Category: Update (Page 32 of 41)

Akalesh Ascendant Update

February 21, 2006 / Dee Cook

The former project lead of Akalesh Ascendant (previously reported on here in August 2005) has informed us that half of the creative design team for the newly formed and registered LLP corporation “Dark Element Gaming” has departed the project, due to be the company’s debut in Alternate Reality Gaming. Several key members, including the head writer, head logistical designer, and vice president, resigned their positions at the Alternate Reality Game yesterday. This split was not contentious and the team members left as friends.

David Andrews, founder of Dark Element Gaming, has confirmed the split. “The Akalesh Ascendant game has been delayed indefinitely due to personnel issues. Players’ contact info is still held in complete confidentiality. The game will happen, just not in the timeframe specified by the original meta site.”

Renata Isle Goes Live

February 18, 2006 / Jonathan Waite

Welcome to the island. What started as an email has now turned into Renata Isle, a new grassroots ARG. The game went live yesterday with new links appearing on an in-game security site (which, at the moment, is unavailable). There was a very active audience playing the pre-game, so here’s hoping the real deal doesn’t disappoint.

Note: The trailhead site is not working properly in Firefox browsers. For those having difficulties accessing the main site, you can get to it directly here.

:: Discussion at UnFiction

Pherotones – This is Really Not a Game?

February 9, 2006 / Jonathan Waite

If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, then it must be a duck, right? Wrong, according to Pherotones Intimacy Expert Myra Vanderhood. After we reported on what appears to be the start of an Alternate Reality Game, we received this email from the good doctor:

Dear ARGN Community,

Thank you so much for your budding interest in Pherotones, the amazing ring tone secret from Denmark that can spark sexual attraction.

It has come to my attention that some members of the ARG community are carefully scrutinizing the Pherotonal Record in the mistaken belief that it holds clues to a new, evolving Alternate Reality Game.

While I am flattered by your attention, I am sorry to say that there is no game afoot.

Pherotones.com is not the portal of a game, and my weblog, “Discovering Pherotones” contains nothing of interest beyond my own thoughts and impressions as I gather evidence to prove my hypothesis.

You will not find a Puzzlemaster like Dave Szulborski behind this particular curtain, and there is no Ian Yarborough here for us to moon over.

The only way to actually participate in the Pherotones experience is to try them for yourself, and, if you wish, to report your “anecdotal evidence” to my weblog, “Discovering Pherotones” (pherotones.blogspot.com). There is no prize offered, and the only thing you stand to gain from your input is the satisfaction of knowing you have, in a small way, advanced the cause of Pherotonal Science.

Thank you for your attention,

Dr. Myra Vanderhood, Intimacy Expert and Founder of Pherotones.com

So, will this end up being another Redkore fiasco, or is this the start of something big? For now, we’re content to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

Perplex City Lands in America

January 30, 2006 / Jonathan Waite

Perplex City will be taking another leap forward in the very near future, as the PXC universe will be on display at the Toy Fair in New York City from February 12-15 (Booth #6160, for those interested on visiting). Mind Candy Design, the creators of the card-based Alternate Reality Game, are currently putting together a media blitz for American audiences — a new press release is heralding the “launch of Perplex City in North America.”

While the cards have been available at select U.S. toy stores for months, Mind Candy CEO Michael Smith promises that they will make it “much easier to get access to our cards in North America, so everyone now has the opportunity to get immersed in Perplex City.â€ With an increase in the number of retailers selling the puzzle cards, the community of 13,000 registered at the Perplex City forums should see a surge of American players in the coming months.

The world of PXC keeps expanding — there is now a player-generated map of Perplex City in the style of Google Maps, and the aforementioned PXC Forums are full of activity. With the upcoming live events in New York and London coming soon, it looks like 2006 will be another big year for Sente and his cast of characters.

Vaporlofts Closes Its Doors

January 30, 2006 / Carie Ward

Sometimes addiction to ARG games is not a good thing. We players always seem to want more stories, more puzzles, and more action, even after the game has finished. Especially after the game has finished, players will attempt to find more secrets hidden away, squeezing every last drop out of the game before they walk away.

So has been the case with Vaporlofts. I am sorry to report that ARGN has received information that the game has come to an end, just the way it was meant to, even though none of us realized it. In a vast departure from previous games, Vaporlofts ended the way things in life tend to do. There were no ending credits, no happy endings, just more questions than answers. Anne never returned from Atlanta and with information going missing, it seems that only Vaporlofts can know why. With the company so good at keeping secrets, we may never know what truly happened to her. All of our leads have gone cold, so it’s time to put this into a cold case file and hope that one day a new lead may turn up.

Let the Games Begin!

January 14, 2006 / Guy Parsons

The Perplex City ARG is branching out again – this time, the Academy of the puzzle-obsessed city is bringing its famous Games to both sides of the Atlantic.

On February the 15th, New York will be playing host to the first PCAG contest, where players will be locking horns in deadly puzzle combat… all in the convivial surroundings of a central Manhattan bar.

The London ‘freestyle Academy event,’ however, is significantly more ambitious. Billed as “the largest, smartest and most sophisticated live action urban game” and due to take place in late February/early March, teams of players will be roaming Central London in a bid to complete a series of challenges and seize victory.

Both events are open to everybody (no specialist Perplex City knowledge required), but you need to pre-register on the website, which also has more details on these exciting events.