Category: News (Page 79 of 183)

Remember to Breathe

December 22, 2008 / John Fogg

The puppet masters who brought you Violette’s Dream are hard at work on an ambitious new project guaranteed to take your breath away. Breathe is being billed as a multi-media murder mystery that is a mash-up of film, alternate reality gaming and Web 2.0 media, which allows the story to unfold in both the real and cyber worlds. Headquartered in London, Expanding Universe is quickly making a name for itself in media circles by developing what it calls “immersive and innovative social entertainment”. Breathe shouldn’t leave anyone disappointed.

An official summary from the creators has this to say:

“Set over a four-week period, viewers watch (four 15) minute shorts, and try to help Detective (John) Franks solve the case by working through puzzles, infiltrating the underground club scene, trying to locate the venue, and save the next victim from running out of air. Using blogs, YouTube, GPS, telephone, secret meetings, IM, auditions, immersive role-play, cinema, and music, Breathe stands to be one of the most audacious multi-media experiences to leap from a cinema screen–‘all you have to do is breathe…'”

Player/Participants will first find their way into Breathe’s dark and dangerous world through a traditional ARG investigating a series of horrific nightclub murders. But they will soon find themselves rubbing shoulders with the characters at real life events and maybe becoming part of the story themselves (hopefully not in the role of victim).

Expanding Universe hopes to build different versions of the story in different cities to maximize scale and client base, and nothing creates ARG buzz faster than a real life event. We’ve seen some well orchestrated, large scale efforts in the past, but imagine a nightclub filled with pounding music, pulsing lights, and more than a thousand people taking part in the story. Not just participating, but creating it as well. That is the vision behind Breathe, and if those clever folks at Expanding Universe can pull it off, it might spark a brand new trend in cross-platform entertainment.

Yomi Ayeni, the Creative Director for Expanding Universe, is hard at work outlining and scripting the action, prepping the project for roll-out sometime in 2009 (financing permitting). While the online story will be available to the entire ARG community, only those lucky enough to be in the UK will get to participate in the real life events. But take heart, Ayeni said that at the conclusion of each city’s edition, Expanding Universe could put out complete versions, perhaps on DVD, or online, that could both let everyone see how it played out.

A Nice Place to Visit, but…

December 22, 2008 / Robbie Smith

Looking for a haunting thriller to keep your mind occupied? Transition Village, a world that exists between the realm of the living and the dead, calls upon its players to help wayward ghosts settle past accounts and finally find peace. Funnel Production’s newest alternate reality game is a text-based adventure that requires code breaking, imagination, and teamwork.

Getting into the game is a challenge–there are only five “houses” available, and players have to join a waiting list before playing–but once your number is called the fun begins. To join the adventure simply e-mail [email protected] with the subject heading “Request to Enter Village,” and you will soon receive a summons to a village like no other.

Natalie Ross needs your puzzle solving skills!

December 21, 2008 / John Fogg

G’day Mate! Australia is hosting an international ambassadorial meeting and Natalie Ross has asked folks over at Unfiction if they could help out with the event.Â Actually she is just trying to figure out the table arrangements, but it’s still a once in a lifetime opportunity to hone your diplomatic skills!

Meanwhile, coded messages from crack cryptographer Martin Bryce has alerted Ms. Ross that security for the event is in doubt, and an anonymous letter warns that the safety of the conference has been compromised. Together, Natalie and Martin are hard at work down under trying to protect the diplomats while they’re in Sydney, but things are getting out of hand and they need the problem solving skills of all you ARG’ers out there to get to the bottom of this!

Help avoid a devastating international incident by jumping onto the trailhead at ambassadorconferenceinfo.blogspot.com. An Unfiction forums thread has been created to help sort data as well.

Help! We need somebody(s)!

December 14, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

Holy smokes, it’s almost 2009! It’s been another great year for us here at ARGNet and I owe it all to the wonderful volunteers that research, write, edit and publish articles for this site. Without them, ARGNet would be a tumbleweed blowing in the breeze, so my hat is off to all of those that contribute here.

Of course, we’re always looking for writers and contributors to this site, and we haven’t made an open call for writers in quite a while, so here is a repost from February of 2007:

If you are someone who is dependable, honest, and willing to write an article for ARGNet once a month, we’re looking for you. The submission guidelines are as follows:

1. Write a 100-150 word blurb-style article on any currently running game. For recent examples, see ARGNet Owner/Editor to appear on Irish talk radio morning show and Update: Ghosts of a Chance Live Event.

2. Write a 400-500 word feature article about any of these topics: 1) a game, current or historical; 2) an interesting story or aspect of the ARG community; 3) a topic of interest to the ARGNet readership; 4) being a puppetmaster or behind-the-scenes game creator.

Submissions need to be sent in to [email protected] by 11:59 pm (CST, GMT -6) by this Friday, December 19th, 2008. Naturally, spelling and grammar count, and a submission does not guarantee an invite to join the ARGNet staff.

We’re also interested in identifying key members of the community who would be willing and able to act as researchers and stringers for currently running ARGs. If you’re an avid player and have time to provide ARGNet staff members with highlight reels of games, but not enough time to dedicate to writing entire articles, we still want you! Send an email to [email protected] and we’ll add you to our growing list of community researchers.

One final bit of volunteer goodness: We will be moving ARGNet from Movable Type to a WordPress installation by Q1 2009 and require beta testers for the new site. These testers would be invited to tag articles and assign proper categories for articles that already exist, as well as adjusting HTML code for images. Some technical knowledge is a bonus, but the process is fairly easy once we get you started. If you’d be interested in this endeavor, you can send your name to the [email protected] email address as well.

Alma’s Back? Armacham Corporate Website Goes Viral

December 1, 2008 / Brandie Minchew

Something wicked is stirring at Armacham Technology Corporation, a well-known organization from Monolith Productions’ survival horror title, F.E.A.R. With just a few months until the release of F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin in February, it appears that a viral campaign is being launched to promote the new title. For the past two weeks, Armacham Corporate has been experiencing website malfunctions that allow visitors to take a peek into the inner workings and upcoming activities of the company.

The Armacham site appears to be a perfectly normal website showcasing its new line of sub machine guns, and also a new item regarding “Level II Recruitment”. Clicking on any part of the page causes the screen to dissolve in a flood of critical errors. (During the distortions, sharp eyes may notice the distortion of the error link from http://www.armacham.com to http://www.almasback.com, a currently unregistered domain. Watch the link on the 404 page very closely, just before the distortion begins.) Next, what appears to be an auto-login sends site visitors into the account of Dr. Richard Findes, a biomechanical specialist at Armacham who has expressed concerns over ethics breaches occurring within the company.

A camera feed embedded in the site interface shows disturbing footage from inside Armacham. Dr. Findes apparently has good cause to worry over something going badly wrong within the corporation.

Although it seems that the hapless Dr. Findes has been locked out of many of his account permissions (many of the links result in “Access Denied” errors), his email is still accessible, revealing communications from W. Reid, K. VonScriptor, J. Karsberg, and W. Wallace, some with attachments that may contain vital clues. Findes has apparently missed a lunch meeting with Reid. Is he missing or on the run?

The corporate calendar indicates that Armacham has initiated a recruiting program centered around “virtual evaluation and testing of potential candidates via gaming community”. Armacham recruiters were spotted testing attendees at Wizard World Dallas on November 7-9 and at Atlanta Supercon on November 21 and 22 in Atlanta, Georgia. The next marked calendar date is December 3, for meetings and tours located in Orlando and Tampa, Florida to sites including Walt Disney World, Sea World, Andrews Air Force Base, and CentCom.

Someone is keeping an eye on Armacham’s recruiting movements and warning others not to participate in their tests and so-called FEAR Labs. A letter accompanying a briefcase sent to Geeks of Doom instructed the receiver NOT to participate in FEAR Labs under any circumstances and to watch projectorigincommunity.com for the combination to open the briefcase. The handwritten letter was signed “R” – for “Richard”, perhaps? Kotaku also received a letter that contained a key and directions to a storage unit where another briefcase was found. Kotaku’s letter included a DVD, the contents of which are posted in the above-linked entry. Phillip DeFranco of PhillyD TV was also mystified at receiving the spooky briefcase and videoed its retrieval from the storage unit. Everyone who received a briefcase is on a “list” at Armacham, according to the mysterious Mr. R, who wants to make sure word gets out about these suspicious Armacham tests. Mr. R will log in to the Project Origin community site as “Case Man” on December 5th.

Join in the Unfiction discussion here. If you’re approached by anyone wearing the Armacham logo, proceed with caution.

Scholastic set to Shock its readers

November 19, 2008 / Geoff May

Hot on the heels of the launch of the novel series The 39 Clues and its significant online experience aimed at young readers, Scholastic is working together with author M.G. Harris to create an extended experience for the second book in her series “The Joshua Files”, named ICE SHOCK.

“The Joshua Files” is a book series aimed at young readers 10+ years of age, much like 39 Clues. Harris’ first book, Invisible City, was released Feb 4, 2008 in the UK as the first book of this series. Harris drops hints about the upcoming novel and ARG in her website’s blog for her fans – she even asks if they’d rather hear more about Ice Shock‘s upcoming plot, or rumours about the alternate reality game. Harris and Scholastic plan to launch the ARG in March of 2009, and until then, she’ll be keeping her fans occupied and interested with teasers and contests.

At the time of this writing, Harris is running a contest for a bound proof of Ice Shock – using a code key, readers are challenged to find a hidden word in the content of Invisible City. Submit the word and register, and you may win. The contest, however, is only open to residents of the UK and Ireland.

Information about the ARG at this point is fairly hush-hush, but we know it’s coming. Stay tuned to her website for details if/when they’re released.

Invisible City: An ancient civilization is awakening. An ancient Maya prophecy is unfolding. One boy – Joshua – holds the key. When his archaeologist father goes missing in Mexico, Josh suspects alien abduction. But when he realises his dad was murdered, Josh is caught in a race to find the legendary ‘Ix Codex’ – a lost Mayan prophecy which predicts the end of the world.

Ice Shock: Josh is even more certain now that his father’s death was no accident – and he’s starting to wonder if he can really trust his closest allies. When he learns of a secret buried within the Ix Codex, he must journey back to the secret Mexican city of Ek Naab. Shocking news awaits him about the mysterious Bracelet of Itzamna. Did Josh’s dad really take it? And where is it now? Josh has no idea what’s waiting for him…

The ARG (source: mgharris.net): Readers, I have been SO busy with stuff (…) most of all working on the Alternate Reality Game we’re developing to co-launch with ICE SHOCK. That’s right, I said Alternate Reality Game – ARG! Conceptually, our game is a cross between Lonelygirl15 and The Beast. But! It’s a secret. So don’t tell, okay?

The secret’s out!

For more information about Harris and The Joshua Files, bookmark MGHarris.net, TheJoshuaFiles.com, or the fan community hub TheMGHarris.com. Keep a watch on this site as we get closer to the launch of Ice Shock and its ARG in March of 2009.