Category: News (Page 96 of 183)

The Lost Ring: Taking the Blindfold Off

March 5, 2008 / Michael Andersen

It’s been three days since Find the Lost Ring launched with a fanfare of posters and yarn. Since that time, players and puppetmasters alike have been busily fulfilling the prophetic messages written on vintage Olympic postcards. The game traces a story fraught with mystery and intrigue across the globe in so many languages, you’ll be glad you studied Esperanto in university. You did study Esperanto, didn’t you?

If you’ve been reading ARGNet recently, you might be able to guess one of the developers behind the curtain. However, it’s now official. According to the Lost Ring development team,

The Lost Ring is a global alternate reality adventure created in partnership between McDonald’s, AKQA and Jane McGonigal. Designed in collaboration with the IOC, The Lost Ring invites players from across the globe to join forces online and in the real world, as they investigate forgotten mysteries and urban legends of the ancient games. The Lost Ring recognizes McDonald’s historic sponsorship of the Olympic Games, and brings the spirit of the Games to people around the world.

Jane McGonigal adds that she is “so thrilled to be collaborating with these organizations to create what we hope will be the most global ARG, ever. This is really a dream project for me – we are bringing together the two kinds of games, ARGs and the Olympics, that have the power to engage and unite people all over the world.” So far, the game is succeeding admirably, with characters interacting with players in English, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, and Esperanto.

If your curiosity is piqued, a brief review of what’s happened so far is waiting for you after the jump.

Save the world at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

March 2, 2008 / Geoff May

FINDTHELOSTRING – No, there’s no “lo” string, nor a string named Thelo – but there is a lost ring..somewhere..and we need to find it, to save the world. Apparently. By August 24th.

On Leap Day, I received a package via FedEx, which was followed quickly by reports from others who received similarly couriered packages from “T.L. Ring” in San Francisco, CA. (Could T.L. Ring be “The Lost Ring”?) The package itself was quite curious, filled with a number of items forming a mystery begging to be unravelled.

First off, there’s a large poster advertising the 7th Olympiade in Antwerp, Belgium. Two things stand out — the year 1920 (the package originated from 1920 Olympic Way), and a short message written on the back: It’s a secret someone has been keeping for a very long time.

Next up, each package contained three photos — old photos of locations related to the 1920 Olympics. When all of the pictures from the discovered packages are taken into account, there’s quite a variety, and it seems the three photos people got are fairly random. However, on the backs of these photos are written our call to arms:

March 3, 2008
Find her…

March 4, 2008??
Find the others…

March 5, 2008??
Find him…

March 11, 2008??
Find the secret…

August 24, 2008
Save the world.

Eldritch Errors: No news is bad news?

February 29, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

Well, there’s not much joy in the land of Eldritch Errors this week, as players and curious onlookers are stuck without an update or an explanation as to why the game has stalled. We reported earlier this week on this unfortunate turn of events for the GMD Studios production. We contacted GMD Studios for comment and were promised a statement from The Powers That Be but none has been forthcoming. So, without any indication as to the whys and hows of the current state of affairs, I’m ready to call this stalled.

In response to comments by NordicNinja, Biff and Dante, I suggest that players should wait for another few days to see if the public outcry for information results in a statement (in-game or otherwise) from the puppetmasters. Barring that, there is a slew of other games in progress — some are just starting this week — in which to get involved. As usual, the Unfiction forum is a great place to get the latest word on new, emerging alternate reality games, as is its sister site Despoiler. We’ll keep you updated if and when news develops.

Take Back Gotham City!

February 29, 2008 / Geoff May

If you’ve been following the Dark Knight campaign for the upcoming Batman flick, you may have been salivating impatiently over what’s in store for 2008 ever since the big Halloween trail ended with the new promotional trailer at ATasteForTheTheatrical.com. With the untimely passing of Heath Ledger, the Joker’s role in the ARG has reportedly been downplayed.

Well, on Thursday there was a new occurance with the promise of more ARGish activity: IBelieveInHarveyDent.com was updated with a signup form, requesting people to help “join the fight for Gotham”. So go sign up! What are you waiting for?

That’s all for now, just a heads up – TDK will be back in business in a few days, according to the confirmation email. If you want to get caught up, there’s a wiki to read through.
“Citizens of Gotham! The future of our city rests in your hands!”

Start Spreadin’ the News

February 27, 2008 / Marie Lamb

Come Out and Play is back, baby. After running in Amsterdam last year during PICNIC, the three day festival returns to the Big Apple June 6-8, this time hosted by bookstore Blue Stockings.

They are currently accepting proposals for new games (The application form is on the main page of the web site.) This is your chance to take your dream of running a big street game and make it a reality.

Read ARGN’s report on the 2006 Festival here.

Breaking News – Slowdown of Eldritch Errors

February 25, 2008 / Jonathan Waite

Can this nightmare be true? Has Eldritch Errors fallen, unable to get up? According to a new section of the player-run Sentry Outpost in-game web site, the game has stalled. As well, we received a tip from a player that stated, “Eldritch Errors seems to be in the midst of imploding. Brian Clark has disappeared completely as far as we, the players, can tell.”

If this is indeed the case, we feel your pain, faithful readers, and are doing our best to get to the bottom of things. Look for an update later in the day tomorrow, as we have been told that official word from GMD Studios, the team running the game, will be coming soon.