Page 160 of 198

Playing Games, Playing Music

December 8, 2005 / Brooke Thompson

The Playground, featuring underground music and game talk, premieres tonight (December 8, 2005) on Arizona State’s radio station – The Blaze 1260 AM. Beyond the music, the show will be led by UnFiction’s own Sam Gavin (some may know him by G3K & his sign from I Love Bees) who will discuss games & the gaming world with a particular emphasis on community gaming such as ARGs. With many different possibilities — interviews with game makers and players, player-created music, soundtracks from past ARGs — the show is sure to be filled with a ton of fun. Do the right thing and show it the support that it deserves! You can will listen online 10 EST/7PST from the the station’s website.

Good luck Sam! We can’t wait to tune in!

EDOC Laundry Exclusive Interview

December 7, 2005 / Larry Eisner

ARGN had the opportunity to get in touch with Dawne Weisman, Founder and President of EDOC Laundry, to discuss the upcoming venture, and get some questions answered in regards to the exciting idea.

ARGN: So what was the inspiration for EDOC Laundry? Is there some backstory into the development that would be interesting to fans?

DW: I was very inspired by the work my husband (Jordan Weisman) did in creating a new form of story telling (dubbed ARG by you guys) and saw a way of integrating that into my passion for graphic design and fashion. I founded edoc laundry around the talents of my graphic/fashion design team headed by Shane Small, and consisting of; Daniel Dejos, Justin Koh, and Cathy Brigg, and brought them together with some of the team that Jordan had assembled for 42 Entertainment, namely Elan Lee and Sean Stewart. I then brought in a great writer by the name of Christopher Kubasik who is writing all our scripts.

Mind Candy Secures $3m Investment

December 7, 2005 / Guy Parsons

Mind Candy, the team behind ever-popular ARG Perplex City, has just received a $3m investment from Index Ventures, a VC firm that invests in web companies such as Skype and Ofoto. It’s the first instance of an ARG-centered company receiving such a large investment – while several firms receive commissions from companies to create ARG-style games for marketing or training purposes, Perplex City operates through its own standalone revenue stream generated from sales of its signature puzzle cards.

“We were immensely impressed by both the creativity of the Mind Candy team and the enthusiasm of the players, who are in turn creating a global gaming phenomenon,â€ explained Danny Rimer, a partner at Index.

Meanwhile the Managing Director of Mind Candy, Michael Smith, gave credit to the broad, mass-market appeal of the game. “We cater to both the casual player, who wants to solve a few puzzles with friends, and the avid fan who is absorbed with the wider Perplex City mystery. We are extremely excited about this partnership and see enormous potential to build a global brand around puzzles and puzzle-solving.”

Another waypoint on Alternate Reality Gaming’s march to the mainstream, perhaps, but for now expect even bigger things from the Puppetmaster team – those who’ve witnessed them give presentations on the matter might have an inkling of their ambitious plans for the future.

Omnifam Wraps Up

December 4, 2005 / Jonathan Waite

Players of the Omnifam ARG found themselves at the end of the road today with the addition of a credits page on one of the in-game websites. The grassroots endeavor had been playing since May of this year, and was tied to the US television series ALIAS. Scanning through the list, it shows that the team of Puppetmasters includes people who have been on the other side of the curtain for previous ARGs, such as Acheron and ARGTalk.

ALIAS-themed ARGs have had a long history, with two previous “seasons” of games. The series started as a web puzzle in its first season, and morphed into an online adventure for the sequel, both of which were created and sponsored by ABC television. While this third season was a grassroots effort, it was much more interactive and contained more elements of a traditional ARG. Sadly, with the recent news of ABC’s decision to recently cancel ALIAS, the possibility of a fourth season is very much up in the air.

Last Call Poker PM Chat Transcript

November 30, 2005 / Krystyn Wells

Last night, players and Puppetmasters got together in an entertaining chat over at #lastcall. Put together by ARGN and UnFiction, the creative team at 42 Entertainment were invited to the IRC chat room where much of the hot gameplay action took place during the eight week run of the popular ARG. Many people showed up and a lot of interesting questions and answers flew about — and if you weren’t in attendance, we have the transcript of the chat available. (We have cleaned up and organized the transcript to make it easier to read and follow).

To read the log, click on the “Continue Reading” link below.

Last Call for Last Call Poker

November 30, 2005 / Brooke Thompson

LCP LA 01 As many faithful readers of ARGN know, the game to play this fall was Last Call Poker, a promotion for Activisionâ€™s GUN. Created by 4orty2wo Entertainment, the innovative game provided players with 9 weeks of exciting storytelling and game play, both on- and off-line. The story was the final wish of Lionel â€œLuckyâ€ Brown, a fictional character who passed away earlier this year, and a portion of his estate was used to celebrate his life with wakes held at six of his favorite cemeteries throughout the United Sates. The final wake was held on November 19th at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California. Dozens of players from throughout the United States and Canada came together to celebrate his life and play one last round of poker… Tombstone style.