Category: News (Page 91 of 183)

Mailbox: From zombies to a mystery pole

lostzombies.JPGIt’s turning out to be quite the summer for alternate reality games, or so the relentless parade of packages, letters and postcards to come through the ARGNet snail mail box seems to indicate. First up, from last week, is a lovely package from Lost Zombies, a new post-apocalyptic venture billing itself as “a community generated zombie documentary.” Inside the package was a letter, a paperback copy of The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, and a retail DVD copy of 28 Days Later, the superb film by Danny Boyle. According to the letter (full text available after the jump), these materials “provide valuable insight into zombie behavior and its many forms,” and should help increase our chances of survival. Sweet!

Also in the mail — just today, in fact — was a postcard. Apparently, we’re just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year, because the sender wishes we were there, ‘there’ being New York City. And, beyond that, we have no idea why this postcard was sent to us. We do know that our friends at Despoiler received a similar postcard, and surmise that the image on the front is of a location in Times Square, NYC. They’ve urged their legion of readers to go outdoors and find the pole marked with the arrow, and we urge the same of our loyal viewers, if only to satisfy our curiosity as to the mystery of the blue pole.

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ARGFest-O-Con 2008 – Ready or Not, Here Comes Awesome

logo-wninjas-trans-lg.pngOnce again, ARGNet is proud to join Unfiction in hosting ARGFest-O-Con. This year’s weekend ARG odyssey sails into Boston, Massachusetts on July 18-20 at the Boston Radisson Hotel and Conference Center. Scheduled events include a Friday night Welcome cocktail party, a full day of conference talks on Saturday, as well as the return of FestQuest – the puzzley adventure that takes you around the highlights of the host city. Registration for the event recently opened on the ARGFest website for the low cost of $25 (the Friday night reception is an additional $15). Booking now guarantees you a seat to the hottest ARG show of the year and a weekend of adventure with fellow ARG enthusiasts. Where else would you be able to rub elbows and fight over the last bits of buffet bacon with some of the biggest names in the genre? Book now!

Rooms at the Radisson are filling up fast, but a few slots remain for those procrastinators among you. Information about booking for the ARGFest rate of $189 a night (plus tax) can be found at the conference website.

ARGFest-O-Con is also actively seeking private and corporate sponsors for the event. Sponsorship opportunities have been outlined and can be viewed on the ARGfest website. This year also tills new soil with the addition of the Order of the Trout, an individual sponsorship tier that promises secret handshakes, troutly designation, and the joy of being referred to as “Fish Face” at the conference. Rarely have I wanted anything oh so badly. Now if only the Order came with a Wii…

Come to the White Island, stay for the all night dancing!

ibiza_newspaper_01.jpgSomething is happening in Ibiza… or so says the press release for The White Island, which filtered into the ARGNet tipline last week. The new alternate reality game began on June 1st, and involves dance music and late night parties across Europe. There are some interesting names connected to the project as well — Pete Tong, known best for his work on BBC Radio 1 and for being the subject of the mockumentary “It’s all gone Pete Tong“, and Charles Kriel, a DJ who previously worked on the Fallen ARG and now heads up Black Swan Media. If these names aren’t enough to get you clubbers interested, what about the cool swag we received earlier today? There’s video and more pictures after the break, so put down the glow sticks and click on through!

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If Looks Could Kill… *ZAP!*

ilck.jpgVroom vroom! The sleek champagne Toyota Camry zips around the corner, coming to a screeching halt. Out steps a leggy, ultra-fashionable African-American woman, arriving to hook up with her ultra-fashionable, successful boyfriend. She flips her keys to the valet – a little “blip blip!” sounds from the Camry’s push-button car alarm, like Kit saying “see ya later!” to Knight Rider. Who is this woman? Where did she get such an awesome car with such swanky accoutrements? Where did she find that hunky boyfriend of hers? What does her rolling stone of a father have to do with the dudes who stole her purse? What kind of pie did Nana bake? And where on earth did she find those fantastic shoes?!

The latest in cross-media marketing mayhem produced by Burrell Communications Group and 42 Entertainment for Toyota’s 2009 Camry, entitled “If Looks Could Kill,” takes you inside the world of high fashion and high espionage with Bianca, the fashionista lead character poised to pique the interest of young, hip, African-American women – women, who indeed, need a swanky Toyota Camry. In each weekly episode of this interactive drama, Bianca is pressed to unravel a mystery of intrigue and espionage, all while juggling the stressful duties of her job as a fashion designer, keeping her boyfriend happy and interested, and making sure not to miss coffee and dessert with her Nana. For seven weeks, participants are treated to six movie-styled webisodes of Bianca’s crazy life as she tools around through New York City (without ever running into traffic) in her champagne-colored Camry (with touch navigation and integrated Bluetooth). Within each episode are opportunities for players to help Bianca escape from trouble, as she turns to the camera and asks you to do something for her, such as download photos and find flyers, and email her the information she needs to stay in the game.

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Dharma Needs A Few Gullible Men (and Women)

octagon.jpgIt should be no surprise to anyone who has been following the show LOST that there would be something special during the season finale. Fans were not disappointed. Close to the end of the episode, a mysterious commercial branded with “Paid for by ABC” aired, advertising a recruiting event for a company called Octagon Global Recruiting. They are looking for A LOT of “volunteers to assist in a range of unpaid positions” – a scrolling list displays diverse opportunities and skills ranging from Physicists, Mathematicians, and Botanical Researchers, to Drivers, Janitors, and Ex-Military. This recruiting event will be taking place in San Diego, July 24-27… wait, what’s that, you say? Those dates seem familiar? They should – they’re the same dates as the San Diego Comic Con.

The website for Octagon Global Recruiting doesn’t currently display much other than a streaming version of the aforementioned commercial. However, there is one other nugget of information to be found, tying Octagon Global to the Dharma Initiative. The two organizations are collaborating and recruiting volunteers willing to “contribute to an important new research project.” Interested? Just enter your email to register. So far, no reports have surfaced regarding contact from Octagon, but stay tuned.

Discussion has already started at Unfiction andThe Fuselage

Fish Mongers, Fairies and Fragglewumps, Oh My!

HETFET_Save_the_Trolls-square.gifWriter/Director Guillermo Del Toro recently ‘came out’ as a member of an organization called HETFET – Humans for Ethical Treatment of Fairies, Elves, and Trolls. It’s an organization dedicated to tracking down those who would seek to harm FETs, and bringing justice upon them. Guillermo’s upcoming film Hellboy II, is an effort to recognize FET rights, and raise awareness for HETFET’s cause. If you join them, you may receive a support package!

But it goes deeper than that. Recently some strange videos have surfaced of what appears to be people traveling through gateway-looking graffiti sprayed at the foot of cement walls. And HETFET knows something.

Cryptic emails were received by fans of GDT, containing hints that eventually led to a Secret Device – also linked from HETFET’s homepage. The device is locked with 10 combinations, which are being found in various places connected with HETFET and Guillermo. The first combination – the release date of Hellboy II in theaters (7/11/08) – provides a poem with highlighted letters, roughly spelling out a website, which introduces us to Lexi Lloyd.

Lexi loves fairies.

She also just began her first Youtube VLOG.

Watch Lexi as she vlogs about her life, and shares strange mysteries surrounding a cat, her dreams, her father who went missing years ago, and other cryptic YouTube stalkers like ‘dutchfelines’ and ‘aSmarmyYeti.’

Find out more about PANATROG, a mysterious organization also revealed by the Secret Device. What does the military have to do with PANATROG? Why are PANATROGs training videos so fun to watch? Why is Lexi involved, and what’s the mystery of these “gearways?”

“The Secret Device” is a promotional campaign for GDT’s movie (they’d have you believe) Hellboy II: The Golden Army, coming to theaters July 11th. The locks are phases in the plot leading to the movie, with a contest as a reward for those who follow through to unlock the 10th combination by the deadline of June 10 – which is 11 days from the time of writing. The two winners of the random drawing will each receive tickets for two to take a 3 day trip to Los Angeles for an exclusive fan preview-screening of Hellboy II hosted by Guillermo Del Toro. For more info, visit the HB2 Production website.

The contest is a nice bonus, and the story isn’t hugely complex or long either – so there’s plenty of time to catch up and unlock the 10 combinations along with a world of fantastical, strange creatures and trolls before June 10th. Heck, even if it’s just to help another cute, innocent girl.

Save the Trolls!

HETFET.org
Lexi Lloyd’s website

Unfiction discussion
In-game Forums at HETFET
Player Wiki
Player Blog

Official HB2 website

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