric Hospital. After filling out their patient profile, volunteers receive their admittance papers and are eligible to submit their “art assignments” to Brinkvale’s art therapist and Personal Effects protagonist Zach Taylor. Submissions will appear in The Brink’s patient gallery. The first assignment, Your Mad World, is already available.

ARG Lab: UT Dallas Class Offers Practicum in ARG Design

March 9, 2009 / Michael Andersen

Last fall, veteran alternate reality game designer Adam Brackin taught a class on alternate reality gaming at the University of Texas at Dallas’ Emerging Media and Communications program. The course required graduate students interested in the developing field to read a series of academic works on the subject, learn about the history of the genre, and follow a currently running game. This semester, Brackin is offering students the opportunity to put their theoretical knowledge to the test with the ARG Lab, a class where students will design their own six-week long alternate reality game, scheduled to launch in early April.

Brackin’s graduate students seem eager to trade their tuition dollars for the opportunity to experiment with game development through the practicum. Candace Barnhill, one of the ARG Lab students, explains that “we learned so much about the history of ARGs and player experiences last semester that I coudn’t resist a peek behind the curtain. I had no idea PMs did so much to prepare for what often appears to be player developed.”

Roller coaster enters phone booth, exits as alternate reality game

March 9, 2009 / Nicko Demeter

Up in the sky! Itâ€™s a birdâ€¦itâ€™s a planeâ€¦itâ€™s the New Superman ARG!

A new project set in the world created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born artist Joe Shuster in 1932, this alternate reality game is taking an interesting shape. Within the boundaries of the game, the existence of Superman is recognized, but in a way that a citizen of Metropolis would — by having Superman be a very real super-hero within their â€œuniverseâ€.

The game includes Clawshun Industries, a company hired by Six Flags to build a Superman ride. However, a little bit of investigation on the companyâ€™s site informs that Clawshun is actually owned LexCorp, the fictional conglomerate steered by none other than Lex Luthor, Supermanâ€™s nemesis.

Six Minutes to Midnight: Watchmen goes interactive (sort-of)

March 4, 2009 / Jonathan Waite

A mere two days before the release of The Watchmen, the highly anticipated film version of the famous graphic novel, another viral web site has launched, and this time, participants are thrust into the middle of a narrated peek at the six main characters of the story. Six Minutes to Midnight is the latest in a long string of web-based buzz-generating campaigns promoting the film, and has the look and feel similar to Eagle Eye: Freefall, the enjoyable 10-minute experience first discovered in September 2008.

Upon arriving at the site, players are asked to provide their first name and, if they feel up to it, their phone number — so far, U.S. and Canadian numbers have been proven to work. For those that choose the web-only version, the experience kicks off with an introductory video and then jumps into the game, whereas those brave enough to enter their digits are treated to a phone call (complete with a Warner Brothers pre-amble about a do-not-call list, yuck) as the intro video kicks in. Either way, the end result is the same — the player’s job is to enter words into a text box based on what they see within a looping, changing ink blot image. Figure out the correct terms, earn a reward: a video clip montage of each of the six characters, narrated by Rorschach himself (we assume).

Skynet Researchâ€™s Glowing Gift

February 24, 2009 / Robbie Smith

Remember Skynet Research? On Friday the 13th the mysterious Terminator site went live, and users who had previously signed up for updates returned to find a fully functional website with company bios, contact information, testimonials and outreach efforts. There was also a robotic community page that detailed Skynetâ€™s Enhancement Module 101, a product guaranteed to improve the functionality of any robot. Of course, being a proper ARGamer I requested a module with little hope of anything actually happening, but then the whispers started over on the Unfiction forums, where some members claimed they had actually gotten an Enhancement Module in the mail. Incredulous, I went about my business until today, when I found a small box in the mail from Skynet Research.

Tucked inside the box was the Enhancement Module in all its glory. While in all actuality it is just a piece of flickering plastic, I still found myself upset I didnâ€™t have a robot to attach it to. The paperwork seemed to hint at the fact that Skynet would take over any robot that was â€œenhancedâ€ and I dearly wanted to see the carnage that would follow from such a hostile takeover.

All Enhancement Modules aside, the accompanying paperwork included proof without a doubt that Skynet Research is an ARG for the Terminator: Salvation film that will hit theaters on May 22nd, a date the installation sheet reiterated for its readers. While the puppetmasters acknowledged that the module was a â€œThank youâ€ for playing along, they still encouraged players to take part in the ARG and submit user-created videos detailing their newly enhanced robots.

Skeleton Creek

February 22, 2009 / Nicko Demeter

For those of you looking for a great cross-media spooky mystery comes Skeleton Creek, a half book, half movie experience by best selling author Patrick Carman. Published by Scholastic Press, the book serves as the doorway to the world of Sarah Fincher and Ryan McCray as they try to solve the mystery of Skeleton Creek. Their challenges come in the form of ghosts, mysterious park rangers, and other discoveries that set the path for their adventure — to which the reader, of course, has a front row seat. Ryan is hurt early on in the story, during one of his and Sarah’s first escapades, and so he resorts to writing down his thoughts in his journal (which is the book) and watching the videos that Sarah provides him via her password protected website (which is the movie element).

Due to the nature of this work, one could not just read the book or watch only the movies and get the entire story. Both media are intricately tied together and work to give the reader/viewer a sense of the story and the world of Skeleton Creek. However, even as the reader reaches the end of the book and has watched all of Sarah’s movies, the Skeleton Creek experience is not over.