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ARGFest 2010: Hotlanta Recap

August 3, 2010 / Geoff May

Near, far, wherever you are – ARGFest 2010 in Atlanta, GA was a blast. Whether at ARGFest or its virtual Twitter counterpartÂ #PretendARGFest, the annual conference dedicated to alternate reality games was filled with informative panels and discussions, hands on gaming, mysteries, and social and professional networking opportunities.Â While the player community in attendance was less this year and creative minds and industry folk were in relative abundance, all aspects of the ARG/Transmedia genre and community seemed well represented.

To usher in ARGFest 2010, Brian Clark welcomed everyone and introduced the newly appointed “Grand Inquisitor“, Steve Peters. The first session was presented by Andrea Phillips ofÂ Deus Ex Machinatio. Andrea set the pace for the fest by presentingÂ Beyond the Brunette – an analytical look at stereotypical gender roles in gaming and storytelling.Â By providing a look at numerous common character cliches, attendees couldn’t help but notice throughout the remainder of the conference how common they actually are. As one of her session’s focal points, Andrea posed the challenge to be unique and break away from using standard, typical archetypes.

Other panels and sessions this year covered a host of informative topics, including:

Brooke Thompson‘sÂ Can Transmedia Save the Soap Opera
ARG TV panel withÂ Nina Bargiel,Â Mike Monello, and Owen Shiflett
We Want To Play! discussion panel with ARG veteran players
Evan Barba‘sÂ The World OutsideÂ on Augmented Reality
Jim Babb andÂ Simeon Poulin‘sÂ Keeping It Casual on casual gaming
Patrick MÃ¶ller‘sÂ Follow the Rabbit on ways to launch projects to existing players
Peggy Weil‘sÂ TransGenre: City Gaming & Public Art panel
Behnam Karbassi‘sÂ Transmedia Production – a videochat via Skype
Mike Monello andÂ Brian Clark‘sÂ Beyond Blair Witch

Dastardly We Lost Our Gold Pirates Start Revealing Location of Misplaced Booty

August 1, 2010 / Jane Doh

The We Lost Our Gold treasure hunt has begun in earnest with the first episode of the weekly web series released today. As ARGNet reported last month, these absent-minded pirates buried their treasure of ten thousand gold-colored US dollar coins somewhere in New York City but can’t remember where they hid it. This eight-part web series will contain clues to the location of the pirate’s chest, and whoever finds it, keeps it.

Episode One introduces some vital information about the possible location of the chest, as the crew tries to retrace their steps through New York, beginning with the Balto Statue in Central Park, then on to locations like “Cape Shakespeare” and “Columbus Rock.” Meanwhile, the pirate-and-ninja crew struggles to find a way to prevent spies from learning too much by using codes, including “Morris” code and Japanese numbers. A series of interrupted flashbacks provide key background information about the crew and its unlikely journey through the Big Apple. The episodes to come will continue to piece together the crew’s journey through New York City, presumably ending with the final location of the pirate booty.

UPDATE: Dexter Game On More Than Just A SCVNGR Hunt

August 1, 2010 / Celina Beach

When it was first announced, Dexter Game On appeared to be nothing more than a fun adventure through the streets of San Diego during Comic-Con, hopefully leading to either Dexter swag or DVDs. However, once players reached the last SCVNGR location, a “kill room” was found containing what appeared to be evidence of torture and murder . . . and several cleverly hidden clues written on the room’s mirrors that lead to the Sleep Superbly site. Upon first entering the room, visitors were shown an introduction video by Dee Pratt, an FBI agent who also goes by the name Serial Huntress, explaining her unique method of crowdsourcing to catch serial killers, the latest one being the “Infinity Killer.” Pratt suspects the Infinity Killer is responsible for the kill room and the murder that apparently occurred within, as the room bears his hallmark, the infinity symbol, on one of the mirrors.

Since then, a lot of activity has occurred, including weekly updates from Serial Huntress on her website; information on the Infinity Killer on the SleepSuberbly site; and even more sites and Twitter feeds . . . and a number of puzzles to solve. To get involved in the hunt, check out the game thread on Unfiction. For a quick summary of the game so far, refer to this excellent post.

PICNIC 2010: A Preview of Things to Come

July 29, 2010 / DaniÃ«l van Gool

PICNIC will be holding its fifth annual conference at the Westergasfabriek in AmsterdamÂ from September 22-24 this year.Â PICNIC is a conference/festival in beautiful Amsterdam that started out as the â€œCross Media Week Festival.â€ And while it is becoming harder to define every year, PICNIC describes itself as â€œa festival that blurs the lines between creativity, science, technology and business to explore new solutions in the spirit of co-creation.â€ ARGNet is pleased to announce that we will be a partner of PICNIC 2010, and are able to offer our readers a discount towards registration. Details on applying the discount can be found at the end of this article.

This yearâ€™s conference theme is Redesign the World, focusing on innovation in Life, Cities, Media and Design. Speakers include PICNIC veteran Charles Leadbeater (author and former advisor to Tony Blair), Cory Doctorow (co-editor of BoingBoing and author of the novel Little Brother), Jeff Jarvis (journalist and former creator and founder of Entertainment Weekly), and YouTube phenomenon Moldover (the “Godfather of Controllerism”). For further information on the program, check the conference’s Speakers or Program Highlights to learn more about this yearâ€™s PICNIC.

The conference attracts attendees from a wide variety of backgrounds, including “creative agencies, artists, scientists, designers, marketers, brand managers, content producers, (new) media experts, government leaders, programmers, investors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, freelancers, inventors, technology providers, games developers, services providers, students and teachers.”Â If you are looking for an idea of what to expect, take a look at ARGNet’s previous coverage of PICNIC.

Amid Controversy, Echo Bazaar Will Soon Bring Fallen London to Facebook

July 29, 2010 / Jane Doh

Failbetter Games‘ casual browser-based gameÂ Echo Bazaar is coming to Facebook.Â Described inÂ The Guardian as “a beautifully moody and lusciously written faux-Victorian game,”Â Echo Bazaar takes place in an alternative 19th-century London that exists a mile beneath the surface of the earth. Fallen London is a place where, in the words of EB’s creators, “laudanum-sipping hedonists rub shoulders with romantic devils and rubbery squid-men.Â Echo Bazaar is an unholy combination of casual browser game, choose-your-own-adventure book, and quasi-steampunk MMO.”

The gameâ€™s 10,000-plus users have taken the world of Fallen London into their hearts, creating fan fiction communities and themed parties. One mysterious player even runs a dedicated Internet radio stream calledÂ Radio Free Neath. As reported previously here at ARGNet, the world of Fallen London came to life inÂ An Expedition with Mr. Mirrors at the Victoria & Albert Museum in the real London, part ofÂ Hide&Seek’s Sandpit Night. It was a delightful experience and smashing success, based on informal reactions from participants.

Players may already be familiar with how Echo Bazaar uses the Twitter authentication protocol to link players to the game, and to each other. At the end of this month, the game will open its doors to new online audiences through Facebook. Echo Bazaar will not be an application within Facebook itself butÂ will use Facebook Connect to provide an alternate entry into the game and maintain a Facebook Fan page where some in-game content will be streamed.

Help New England Patriot Vince Wilfork Recover His Stolen Super Bowl Ring!

July 22, 2010 / Jane Doh

Be sad for New England Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork (#75). Someone has stolen his precious Super Bowl XXXIX ring, and now Big Vince needs your help to get it back.

Help Vince is an local interactive marketing game for the New England Patriots that integrates SCVNGR, a location-based, check-in style smartphone app. A few weeks ago, Patriots sports bloggers received simple shirts to start the buzz, but the Help Vince game officially opened last week.

According to the official press conference, Vince brought his Super Bowl ring to his 7th annual draft day fundraiser benefitingÂ diabetes charities. While showing the ultimate prize in American football to a lady Patriots fan, a man in a New York Jets helmet grabbed it and sped away in a vintage Pinto. In the ransom video filmed in his mother’s house, the Ultimate Jets Fan owns up to the crime and claims he just wants “the satisfaction of knowing that [he’s] smarter than the average Patriots fan.”