Category: Update (Page 18 of 41)

Harvey Dent campaign shut down (in Chicago)?

March 13, 2008 / Geoff May

In early March, the “I Believe In Harvey Dent” campaign for The Dark Knight kicked back into gear. IBelieveInHarveyDent.com was updated to become Harvey’s campaign website, with downloadable flyers, stickers, and posters. It also asked people to promote Harvey Dent for District Attorney by taking photos and videos of their efforts, and uploading to the website, much like the “Why So Serious?” Halloween campaign where the Joker asked people to submit evidence of their allegiance to his cause by painting their faces and photographing themselves in groups at their nearby landmarks. Harvey Dent’s campaign, however, has a travelling “Dentmobile” and a schedule of stops across the United States.

Today, one of the Dentmobile’s first stops – Chicago, IL – may have taken a rough turn. Hollywoodchicago.com reports that after a mere three minutes, the campaign was shut down by Chicago police!

Two people (who knew what was going on) reportedly made it to the Dentmobile before they were closed down. As user Vlkers54 describes the scene:

“…I was at the 8 a.m. stop. I got there at 7:30 a.m. and I sure am glad I did. At 8:03 a.m., the cops came and kicked us out! Only me and another guy showed up, but we did end up getting a lot of free stuff (including) bumper stickers, posters, buttons and a T-shirt.

You should have seen the people as they were coming out of the train station:

“Who is Harvey Dent?”
“What is this all about?”
“Is this for that movie?” (We responded: “What movie? ‘No Country For Old Men?’ That’s a movie!”)

We kept “in character” and promoted Harvey Dent for (district attorney) as if he were a real person. Confusing people was a lot of fun. Some people did catch on to what was going on. Even middle-aged men who knew who (Harvey Dent) was were excited, (asked) for buttons and filled out the petition forms.”

This may be much ado about nothing, however, as we hear through the grapevine that the fine police officers of the Windy City were much more understanding of the situation after learning that the campaign was for Gotham City District Attorney. This coincides with an update on the Hollywood Chicago article which states that the 11 am event went off without a hitch. Regardless of how events actually played out, it must have made for an exciting time in Chi-town.

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.

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!”

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.

Chew on This: More LonelyGirl15 Product Placement

February 12, 2008 / Michael Andersen

On Valentine’s Day, Steven Gould’s novel Jumper will grace the silver screens. However, if you look carefully you can already find signs of the film. Hayden Christensen can be seen “jumping” into a Hewlett Packard advertisement starring Serena Williams. And now, the movie is jumping into LonelyGirl15.

LG15 Studios are no strangers to product placement. Last March, the 158th installment of the series was sponsored by Ice Breakers Sours Gum. Similar product placement followed in June with the introduction of Neutrogena into the story. However, the introduction of a Jumper-themed subplot seems to be taking product placement a step further, as followers of the series meet Jack, a “Jumper” who interacts with series regular Taylor.

The integration of stories from other universes is not a new concept, as Perplex City linked up with the BBC’s game Frozen Indigo Angel to promote Radio 1’s Big Weekend music festival. However, 20th Century Fox’s innovative advertising push for the film serves as a reminder that new media content creators have options in funding projects.

Image courtesy of danielbeast of the lonelygirl15 forums, via The Guardian.