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Vanishing Point Game Does Not Go Gently Into That Good Night

January 31, 2007 / Sean C. Stacey

On Saturday, January 27, 2007, at 5:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, a sizable crowd of two to three hundred people had gathered on the hill at Gas Works Park in Seattle, Washington, across from the brilliantly lit gas works. An enormous projection screen had been erected on the flat ground between the structure and Lake Union, where colored lights strobed atop police boats that formed a cordon around a darkened barge floating in the lake. As the clock ticked over to the top of the hour, hundreds of eyes aimed themselves at the video now winking into existence on the screen.

This was Loki’s final message to those few of the hundreds of thousands of players of the Vanishing Point Game – a promotion for Microsoft’s upcoming release of the next version of its Windows operating system, Vista – who had managed to be present for the final live event of the game…and to witness the final clues to the identity of “Loki” and her secret to winning, among other things, the grand prize trip into space.

In the video, Loki recounted her mission and praised the progress of the players so far. Photographs from previous live events flashed across the screen, along with screen shots of web sites and message boards that had been involved in the campaign. As the video ended, a single white flare shot out over the lake from behind the screen, music swelled from strategically placed loudspeakers, and the crowd was bathed in bright hues as broad brush strokes of flame painted the sky, synchronized to the wicked techno beats tumbling their way up the hill.

The volume of the fireworks display was only briefly rivaled upon the finale, as the crowd burst into cheers and applause.

Open Call for Writers – ARGNet Wants YOU!

January 30, 2007 / Jackie Kerr

With all of the news coming out regarding alternate reality games, we are hoping to find a few good men and women to assist us in writing articles and features for our web site.

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:

Write a 100-150 word blurb-style article on any currently running game. For recent examples, see The Case of the Gumshoe Radio Play and The Trouble With Tropes.
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, February 2nd, 2007. 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.

Ravenchase Chicago: Treasure Hunting in the Windy City

January 30, 2007 / Jessica Price

Ravenchase Adventures bills itself as a “real adventure” using “riddles, anagrams, puzzles, actors, the far reaches of imagination and more,” and warns that it “may be more fun than you can handle.” They hold events around the country (upcoming locations include Honolulu, Chicago again next month, Baltimore, Manhattan, Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and others) and will be putting on a national treasure hunt in July.

Since I really enjoyed playing Tombstone Hold ‘Em and have always been envious of those who’ve gotten to participate in events like the Go Game or Jane McGonigal’s oeuvre, a Ravenchase race to a final location determined via clues at downtown Chicago landmarks seemed like a perfect opportunity to get my puzzle hunt fix. I headed to Chicago to meet up with fellow ARGNet writer Krystyn Wells and two other crewmembers from my beekeeping days.

ARG Netcast, Episode 10

January 29, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

It’s our tenth netcast, and as is the tradition, the roundtable discussion is both light-hearted and full of important game information. This week’s panel is made up of regular guests Jackie Kerr, Brooke Thompson, Sean C. Stacey and Jonathan Waite. Subscribe to the ARG Netcast feed through FeedBurner or via iTunes.

Game News

The Vanishing Point game is over, and Sean was there in the flesh for the festivities. Get the skinny on the behind-the-scenes action!
Township Heights comes to a sudden and unexpected end. Was this a cash-grab or is the game still going, with the apparent endgame being part of the game?
Gumshoe is billing itself as an interactive radio play. It launches on Valentine’s Day, and we’ll be listening.
Meigeist kicks it old-school with enough content, puzzles and interaction to satisfy a multitude of players.
The Sector Seven/Transformers ARG viral campaign stalls. Fanboys and fangirls around the world really want this to be more than what it currently is.
Odina Nova will relaunch in March after a short hiatus. Our very own Jessica Price has the details on ARGNet.
The Heroes 360 experience launches for the hit NBC television series. Save the cheerleader, play the ARG?
The Library of Babel site for the Perplex City game holds what could be the final clue for finding the Receda Cube, after an article/advertisement in the London Sunday Times. Find it soon, please.
Monster Hunters goes live, a tie-in with the North American release of a South Korean movie called The Host. Did you get your Yeti in the mail?

Come Spring, will Odina Nova put the RAWK in Ragnarok?

January 25, 2007 / Jessica Price

Hojotoho! And other Wagnerian exclamations! Odina Nova, which gave participants a chance to ride shotgun with the Valkyries, metaphorically speaking, by combining codes, videos, blogs and other standard ARG media with a fresh take on Norse mythology, drifted off into silence last October and was presumed to have fallen prey to the high grassroots ARG mortality rate. An out-of-game Unforums message from the PM promised that it had not imploded, but was being put on hold due to unforeseen real-life circumstances.

It appears that the game will indeed resume this spring (an in-game reference suggests the restart date will be March 21 — an auspicious date which traditionally marks both the vernal equinox and the first day of the astrological year).

The game’s narrative claims that there are nine parallel worlds in which alternate versions of ourselves exist, and travel between them is possible. They appear to correspond with the Norse cosmology in which nine worlds hang upon Yggdrasil, the world tree. A character named Hermod is continuing the work of his father, whose own mentor had traveled to an alternate world called Vanaheim, which he learned had been a place of peace and beauty until otherworldly forces allied with a warrior named Woden drove it into chaos. Certain incidents in human history, the players have speculated, may have been caused by the intersection of alternate worlds with our own.

Odina Nova generated plenty of interest and speculation at Unfiction and Immersion Unlimited before its hiatus, so whether you’re one of the people that played it when it was running, or someone who is looking for an ARG to get involved in, check it out on March 21st.

ARGFest ’07 Online Chat Scheduled

January 24, 2007 / Jonathan Waite

For those of you who still have lingering questions after our special ARG Netcast on ARGFest-o-Con 2007, you are in luck. Tomorrow, in the #argfest room at the Chat-Solutions IRC network, organizers and attendees alike will be present to discuss the festivities, as well as organize some of the details for the event. If you are interested in attending the chat, it will happen at 8:00 pm EST on Thursday, January 25, 2007. We have set up a dedicated chat channel for your convenience, so now you really have no excuse for not being there. Come one, come all, and bring your ideas and questions!